I know the academics are tough at Grinnell, but can anyone tell me if they practice grade deflation? Graduate school is part of my daughter’s plan and I want her to factor that into her decision. I know of a kid who went to a school that practiced grade deflation, and he felt that it really impacted him getting into law school.
I would say that the courses here all has their challenges, but if you really work hard, there’s no problem for you to get an A- or A. By work hard, I mean maybe 6 hours of paper writing on Saturdays and Sundays.
What is “grade deflation”?
Common belief among college students that their college or major department gives lower grades than other colleges or departments for the same quality of student work.
This begs the question, “Deflation compared to what school?”
hmmm… as a current student, i would say grade deflation isn’t present at grinnell, but grade inflation isn’t present either. you get the grade for the work you put in, and the open curriculum allows you to take classes that peak your interest.
the workload can be harsh, however, especially if you fill your schedule with a majority of STEM classes (p-sets, lab preparation, tests, etc.) or a majority of social sciences/humanities courses (research papers, readings, projects, etc.), which is why advisors encourage students to take a healthy balance of classes that span the disciplines.
grinnell is harder than your typical state school, but arguably no harder than most of our peer institutions (i say most because i don’t really know much about st. olaf), which you can find here: https://www.grinnell.edu/about/offices-services/institutional-research/peer-schools
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