<p>I got accepted into Princeton, but also several other top schools, and I am trying to make the tough decision. I like Princeton a lot, and right now it's between Princeton and Yale, but one thing about Tigerland kind of scares me:</p>
<p>I've read on these boards and in news articles that Princeton executes a very stringent grading curve in which only the top ~30% of each class receive A's?? This seems kind of ridiculous and turns me off from the school. Is this policy still in place? It seems such a policy makes getting A's ridiculously hard.</p>
<p>The policy is only really felt in introductory classes and some intermediate social science / humanities classes. The hard sciences and math have been under that level for a while now (as it is at every school). However, I wouldn't not come to Princeton just because of grade deflation. It is a minor concern at best, and employers / graduate schools will not penalize you for it.</p>
<p>The grade deflation policy in a nutshell is the following:
35% of grades given in undergraduate courses are A's or A-'s.
55% of grades given for junior and senior independent work are A's or A-'s.</p>
<p>A's are definitely not something I take for granted. The policy doesn't bother me a great deal though because I know that employers and grad schools know the difference between a 3.9 at Princeton and a 3.9 at Harvard. The policy is also logically intuitive. If you go to Princeton, shouldn't you be held to higher standards?</p>
<p>Well, sometime they uphold it with too much rigidity. I remember seeing a visiting French professor crying because the head of the course forced her to give B+ to several students in her section while she argued in vain to give them A-. She was angry beyond belief.</p>
<p>If grades are your concern, Yale might be a better choice. However, many many graduate and professional schools understand and accept Princeton's policies and there has not been a great deal of negatively affected students.</p>
<p>Is the policy good? Not at all. And no other ivies are doing it. But the reasoning behind it is good (When Princeton surveyed graduate and professional schools, many responded positively to the idea of capping grades)</p>
<p>But visit both schools and see where you think the better fit would be. Grade deflation can help or hurt you. If you do well, it just attests even further to your strengths. If you don't do so well, thats not so good, but not so terrible either.</p>
<p>Until this year, I thought that it was a big problem, but I'm not so sure that that's the case. I got a job at a top 3 consulting firm with mediocre grade (3.5 ish which is average for princeton) and no experience to speak of. When I decided to go to graduate school instead, I was accepted into every graduate school that I applied to, and I only applied to top 10 schools. Many of my friends are going to top medical and law schools. It really seems that they do take into account princeton's grade deflation, at least enough to interview you and get your foot in the door.</p>