<p>Could anyone please post what is the approximate average GPA in the College by the end of Sophomore year if you are in a Social Science major - such as Health and Societies? Any idea what the average GPA is for this major by the end of Senior Year? I know this is a relatively new major, so even if you have any information on the Social Sciences GPA that would help a lot. </p>
<p>Also do the Advisors in the College speak to the parents if the student gives them permission to speak to the parent?</p>
<p>And could anyone direct me to a contact person at Penn that could put Penn GPA in perspective? </p>
<p>If you really want to talk to someone I suggest visiting the department website for the major in question and looking for the contact info of the undergraduate department chair.</p>
<p>sorry haven’t had any luck. D doesn’t want me talking to the school. Says having a B+ average or better is great at Penn in the College. That it is not like High School where you can work hard and be a straight A student. The curve is killing her in most classes, she is usually loosing the next level of grade by 1 or 2 points - which is worse than not having a shot at all.</p>
<p>I’m sure thats true for most great colleges. High School is made in a way that if you put in a couple hours of work, you’ll get an A. You really don’t need to be very intelligent to get straight A’s in high school, as long as you put in the time. College, as far as I’ve heard, is about understanding and synthesizing the information, not just working hard and memorizing facts. It’s about who is better at taking tests and stuff, rather than spitting out facts. And it’s terrible that the College is full of Pre-Med students that work their butts off for each A, and leave everyone else to get doomed in the curve. All the best to your daughter. If you ever find more information, please post it!</p>
<p>^ depends on the high school. there are some NYC private schools where it’s incredibly hard to get an A and the work is very sophisticated. kids experience serious grade deflation (getting a B+ requires excellent work) but learn how to write well, think critically and manage their time. studying 4 - 5 hrs a day or more is par for the course. hopefully when they get to college, work load and expectations will be familiar.</p>
<p>^thats great in my opinion. great preparation for school. i’m over here stressing out about how i’ll be able to manage courseloads and expectations at Penn because my high school has been relatively easy.</p>
<p>^ well, yes and no. i’m not sure that colleges recognize the grade deflated B+s for what they are – the kids may be at a disadvantage in admissions. </p>
<p>As far as your own stressing: don’t. Just get to college and it give it everything you’ve got. Get organized early and work hard to stay disciplined. As a freshman I had a roommate who went to Andover, one of the leading boarding schools, and I came from a terrible public high school but I was determined to do very well in college. Despite her educational advantage, I graduated phi beta kappa, she was a B student. It was my work ethic and overwhelming desire to learn that allowed me to accomplish all that I did. If you want it badly enough, you’ll succeed.</p>
<p>I can’t answer for HSOC specifically but the average GPA in the college is about a 3.3. I would guess a little higher for social sciences and a little lower for hard sciences. Given that, it’s important to realize that 50% of students will have below a 3.3 so grades at Penn cannot be looked at like grades in high school.</p>
<p>yezsir brings up a good point. everything is based off a curve, so that means there really is going to be 50% above and under it. and reading through some of the syllabi, your score is based off of how many points above or under the average. so a matter of couple points can really be the deciding factor</p>
When you say “everything” are you referring to science/math courses? Because I’ve heard that those tend to be curved much more often than other classes, which tend to not be curved at all.</p>
<p>In general the college does have a curve, which is 30% As, 40% Bs, the rest lower. However, this is sort of a minimum curve and really only applies to intro courses in my experience. Meaning upper level courses tend to give out more As. Also, this is not for hard sciences that operate on their own more difficult curve (I’ve heard 20% As?). Penn pays very close attention to the median GPA and I have heard from many people that they aim for about a 3.3.</p>
<p>And yes some classes have special curves. For instance, Math104 gives out a number of As equivalent to the number of students who get an A on the final (not curved).</p>