<p>I love the College of William and Mary. It is my first choice school, but someone recently told me that it is nearly impossible to get excellent grades there and that you may get a B or C in a class that would have been an A anywhere else. Is this true? How bad is the grade deflation at william and mary?</p>
<p>What’s wrong with a B? </p>
<p>I’ve heard it’s hard to get all A’s, but that getting a mix of A’s and B’s is not hard if you actually work.</p>
<p>you can get B’s without too much trouble.</p>
<p>If you want a 4.0, go somewhere else. Roughly 1 person (sometimes 0, sometimes 2 or 3) graduates each year with a 4.0.</p>
<p>I’ve seen somewhere that the all-college GPA is 3.2 or so. Sounds okay to me, but it you think that’s low then you just have to hope that employers, grad schools, et al., have the sense to realize that W&M doesn’t admit many dummies. Some will and some won’t.</p>
<p>It is a pet peeve of mine that people refer to “grade deflation” at a school when average grades are actually staying constant or rising. The site [National</a> Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities](<a href=“http://gradeinflation.com/]National”>http://gradeinflation.com/) has data on average GPA and changes in average GPA at William and Mary and a host of other schools. Suffice to say, there has been a steady upward movement in the average GPA at William and Mary.</p>
<p>The deflation refers to the GPAs with respect to other schools. I attended Lehigh when our grades were well below those of other comparable colleges, so I’ve been there, done that. There are companies that won’t interview students, and grad schools that won’t admit applicants, who had undergrad GPAs below specified levels. Some of them will make allowances for your college’s grading scale – most won’t. I consider that those who worry about it have a valid concern.</p>
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<p>Let me be clear upfront that I am not arguing with the proposition that William and Mary has stricter grading standards than many peer institutions. However, based on the study I mentioned, William and Mary had one of the highest rates of grade inflation in the sample. There are many reason why that study is not the final word (unrepresentative sample, differences in baseline grades, no controls for student quality, etc.), but it is what it is. </p>
<p>My point was merely a semantic one—people use the term “grade deflation” when they should be speaking of “low grades” or “high standards.”</p>
<p>Anyone asking about “grade deflation” is almost certainly defining that as “relative to other schools”, not “relative to 1990 grading standards”, or “rate of change in average GPA’s over time”, which is, more or less, the definition as coined (maybe) by the guy who makes a study of this subject at the website of the same name. </p>
<p>Of course, that’s only <em>his</em> definition, I’m not sure there’s a Webster’s definition of the term. </p>
<p>Anyway, I’d suggest someone considering attending W&M next year and who asks about “grade deflation” almost certainly doesn’t care what the rate-of-change in GPA over the last decade is - what they’re asking is “With everything else being equal, will my GPA be dramatically different at W&M, vice UVA or Harvard or Princeton?”</p>
<p>And we know the reason they’re asking - for grad school admission, who may or may not take undergrad grading policies into account. </p>
<p>So, yeah, it’s arguable that they’re misusing the term - but there’s a reason “semantic” sounds so much like “pedantic” … ;)</p>
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<p>If you take issue with someone who says that the Earth is a sphere, you are being pedantic. If you take issue with someone who says that the Earth is a cube, you are not.</p>
<p>My freshman is not doing well grade wise in W&M. 1st Semester jitters, freedom, stupidity and a bad choice of course - all contributed to a horrible GPA (2.0) and academic probabtion. I have heard that a 3.00 in W&M is about a 3.5 in UVA. Dont know the truth behind that. But yes, from all indications, W&M is a tough place to get easy high grades. Hoepfully employers and higher-studies schools are aware of this if in fact it is true.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t go that far with the GPA… but W&M is well respected among employers and graduate schools. They know what they are getting when they take someone with a W&M degree.</p>
<p>About a third of all grades are some form of an A, either A or A minus.</p>
<p>this is relevant to the thread</p>
<p>[William</a> & Mary - Grades](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/offices/registrar/studentrecords/grades/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/offices/registrar/studentrecords/grades/index.php)</p>
<p>All prospective college students should keep in mind that while many are expected to get a 4.0 or higher in high school, that is not a reasonable expectation for college. The rigor and challenge is accelerated and straight As should not be the goal; learning should be. At W&M, we admit only those who are capable of being successful students. 10-15% of W&M students graduates with an A- average or higher so certainly As are far from impossible but professors will expect you to earn your grades. The students who enroll at W&M are not looking to cakewalk through college and as such they will appreciate whatever grades they earn but know that good grades are certainly doable at W&M</p>