Grade Deflation Coming to Pomona

Colleges and Universities A-Z Pomona College
1

<p>To Pomona students, parents, community members -- what is the general feeling about Pomona's declared determination to lower students' grades, beginning with the fall semester 2011?</p>

<p>My son was seriously considering Pomona until this initiative came to light. The community's history of fostering cooperation among students was immensely appealing to him. Now, he doesn't want to apply. His high school has grade quotas and, in his experience, it has been substantively destructive to the culture of the school. Students are much less motivated to help one another on homework, prior to exams, etc. Some sabotaging. A fair amount of cheating. Many negatives have appeared at his high school since the limit on A's in each class was communicated to teachers.</p>

<p>Princeton has undertaken a "war on grade inflation" as well. See this article in the NY Times, which reveals that the grading policy has become the #1 source of student unhappiness, at 32%. At</a> Princeton University, Grumbling About Grade Deflation - NYTimes.com</p>

<p>When Pomona accepts students who are dazzlingly qualified, (an almost unequaled percentage of National Merit Scholars, AP Scholars, etc.) why are they asserting they have too many "A" students? If the Administration wants more "B" and "C" students, shouldn't they be welcomed at the point of admissions?</p>

<p>It seems that one particular professor has been leading the "grade deflation" initiative at Pomona, according to this article. Curriculum</a> Committee Proposes New Grade Definitions | The Student Life I've looked him up on Rate</a> My Professors | Find and rate your professor, campus and more - RateMyProfessors.com, and the students describe his teaching as "scattered, disorganized," "extremely unstructured," and "worst teacher I've ever had." I have to wonder whether he is justifying his low enrollments with the assertion that he simply grades the students more harshly and so they avoid him, the other professors have fallen for the grade inflation gambit, yada yada. In other words, perhaps he is simply protecting his job -- and his abysmal teaching -- in trying to say the institution has a pervasive cultural problem. If so, I wish the community had the courage to defend itself.</p>

<p>Supportive educational communities, in which the students truly dedicate themselves to one another's success, are increasingly rare -- and often take decades to build and nurture. Often they can be "deconstructed" in a few short years. Truly sad to see it happen at Pomona. These talented students will be hurt in their applications to grad school -- and, just as significantly, in the increasingly rigorous quest for post-college employment.</p>

<p>Thoughts, anyone?</p>

2

<p>At least in the humanities and social sciences, grades at Pomona are A for good, B for bad. A large proportion of students are clustered at the top of the GPA scale, depriving it of any usefulness, but that seems to be pretty much par for the course at most elite schools. So I think the Curriculum Committee is trying to give grades some actual meaning, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.</p>

<p>As for the culture at Pomona, it couldn’t be less competitive. Most students are absolutely willing to help each other out. Grades and GPA aren’t discussed. Collaborative is the word I would use instead of competitive.</p>

<p>Finally, I would encourage your son to make his decision based on more than a single TSL article. Grades, in general, and especially this “initiative” are not big factors in life on campus. Pomona is a great school, and if your son is interested, he should at least send an application.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for your response, JB. Having had some experience in higher ed administration, I know that curriculum committees usually aim for quantifiable change – hence, my question. I would not expect that grade deflation would be a big factor in life on campus given that it has not yet been implemented. The program begins in the autumn 2011. That said, I appreciate your thoughts on the collaborative culture at Pomona heretofore. (My son noted this right away during his visit to campus.) Would the school feel as supportive if the Administration issued guidelines to each department limiting the percentage of A’s, as Dean of the College at Princeton has done? My son’s high school underwent a very rapid change in culture after quotas were introduced – so, it’s more than a hypothetical concern for him.</p>

4

<p>It doesn’t sound like they’re putting any sort of limits on how many A’s can be given out, or instituting a curve. It sounds like they’re just trying to put definitions on what does and does not deserve an A, for the benefit of the professors, though the article is too vague to be certain.</p>

<p>This is the kind of policy that, if implemented correctly, could be great, but if implemented poorly, could prove disastrous.</p>

5

<p>Whole-heartedly agree. I gather the 35% cap at Princeton was not communicated to students directly – but rather, leaked out over time. My concern lies partly in the fact that Pomona students will be excluded from segments of the discussion regarding implementation. Absent a curve, why would this be the case? To quote from the article in The Student Life, “According to Silverman, as the process continues, students will be involved in the curriculum committee, but probably not in the department discussions and drafting of elaborations of the grade definitions.” </p>

<p>My suspicions are partly aroused due to an earlier article from The Student Life in which quotas are mentioned. Here’s another comment from the lead committee member – ". . . the committee may present disincentives for classes with high average grades, and incentives for normalizing the grades, though exactly what those might be remains uncertain.</p>

<p>A final option is to impose strict rules on classes, such as a maximum average grade or maximum number of As allowed per class. This strategy has already been implemented on other campuses —Wellesley College imposed a maximum average GPA for its classes, and Dartmouth imposed curves that necessitate a certain percentage of As per class.</p>

<p>Silverman believes the accepted solution will likely involve some combination of these strategies." <a href=“Anti Film-Bro: Can Greta Gerwig save Barbie? - The Student Life”>Anti Film-Bro: Can Greta Gerwig save Barbie? - The Student Life;

<p>So, I must assume that the picture may be a bit different than students are currently being told. Time will tell, but I think it is incumbent on potential applicants to ask some very direct questions of the Administration regarding the details of the new policy.</p>

<p>If students/parents are visiting campus, please let us know what you learn!</p>

6

<p>As the parent of a Pomona sophomore, I have been following discussions pertaining to this issue both here and in the Student Life with great interest.</p>

<p>I agree that the manner in which the college introduces and implements this dubious and in my opinion unnecessary policy will be key. Quite honestly, I consider it a misguided waste of time, and more crucially, a potentially damaging handicap on the future prospects of those students who attend Pomona.</p>

<p>Those who yard out historical records showing average GPA creep over the last 30-40 years as “proof” of endemic institutional grade inflation neglect to consider the main driving factor behind that rise in GPA: the exponential growth during that time of college enrolment and the fierce competition for limited spaces within elite colleges across the country. As more and more students are expected and encouraged to attend college, government backed loans and scholarships that allow them to do so grow increasingly plentiful, and cut-throat competition within the national job markets fosters the college rankings game and vaults Ivy and elite colleges such as Pomona onto an insanely high selectivity, limited enrolment pedestal, only the very best need apply. And diversity initiatives notwithstanding, only the best (in the majority) gain admission. </p>

<p>Gone are the days when decent marks, family connections, and/or the ability to write a cheque would get you into these hallowed halls. Now, 2300+ SATs, 4.0+ GPAs, demonstrated musical and sports ability, and thousands of hours of community service are still no guarantee you will get into the elite schools. Many college-educated parents from the 60s, 70s and 80s have freely admitted they would not have been qualified to attend their own esteemed alma maters had the admissions criteria been as strict when they were applying back in the day. So then, why is it a surprise to anyone that when you fill a small, private, elite liberal arts college such as Pomona with 380 or so proven high achievers each year, a high percentage of them tend to do well in their studies? How can you properly Bell Curve the cream of the crop? And why would you want to, given that it will clearly put them at a disadvantage when they are vying for graduate and professional school admissions post-graduation against students from public schools and other institutions that do not share the counter-intuitive desire to handicap their best and brightest?</p>

<p>I have written before that if you carefully and intentionally select a handful of diamonds representing only the finest cut, clarity and colour, and they are as a group clearly superior to the widely variable cohort from which they were chosen, it is foolish in the extreme to then decide that only some arbitrary number within that group are worthy of being designated “top quality”, especially when compared to the larger sample from which they were culled.</p>

<p>The fact that Princeton wants to do it doesn’t make it right, and I would suggest that their grade “inflation” over the years appears more egregious only because in the past 50 years they have clearly shifted more than most from an East Coast high society, legacy-based, plutocratic-skewed admissions policy to a creme de la creme (diversity-leavened, of course) academic meritocracy. </p>

<p>I suggest it might be more instructive to plot admissions percentage (selectivity) and/or percentage of the general population attending college (competition quotient) against GPA “inflation” over that same time period.</p>

7

<p>I neglected to mention that I also agree that implementing that policy may very well change the admirable culture of the school.</p>

<p>I have found Pomona students to be preternaturally uninterested in their classmates’ marks. In fact, the joyous spirit of friendship and intellectual collaboration with which they approach their studies is the main reason we chose Pomona over other more high profile options.</p>

<p>Turning that supportive environment into a “winner take all” academic cage match cannot help but have severe repercussions for all concerned.</p>

8

<p>Pomona has class rank. Letters were sent out this summer congratulating members of the freshman class who were in the top 10%. Some students who did not get straight A’s received letters. Clearly, Pomona’s current grading system has enough resolution to differentiate something. If that means that a 3.5 is average and a 3.8 is at the top, what’s the harm? All students benefit when dealing with people/organizations who care about the absolute level of GPA, and top students do even better when GPA relative to school average is measured.</p>

9

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>What is the latest with grade deflation? My DD is interested in applying, but might switch of this policy is accurate.</p>

10

<p>My son just finished his freshman year in some very challenging courses and did not have a problem with grade deflation. Your son would be doing a grave disservice to himself by not applying to this terrific school. His professors have all been excellent and bent over backwards to be supportive.</p>

11

<p>Well, I just finished a year dealing with the “grade deflation”, and it didn’t bother me. Ha, I didn’t even know about it. I mean, people still helped each other out. I personally can recall many late night study sessions of Japanese. I know my roommate would definitely attest to the late night Biology study sessions. </p>

<p>My advice for your son is not to let this stop him from applying. Pomona is a great school.</p>

12

<p>Does anyone know if this new grade deflation policy is being followed? What exactly is the new policy? How has it affected student stress, happiness, cooperation, willingness to try new subject areas, job placement, grad school admissions, etc? Pomona sounds like a wonderful school but this does not seem like a positive step.</p>

13

<p>I can only speak for DS in saying that, while he works quite hard in his classes, he seems to feel that all are able to excel. The campus culture is terrifically cooperative, and I don’t think anyone wants to relinquish that! The average student is extremely bright and remarkably willing to work with and help support the growth of other students.</p>

14

<p>I really do think we students would riot if Pomona’s uniquely helpful community were diminished by a rigid policy concerning grades. I’m in my first year, but I haven’t encountered any strict curves in classes. While it’s true that each Pomona professor institutes their own policies, and it’s also true that Pomona classes are challenging, I have found that all students are encouraged to master the material and those who do are rewarded for the journey.</p>