<p>Hmm, is it realy competitive at Pomona or is it really collaborative?</p>
<p>and is getting a good gpa (3.5+ or i guess like 10.5+) readibly attainable at pomona? or does it have grade deflation tendencies that make people study like mad?</p>
<p>People here are driven, but laid back… i know lots of hard workers, but they don’t compete with each other for grades like many people on the east coast do (I know because I grew up there). Instead, they push themselves to do well. People are generally encouraging of one another and generally interested in each other’s work. </p>
<p>In terms of grade inflation, it’s hard to say. I’d say that while I make good grades, I have had to work hard to get them for the most part (save for a few intro level survey classes) and I don’t think it’s a big problem. We probably don’t have grade deflation, though. You can work as much or as little as you choose, but this is a school full of smart kids. most of us are passionate about our studies and will do the work needed to succeed. we are not like a uchicago or similar type of school which has a reputation for studying all the time, though. we know how to relax!</p>
<p>I would say it is more collaborative. My daughter had study groups set up within the first week of classes and I know they stuck to it.</p>
<p>FWIW, very few people tackle math/science/econ problem sets alone, it seems like everyone at least works with a partner or a small group. Grading is not on a curve, and in my experience, the teachers each encourage students to collaborate on the homework (simply requesting that they “write it up” for themselves)</p>
<p>In terms of GPA: If you are committed to doing well, you will find your niche and do so. You might not get a 12, but rare is the class where the A is unattainable if you are willing to work for it. A+'s are a little trickier…</p>
<p>brassmonkey:
what’s a 12? Ya’ll don’t use the 4.0 scale to calculate GPAS? please explain! :)</p>
<p>Just divide (multiply) by 3. </p>
<p>It’s basically the 4.0 scale, but an A is 12, an A- is 11, B+ is 10, and so forth. This has nothing to do with admissions, just while you’re here. </p>
<p>If you’re curious why:</p>
<p>It’s because there isn’t a non-repeating decimal equivalent of 1/3.</p>
<p>For example, say you took 4 classes in a semester, and got two B-'s and two B+'s. With the twelve scale, this is simply [(8+8)+(10+10)] /4 = 9.0 average which is a B. When you divide by 3, this converts to a GPA of 3.0 for the semester.</p>
<p>With B- = 2.66, and B+ = 3.33 you get [(2.66+2.66)+(3.33+3.33)]/4 = 2.995. It’s trivial, but it makes sense from a mathematical point of view. </p>
<p>Similarly if you have B+ = 3.4 and B- = 2.6 (to try to get them to sum to non-repeating decimals), then you implicitly favor ‘plus’ grades over ‘minus’ grades. </p>
<p>The 12-point scale just makes the most sense, and it’s so easy to convert (just divide by 3) that it doesn’t cause any confusion with grad programs/jobs, who are familiar with our use of it anyway. I’d imagine most Pomona students list their GPA on a 4-point scale on their resume either way, and our transcripts show both.</p>
<p>My school uses a 12-point scale, and everyone’s grades still have nasty strings of decimals. I would actually prefer the 4-point scale, just because it’s more commonly used, and you don’t have to explain to people how the 12-point scale works :)</p>
<p>hmm, what would the avg gpa at pomona be? is a 10/11 avg usually attainable?</p>
<p>Here’s a site from another thread with average GPAs (out of 4 :))
<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com/Pomona.html[/url]”>http://www.gradeinflation.com/Pomona.html</a></p>
<p>The average GPA is between a 10 (B+) and an 11 (A-)</p>
<p>No one asked me ever about my grades unless I brought up the question of my GPA with regards to grad school and jobs.</p>
<p>It’s that type of school where everyone’s pretty self-motivated and collaborative. People aren’t interested in under cutting others; in fact it’s considered bad form to do that. Likewise, people aren’t overly interested in bragging about themselves. I had to ask so many questions to find out how talented and accomplished all of my classmates were.</p>
<p>^Spot on^ </p>
<p>People are quietly modest about their achievements, and then you hear something incredible about someone you know pretty well, and you’re like WHAT?!?</p>