<p>yeah, i was wondering from a first hand perspective of anyone at wes currently - </p>
<p>is it REALLY difficult to get an A at wesleyan? is there grade inflation/deflation at all? i saw someone post that wesleyan was one of the top 10 schools in the US hardest to get an A in... while not completely sure if this is true or not (i have yet to find the reasoning, it was some UCB study done a while back), it made me somewhat worried seeing schools like BROWN and CORNELL being listed below it (easier to get A's at cornell and brown? come on, haha)... </p>
<p>does anyone know the answer to this? especially for a prospective premed/science major.</p>
<p>A friend's S goes here, and he is a straight A student. I think it helps when you can pick your classes--that is classes that one prefers, rather than having to take classes in order to fulfill different requirements.</p>
<p>I'm a freshman, a premed/science major, and I'd have to say if you work hard you can definitely get A's... it's not impossible. the chem involves knowing your concepts, bio is just lots of memorizing, and can't comment on physics yet... don't get me wrong, it isn't a cakewalk, but it is possible!</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore at Wesleyan and I've received A's and even A+'s in a number of classes. It all depends on the types of classes you take. It is much easier to receive an A in a psychology course than it is to receive an A in an organic chemistry course. But most science courses undergo grade inflation. Sometimes this inflation is needed when the class average for an exam is a 62. But don't let this number scare you away. No matter what you major in you have to work your butt off for it. I've studied for 10+ hours the day before an exam and received a B. Never cram. You probably won't get an A no matter how many hours of studying you do. It has to be a gradual understanding. If you do this much, you'll get the grade you deserve.</p>
<p>I am not sure about premed/science courses... I took basically all humanities courses my first term and it is not at all difficult to get As. In fact, it is quite easy if you are disciplined and make good use of the abundant free time you have, especially if you are a good writer. Learning to synthesis original ideas and articulating them clearly and effectively will take you a long way.</p>
<p>Wherever you're applying afterwards (Grad school, jobs, etc) - they will see that your grades are coming from a top liberal arts school, and take them with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>I'm a junior neuro major at Wes. As are definitely possible, and A-s are common. A+s, however, are very rare--In fact, many people don't even realize that Wesleyan GIVES A+s... I would say the average score is a B, so in that way, I guess there is grade inflation (in that C is not average).</p>
<p>As and Bs are the norm, but it's really more about what you get out of a course. Grades matter, but people here aren't obsessive about it. There isn't a lot of competition between students. It's more of a racing-against-your-own-time kind of thing.</p>
<p>in my experience, getting a's requires a LOT of work. yes, it is hard to do, but possible. it's nothing like high school where adequately doing everything asked of you resulted in a guaranteed a. here you're being judged on your ability to go beyond the requisite evidence of knowledge. </p>
<p>it's harder to get a's at wesleyan than it is at some ivies, for sure. a government professor who had taught at yale the previous year told his class that he would be grading harder at wes. apparently the department informed him that he couldn't be handing out a's like candy like is common in new haven. </p>
<p>all this also depends on your department, and the professor. some are much easier than others.</p>
<p>ok, first of all, you need to realise that just because cornell and brown are ivies does not mean the education is harder. at each school you have to work fairly hard to get the grades you want. at each school, there are easier classes and harder classes, and the grades you get are a result of the amount of work you put in, the kind of professor you get, and the type of class you take. i heard from my intro to archaeology teacher that about 50% of Wesleyan gets As (or something like that.. I actually think it was more than that, but it was AT LEAST 50%) - roughly the same amount that Harvard gets. While I am not a premed/science major, two of my friends are (they are coincidentally going out): one studies a lot and seems to alays have a lot of work to do, the other doesn't study as much. thus, it mainly depends on you.</p>
<p>but you should really get this notion out of your head that wesleyan should somehow be easier than cornell/brown/etc just because the other college is classified as an ivy. unless you're talking about U Chicago because those kids study like crazy.</p>
<p>thanks! you guys were all EXTREMELY helpful! I'm so glad CC exists, otherwise I'd have no one to go to for this kind of information :) (esp the one who posted that was a neuro major, I'm looking to go into neurology actually!)</p>