<p>I just read on another forum that some science majors practice significant grade deflation (very difficult to get better than a B). My S is interesting in studying ecology and evolutionary biology and is considering medical school or other grad school, so his undergraduate grades will be important. Anyone have any thoughts on this?</p>
My son just finished his first semester with an A in E-bio and an A- in Chem. He studied hard and was an attentive student, but was hardly a monk, and his high school was a run of the mill small town Texas public high school. He really liked his Science professors and was very engaged. I think if your son likes the subject matter, and is motivated, he will do well. Professors like kids who communicate and are engaged. My son had one bomb test in Chemistry, and was very worried about his final grade, but he finished strong (I think it was a good scare).
I think the rumors of grade deflation are a myth started by students that just didn’t study hard enough. I have known many dozens of students that are Like the son of @Moonmaid and have done very well in their science courses with normal study habits. Living in Monroe/Sharp, going out on weekends, joining a few clubs, etc. They just are sure to carve out the time needed to get the assignments done, often they form study groups to facilitate learning, and they shut down the partying around mid-terms and finals. Pretty common sense stuff.
I will also add that at worst the profs will use a normal curve to distribute grades so there would always be a reasonable number of A’s and A-'s, but I have heard that most of them, and probably all of them actually, are somewhat more generous than that. They are not there to see Tulane students fail, but at the same time they aren’t in the business of just passing students through when they don’t deserve it. In other words, I have really never heard of a chem or bio prof, the ones I hear the most about, not being fair about grades. Now there are one or two in each department that the kids seem to think are better at teaching than others, although not surprisingly they cannot really even agree on which those are. But that has more to do with teaching delivery, not grading. I know one of the Organic Chem profs was voted one of the best teachers on campus.