<p>Generally, how hard is the Georgetown grading system? Is it characteristically inflated like Harvard? How difficult are the classes? How good is undergrad teaching?</p>
<p>I've applied to some top 10 schools, but I'm seriously considering turning them down for GU even if I am accepted to them.</p>
<p>It depends. SFS core requirement classes have less grade inflation than gen-ed classes. The four required econ classes (micro, macro, itrade and ifinance) are especially notorious for being GPA-killers. The MSB has a bit of a reputation for being easier… and for being the place for jocks (there is grade inflation, lots of group work, and they dont have classes on friday). However, this is a broad generalization and this isn’t always the case. For example, my history 001 class (a gen ed) was very hard because the Professor graded very harshly. Conversely, I’ve had masters level classes at the SFS that were not as tough. </p>
<p>Although you will have one or two professors that are neither here nor there, undergrad teaching is overall very good. Professors are really invested in you even though they are super busy, and you will actually be taught by professors as opposed to teaching assistants (which I believe is the common complaint about undergrad teaching at some of the ivies). </p>
<p>As with every school, however, there are professors that are great and those that are really so-so… there are classes that are challenging but extremely rewarding… there are also classes that are known to be easy A’s… Ultimately, the choice comes down to you as the student. I have friends who scan ratemyprofessors.com searching for the easiest professors… and I have friends who do the exact opposite. Personally, I tried to balance my classes each semester with a mix of really tough but interesting classes that I wanted to take and medium difficulty classes in areas that I was not particularly interested in. </p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>Great, that does help. I will check out that website. I’m mainly interested in going to a school that will teach me the material I need to know… For some people, the degree in itself is the most important thing, but for me, the knowledge I acquire is, given the nature of what I want to be. Thanks though!</p>
<p>hi Muddled, sorry to hi-jack this thread sorta but I was wondering about the MSB atmosphere. Does having a lot of jocks make it high schoolish (jocks, popular kids, and everyone else)? Do people think it worsens the quality of the experience with people who are more concerned with their sport?</p>
<p>By jocks, are you referring to the Georgetown ballers?</p>
<p>Ok, I’d like to say something. I will be at MSB and will also be playing on the women’s golf team. Not saying that I’m an expert on Georgetown goings-on and the learning environment, but I’ve spent as much time investing my time in my education in high school as I’ve had on golf, as many other student-athletes have and continue to do while in college. I just wanted to put my two cents in because not many STUDENT-athletes have a voice on CC. It’s a bit offensive to characterize an entire group of people as merely “jocks.” Just because we’re extremely involved in an extra-curricular activity does not mean we put our education second on our list of priorities. Thanks</p>
<p>^I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to make that generalization- and I definitely believe there is a difference between a scholar-athlete and a football recruit on scholarship. Just wondering to what extent the “dumb jock” exists at MSB, because a lot of those athletes who got in through recruitment tend to choose a business administration major (according to my friends at USC Marshall, Cornell AEM, UT Austin, etc.). If I attend MSB next year, hoyagolfer, I will personally apologize to you!</p>
<p>What’s wrong with classifying an entire group of athletes as “jocks”? Isn’t an athlete a jock by definition? But you do say merely, so maybe “jock” just doesn’t tell the whole story. </p>
<p>I, too, am a jock. Not recruited as one, however. lol</p>
<p>@Hoyagolfer…Congratulations on choosing to be a Hoya! If I’m not mistaken, you recently down Yale and UPenn to come to Georgetown. Excellent decision.</p>
<p>I completely get where you were going with your post and agree with you. When one uses the term jock, there can be a certain negative stereotype conveyed. Student athletes in the MSB are like any other student athletes at the College, SFS or NHS… some are quite brilliant and others are not. The extraordinary amount of time that athletes must dedicate to practice, travel, conditioning etc. would leave the average student struggling. The MSB is no walk in the park and I commend those who able to balance the academic rigor and time commitment to be part of an athletic team. Although, I’m not quite sure what not having classes on Fridays has to do with rigor!!! They can slam plenty of work in Mon.-Thurs. </p>
<p>While ratemyprofessor.com can help with the overall quality of the professor, it doesn’t help a bit with the quality of TA that you might receive. TA’s typically grade much more harshly than the professor and which TA you get is really luck of the draw. So one students experience, in say Microeconomics, will vary greatly from another depending on the TA.</p>
<p>Edit</p>
<p>*recently turned down Yale and UPenn to come to Georgetown. Excellent decision! From one Hoya to another, I welcome you to the Hilltop!</p>
<p>Very nice post, MacHoban. You cleary “get it” with respect to the time committment required to be a top athlete in addition to a top student. And yes, in October Hoyagolfer did turn down acceptances at Yale and UPenn to have the honor of playing golf for and attending Georgetown. Most non-recruited students don’t understand that at top academic institutions students have to go through the exact same academic and testing admission rigors that non-student-athlete students do. In fact the coaches tell the recruits that they can do nothing to help the recruited athlete gain admission. The student-athlete has to get in on their own. I do not know if this is true for the “big” sports like basketball or football but it certainly is for most of the other sports. The only thing the coach does is ferry over the admissions documentation, etc, to the admissions office for an earlier than normal “go” or “no go” decision for the student-athlete. So in essence, the student-athlete will know in September or October if they have been accepted or not rather than having to wait until December 15 like the other EA students. With respect to scholarship, that is another mystery to most non-student athletes. Except for basketball and perhaps football, at most top academic institutions, there is no scholarship. Hoyagolfer will be paying full tuition. No scholarship of any kind. She could have had a full-ride scholarship to many, many other schools in the country but she choose to study hard and train hard during high school so that she could attend Georgetown, receive a top education, and hopefully represent the school proudly on the golf course.</p>
<p>@seahawks506: I know you really did not mean to give offensive to athletes in your original post as your follow-up post clearly indicated. However, if you do attend MSB next year do not worry about Hoyagolfer “bringing down the quality of the academic experience at MSB”. She was just informed this week that she earned the distinction of being her graduating class valedictorian. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Edit: *offense</p>
<p>Congratulations Hoyagolfer!
Sorry I didnt intend to offend anyone, I’m just trying to convey common perceptions of each school’s academic vigor. I’m not saying that the MSB is where all “the cool kids are.” Thankfully at Georgetown we don’t have that whole highschool division of the student body into cool, not cool, nerds, jocks, etc. Quite frankly, at college no one cares about that stuff. </p>
<p>There are quite a lot of student athletes at the MSB - not basketball players, but I’m talking specifically about football players and soccer players. Of course, I dont know the actual numbers, but this is one of the common perceptions.</p>
<p>As a whole, the MSB is considered to be less rigorous than the other schools. I’m not saying that the presence of student athletes worsens the quality of education at the MSB. But, given the nature of classes, the grading system and the fact that they dont have school on fridays, it is commonly perceived that the MSB is easier. I’m not saying that this is true across the board - I’m sure accounting and finance arent easy. </p>
<p>Keep in mind though that each school has a certain stereotype attached to it…and whether or not u want to believe it is up to u. </p>
<p>The SFS is known to be for megalomaniacs who want to rule the world and/or save the world. Meanwhile the MSB is known to be for wall street types who want to be rich. Of course these are just stereotypes, and we actually joke around about them, but they exist.</p>
<p>I have twin daughters–one in Georgetown’s SFS and the other at Yale. I would argue that Georgetown is more difficult. Mind you they have very different majors. GU seems to actually have some grade deflation with their grading policies. Certainly no inflation is evident. At least speaking for the SFS students, it’s rigorous! And yes, those darn econ classes definitely put a dent in my daughter’s GPA. She now has a boatload of B’s and B+'s thanks to those classes.</p>