<p>It may be hard to get into Harvard, but it's easy to get out without learning much of enduring value at all. A recent graduate's report</p>
<p>At the beginning of every term Harvard students enjoy a one-week "shopping period," during which they can sample as many courses as they like and thus—or so the theory goes—concoct the most appropriate schedule for their semesters. There is a boisterous quality to this stretch, a sense of intellectual possibility, as people pop in and out of lecture halls, grabbing syllabi and listening for twenty minutes or so before darting away to other classes.</p>
<p>BLUE ABOUT THE CRIMSON PLAN FOR GENERAL EDUCATION</p>
<p>February, 2006</p>
<p>The Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences is poised to approve an embarrassing retreat in general education. The committee charged with reforming the current Core Curriculum has instead abandoned the whole idea. In its place, the committee recommends only a minimum distribution requirement for undergraduates-three courses in each of three fields. Since undergraduates will major in one of these fields, this means a distribution requirement of six courses chosen from hundreds offered by faculty in their various disciplines.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Harvard is harder to get into than graduate from.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>People say that about every top college. In any case, college is what you make of it. If you try hard, you will be challenged. If you want to cruise through, you can (although the Harvard definition of "cruise" is different than it is elsewhere :)).</p>
<p>Back in the fall of 2001, Tufts Dean Charles Inouye told the Tufts Daily News that grade inflation at Harvard was “just another symptom of their culture of arrogance—image over substance.” And he went further. “Everybody in the business knows just how little Harvard students work,” he asserted. “They’re essentially a lazy bunch. A lot of them aren’t even that smart.”</p>
<p>At the time, Inouye’s remarks aroused the ire of a vast contingent of Harvardians, and students took up their own defense through a barrage of letters to the Daily and the Dean’s Office. One outraged Crimson columnist even employed the power of the press. In “The Harvard Syndrome,” published November 5, 2001, he argued that “the acknowledged fact that some Harvard students are lazy” and “the presence on campus of a few meatheads, legacies, and dim bulbs with bizarre talents” are used by the ignorant to draw unfair—and even blatantly false—generalizations about the University and its students.</p>
<p>Let's not put down harvard below other schools. It's still a top notch school in the US and the world, and I'm sure we all fully respect the institution and its academics. But let's just know that a harvard education isn't necessarily way better than other schools. </p>
<p>Just like it was said before: it's what you make of it.</p>
<p>In general, I get so frustrated when people talk about grade inflation at Harvard. Sure very few people fail here, but did you ever think that maybe if the admissions department takes the top 9% of applicants in the US (and it's actually much lower than that b/c that's the top 9% of the one's who are even enough in the ballpark to apply) that we just may have kids who would be getting high grades at any other school? It's the same problem every elite school faces - how much do grades even mean when the average Harvard premed has a B+/A- GPA (as opposed to the A-/A GPA elsewhere in the country) but still scores in the top 20% of the country's premeds on the MCAT...</p>
<p>Thanks for the link to the Alfie Kohn article!</p>
<p>For what it's worth, the grade breakdown for MCB 80: Neurobiology of Behavior last year:</p>
<p>For those of you interested, here is a detailed list of the final grades from last year. This class is required of people in a Mind, Brain, Behavior track. Good mix of classes. Counts as a Science B core. Considered somewhat easy + had fantastic CUE ratings last year.</p>
<p>All A's (49%)
1.3% A+
19.9% A
28.2% A-
16.7% B+ All B's (47%)
17.9% B
12.2% B-
all C's (4%)
3.2% C+
0.6% C</p>
<p>I've always liked Alfie Kohn. However I have to admit I probably would have studied more for my structures exams in architecture school if we'd had letter grades on our transcripts!</p>
<p>I have visited its campus several times and am impressed with the people I met, and the facilities I saw. (The art museums on the Harvard campus are PHENOMENAL.) It's like the fox in Aesop's fable to say that Harvard is bad if you can't get admitted to Harvard.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I know a lot of people who know him, and it's very simple. Basically this guy is a giant douche. You'll find them at Harvard as you'll find them anywhere, and it shouldn't surprise anyone that a giant douche fails to get laid in college. The only way Harvard comes into the story at all is that it's the sole reason why a giant douche's story about not getting laid ever made it into print.
<p>First of all, those MCB 80 grades can't be accurate. The grade of A+ doesn't even exist at Harvard. Also, I would argue that Harvard students work a lot harder than the average undergraduate student. Most math classes at Harvard cover twice as much material as comparable courses at other schools. For instance, math 21b is a one-semester course that covers all of introductory undergraduate linear algebra, something most schools do in two semesters. Harvard expects a higher, maturer level of student work. It is especially strict in writing courses, where papers must have a clear, original, insightful idea about a subject, not simply consist of compare/contrast or regurgitation-style prose. The vast majority of Harvard students I know find Harvard quite challenging, and those that don't put in the time might still make it through, but certainly only with meagre grades. If grades at Harvard do border on high, it's because Harvard students are diligent, intelligent, and capable, not lazy.</p>
<p>Ehm, just<em>forget</em>me that was hilarious. I like the fact that you trust us enough to give us your pin, cuz otherwise there is no way of accessing the link u gave us!!!!</p>
<p>For those who are not Harvard students and cannot access the link, here it is: </p>
<p>Space allocation...
I have been able to upload today's lecture + questions in the calendar and download pages. All should be OK!</p>
<p>More info!
For those of you interested, here is a detailed list of the final grades from last year.
All A's (49%)
1.3% A+
19.9% A
28.2% A-
16.7% B+ All B's (47%)
17.9% B
12.2% B-
all C's (4%)
3.2% C+
0.6% C</p>
<p>MIDTERM KEY
The midterm key is now available online!</p>
<p>MIDTERM!
In summary (for a total of 92 points):
Mean: 69.09
Median: 70
Std. Dev: 8.77
Min: 28.5
Max: 85.5
There will be no curve grading for the midterm (see "histogram" file in midterm results box). Here is last year's approximate final grade distribution, although it won't be identical this year, it should give you a general idea of a grade distribution:
49 % As
47% Bs
4% Cs
Remember, your midterm is only 15% of the final grade and a key has been posted.</p>
<p>Journal articles available
All journal articles discussed in class are available on this webpage... take the time to look at them they will help you greatly! Jacinthe</p>
<p>QUIZ answers!
You would like to know what was the complete quiz answer for a particular week? Click on the link to the left of the webpage!</p>
<p>Lectures will not be videotaped. </p>
<p>Would you like to meet with one of the professors?
Professors Lichtman & Sanes are happy to meet with students by appointment. Please contact them by email if you would like to make an appointment.</p>
<p>Check out the Neuroanatomy link
To view on-line anatomy, try the "Neuroanatomy" link inside the "WWW Links" at left. Let us know if you find a better site!</p>
<p>Ah the old grades debate again. There will always be two sides to this issue, and both sides will take great offense at what the other side states.</p>
<p>Side 1: Harvard (and other top schools) have horribly inflated grades because it's just so much easier for the profs: they'd be swamped with complaints if they made the average grade something lower than a B/B+. Being at a place like Harvard is already giving folks a leg up: do they really need sparkling GPAs as well? Blasted Harvard.</p>
<p>Side 2: Well, these are the best and brightest in the nation, so why should they be penalized for this? Clearly Harvard offers a greater challenge, and a B student at Harvard would clearly be an A student somewhere else, so why should we penalize the students by making the average grade a B-/C+? Harvard rocks!</p>
<p>The truth: well, one thing that is true is that you have to try really, really hard to actually fail a class: profs are unwilling to do so because they have to jump through a couple of hoops to do it.</p>
<p>Thanks WindCloud for backing me up... I'm not sure what sort of conspiracy people seem to think I'm a part of. I posted the gated link because chrisiskey implied he was a Harvard student with a PIN. Sorry it's not accessible for all.</p>
<p>I thought that this thread would be about Harvard's social</a> scene rather than grade inflation. The Fun Czar has undoubtedly boosted the morale on campus since the report, so it too is probably "woefully out of date." :rolleyes:</p>