<ul>
<li>Specifically the sciences </li>
</ul>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I'm going to assume deflated. I've been speaking with the heads of the Neuroscience, Biology, and Biochemistry department and they all have given me the same advice:</p>
<p>"Do NOT take more than TWO hard sciences per semester. This workload is already rigorous enough and I do NOT reccomend a third science class."</p>
<p>I'm assuming that classes are hard enough that if one does not pay tons of attention to constant work, then your grade will be extremely poor.</p>
<p>i think it's up to the professor. i was in a history class where my four assessments came out A+ (first test), A A (2 papers) and B+ (final test), and for some bizarre reason the final grade turned out to be an A-...? Maybe the prof reserves the "A" only for really outstanding students with a particular interest or whatever in his field. At any rate I'm pretty sure that's an example of grade deflation, as all 4 assignments were weighted equally.</p>
<p>For classes and departments in PAC (history, econ, government, sociology) at least, I think generally they are inflated. A lot of my friends talk about getting the "gentleman's B"-- basically you try your best and put forth an honest effort on the paper and the professor is not going to give you anything lower than a B even if it doesn't make any sense.</p>
<p>They have a little cubbie hole where the professors return papers. One time I was curious and took a look at what the range of grades the professor had given out for a major assignment (I know, shame on me, I shouldn't be looking at other people's grades... I only did it once). It was something like 15 As, 15 Bs, and 2 Cs. And this was supposed to be one of the "tough" professors in the history department!</p>
<p>The science classes on the other hand... my goodness. No grade inflation there... at least not in the gateway courses.</p>
<p>again, i don't think what you cited was an example of systematic grade deflation a l</p>
<p>I actually disagree with wraider2006. I've gotten grades lower than "B" on things in the social sciences, when I did actually try. Granted, I didn't know as much as I should have, but I definitely don't think that you get a B just for writing something. </p>
<p>In reply to the original question, science grades are nice and objective-- there are a certain number of points available, both in regular assignments and through extra credit (showing up to contra dances, for example). Your points determine your grade, after the curve, of course. And the curve always brings people's grades UP. I know several people who do ridiculously well in science classes because it's all so straightforward, but falter in social sciences where there is no right answer.</p>
<p>the grading depends on the professor. I read somewhere that humanities majors have the highest average GPA, with social and natural sciences about the same, slightly lower average.</p>
<p>Everything everyone has said is true, but wouldn't you agree that:</p>
<p>You can very easily fail a science/math test. If you don't study or go to class, you're probably going to fail, because points are often awarded based on how many short answers/ multiple choice you get right/wrong. In fact, you can do worse than fail (anything number in the 50s) You can get number grades such as 34, or 28, or 9.</p>
<p>You have to write something egregiously bad or off-topic to fail a paper, though.</p>
<p>Or maybe it is just because I am more naturally inclined towards the humanities, so things come easier for me than they do in science/math classes.</p>
<p>As a math/soc major (formerly neuroscience), I've taken a lot of classes in both math & sciences and also the social sciences and some humanities classes.</p>
<p>I've found that it's more difficult to do <em>really really</em> badly in a humanities/social science course. I know people who have gotten Ds (with trying!) in science classes; I've never heard of this for someone in a social science / humanities class (unless they just didn't hand in their assignments. Of course, don't underestimate the difficulty of handing in all assignments for some classes. They're often a <em>LOT</em> of work, both in paper-writing and reading.) However, I've found it's also much more difficult to get a very good grade (A or A+) in a social science or humanities class. And, in general, there's just more work to be done (given the amount of reading and research and paper-writing) in humanities/social-science classes, so after putting in all that effort, I think a C+ or higher is probably well-deserved for the most part.</p>
<p>Totally disagree - I was a PAC major at Wes (before transferring after my sophomore year), and I thought the grades were not inflated at all…It may vary by prof, but this was my general impression</p>