<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm a current freshman at Columbia and was just curious what the average grades in general were like and how the average GPA was.</p>
<p>Anyone?</p>
<p>I’m a current transfer and I’m thinking I’m gonna lose at least .5 right of the top.</p>
<p>So you mean like .5 of your GPA? Like, for example, a 3.5 at your old school becoming a 3.0 here?</p>
<p>My guess would be CC 3.3 and seas 3.0-3.1. The core grades generously, but big CC departments like econ, history and poli sci curve classes to Bs sometimes a high B/low B+. in seas, many departments curve to B-s = 2.67. Because there are more kids in CC, the overall columbia gpa today would be something like ~3.25.</p>
<p>Average grades for first years is probably higher than average, because the concentration of core classes is high. Some say small senior seminars also curve well.</p>
<p>that would imply there are as many people getting straight C’s as there are straight A’s. It’s hard to get a C, much harder than getting an A. If I had to guess I’d say 3.4 for CC and 3.2 for SEAS.</p>
<p>^actually, there are about as many kids getting (Cs, Ds and Fs) as As in many econ and engineering classes, even in stat and science classes. You never hear from them about their grades, you always have gossip about people with top grades and those are the students more willing to tell you what they scored. Denz you were a top student (and very hardworking) so you think that’s the norm, but I think your distribution is a little skewed. Many econ courses curve rigidly to a B, and several engineering courses curve rigidly to a B-. From my anecdotal experience the distribution of GPAs at columbia is pretty uniform, meaning there isn’t as much of a bulge in the middle as one would expect. Many kids consistently perform well and many consistently perform badly.</p>
<p>Dude, I was a effin’ slacker. I happen to be good at slacking, but that doesn’t change the fact that I was definitely in the bottom half in terms of number of hours spent studying.</p>
<p>I don’t know of any course that curves to something below a B, certainly not a core class (and the OP’s question was about freshman-year GPAs). Many of the tougher ones curved to a B+, a few even to an A- (phys 2800).</p>
<p>There will always be a few people who completely bomb freshman year because they’re not emotionally ready, or too immature, to handle it all. They help the curve for everyone else. As long as you’re reasonably able to “hack it”, your GPA should be above a B. Hence my estimates of the median GPA being 3.4 for CC (more seminars / qualitative grading), 3.2 for SEAS.</p>
<p>All of this is worth a tinker’s damn, of course, if you have some real statistics. I only have this: [Columbia</a> University](<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com/Columbia.html]Columbia”>Columbia University)</p>
<p>When you apply to law school LSAC breaks down the GPAs at your school. Based on the distribution, I’d say median is around 3.6: 51% of the class has over a 3.6 at the college. Don’t think this includes SEAS.</p>
<p>but isn’t that just among the pool of people applying from your school? I have a hard time believing the Columbia registrar would give out really sensitive data like that.</p>
<p>@Denz: Not sure but it may very well represent the whole school. For whatever it’s worth, their 4.0+ (3%) number is consistent with what I know about the pool of people considered for early Kappa entry (people with over a 4.0). I don’t think that entire pool of people applies to law school. But again, you could be right since we’re playing with numbers and percentages here.</p>
<p>To answer whoever asked me earlier, I’m imagining that my GPA at my former school (little over a 3.9) is probably going to end up being closer to a 3.5. Probably not higher than a 3.7. But this is the way I want it! I didn’t go to college to get straight A’s. I want to feel like I earned it.</p>