<p>Princeton is pretty infamous for Grade Deflation...
and it's honestly repelling me from applying.
I LOVE Princeton. Everything about it...except for grade deflation.
I want to major in International Relations at Woody Woo and later go to Law School at Harvard or Yale.
I was wondering...do graduate schools (Law Schools especially) take into account that Princetonians' grades are deflated whereas their peers at other schools may be inflated?</p>
<p>Thanks !</p>
<p>(I know there are several threads on CC discussing grade deflation...but most of the responses are highly opinionated, vary in answers, and don't seem to be substantiated with any hard evidence. I may have missed some so please direct me if there are other threads.)</p>
<p>My general impression, from what I’ve read online, is that grade deflation hurts a little bit but not to a drastic extent. And the University does try to address their grading policy, how ever helpful that may be.</p>
<p>I wish I could find the statistics that I saw last year, but I can’t get my hands on them right now. Princeton undergrads who apply to Harvard and Yale law get into those schools at a rate that is significantly higher than the overall admissions rate but is lower than the rate at which they admit their own undergraduates (this happens everywhere; law schools like to admit their own undergrads). Princeton sends out a letter explaining the grading policy with every transcript (<a href=“Search Opportunities | Human Resources”>Search Opportunities | Human Resources), and if anyone knows that Princeton’s grading policy differs from that at every other school, it’s professional schools to which Princetonians regularly apply. I don’t think statistics (e.g. average GPA of admitted students from each school) have been released that show exactly how much admissions committees take this into account. This the best info I have for you: [Post-graduation</a> data - Office of the Dean of the College](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/odoc/faculty/grading/postdegree/]Post-graduation”>http://www.princeton.edu/odoc/faculty/grading/postdegree/)</p>
<p>My advice though is to take this all one step at a time. If you really love Princeton, at least apply. You have nothing to lose there. And if you feel that Princeton is your best option after all the letters come out and decision time rolls around, go to Princeton. Who knows - you may decide that the last place you want to end up is in law school. Just know that going to Princeton will not keep you out of any law school, but it will open a lot of doors for you.</p>
<p>Grade deflation was originally intended to standardize grading across departments since humanities and social science departments were giving higher grades than science departments. The effects on grading in science classes have been less noticeable as a result of the policy’s design. You can look here for more data: [FAQ</a> -*Office of the Dean of the College](<a href=“Grading at Princeton | Office of the Dean of the College”>Grading at Princeton | Office of the Dean of the College)</p>
<p>Do not, I repeat, do not come to Princeton if you are set on law school. The average GPA of Princeton students admitted to HLS and YLS last year was around a 3.86. This is almost equivalent to phi Beta Kappa, from what I’ve heard, so unless you’re confident you would be among the top 10 percent of Princeton students, look elsewhere.</p>
<p>@Ivan, where did you get those numbers? I’m not challenging you or discrediting you; I am just curious, because I am wondering what the average GPA of Princeton students to get accepted into top 10 medical schools.</p>
<p>As you can see per Tide’s above link, our rates of getting into pre-career schools (pre-law/business/med) have not been drastically affected in a negative fashion by grade deflation. As it says in the above link, “Moreover, both before and after the institution of the grading policy, between one-quarter and one-third of the Princetonians going to medical school in any given year have elected to enroll at one of the Top 10 schools.” Those are incredibly powerful statistics; let’s take 2011 for example. 120 people applied to medical school from Princeton; 1/4 and 1/3 of that corresponds to 30-40 people, meaning 30-40 Princeton students out of the 120 that apply every year ENROLL in a top 10 medical school. That doesn’t even include people who get into a top 10 medical school but for various reasons decide to go to other schools (financial, location, etc.) I know you were talking about law schools, but our stellar performances to medical school should correlate well to our performances in other graduate areas as well.</p>
<p>You aren’t likely to be a candidate for Harvard or Yale law school coming from anywhere unless you are Phi Beta Kappa at your undergraduate institution. I promise you that a student who is Phi Beta Kappa at Princeton has a better shot at Harvard or Yale law schools than people coming from anywhere else besides Harvard and Yale themselves.</p>
<p>@stridegumisbest: The law school adviser keeps a list of average GPAs for students accepted to the top law schools. I don’t remember the numbers offhand, but suffice it to say that they were quite high. For what it’s worth, the average LSAT score for HLS, SLS, and YLS admits was somewhere in the 172/173 range.</p>