<p>How is grading at Penn? Is it easy to get a high GPA? I know this question has been asked a thousand times...but I have a differnet question really"</p>
<p>How do the ivy league schools compare in terms of difficulty of attanining good grades. Is it easier to do better at Penn or Columbia, for example? Does anybody know enough about this to "rank" the difficulty of the ivies?</p>
<p>Difficulty varies by major, professor (or TA), course, and a whole array of other conditions. I don't think you will be able to get a good answer in this forum, but rather a series of rumor-infested hypothesis.</p>
<p>But your nick is quite charming, by the way.</p>
<p>nick?</p>
<p>and if rumor infested hypothesis is all that is out there, then i guess ill take it...</p>
<p>If you're so willing, here it goes: </p>
<p>Everybody at Harvard gets A's. It's ridiculous.
Everybody at Cornell gets F's. It's ridiculous.
Everybody at Penn gets F's~A's, depending on the school. Yeah, and it's quite ridiculous too.</p>
<p>there is definitely some grade inflation, especially in the college. i dont know how it compares to the other ivies, but i believe the average gpa is around a 3.5, which is quite good. it really does depend a lot on what youre taking too. if your number one concern is having a high gpa, you can definitely organize your schedule to make that possible. and many professors are quite..flexible with their grading, if you know what i mean.</p>
<p>I know some very not bright people, who through careful planning and research into easy classes/teachers were able to get high 3.8's.</p>
<p>I don't think Penn is particularly difficult - but then again I work really hard, too - and do have a C+ and a B to show for some mistakes I've made. But I'm in CAS.</p>
<p>I have plenty of Wharton and Engineering friends who would kill for just a 3.5</p>
<p>i have a friend at Penn who transferred from Engineering to the College after his freshman year because it was ridiculously hard to get good grades. for him, it was simply discouraging. he didn't love Penn less because of it, but he's definitely happy with the decision he made</p>
<p>how do u no which classes/professors are easiest?</p>
<p>Course shopping, asking older friends, enrolling in 5 classes and drop one after you do bad.</p>
<p>That's another thing students do to get high gpa's - take 4 classes. I consider them part time students.</p>
<p>lol Part 1: worry about getting in.
Part 2 : worry about surviving</p>
<p>^^agreed (10char)</p>
<p>I would say in order of difficulty and increasing GPA:
-Engineering
-CAS science and math majors (hard science not like BBB, cognitive studies, etc.)
-Wharton
-CAS humanities and social sciences</p>
<p>I don't really know about Nursing. Some people say it is hard and work all the time, others don't.</p>
<p>Throw in joint programs wherever you want.</p>
<p>Man... for awhile I was considering engineering and then I heard a quote about how
Wharton students start their weekends on Thursday
College students party hard
and the Engineering students don't see daylight</p>
<p>(sorry if I butchered that)
but yeah.</p>
<p>ha obviously, my whole reconsideration wasn't based on that quote alone... but jeez, I want a life.</p>
<p>I thought the same thing when I was applying to schools, and now I kinda wish I'd ignored all that because I think I would really enjoy the courses they take. Difficulty is just part of the equation. You'll also do better (by working more) in classes you enjoy. Chemistry is supposed to be deflated compared to social science/humanities courses, but it's my best class this semester, partly because I don't mind putting extra work into it.</p>
<p>With that said, I think it's very easy to be selective about classes in that you can pick easier professors with great flexibility. Sometimes getting a difficult professor is unavoidable (like Math 104, the equivalent of Calc BC) because it's hard to transfer between sections, but for the most part you're in control.</p>