Grade Deflation

Colleges and Universities A-Z McGill University
1

<p>Has anyone come across an reputable article or other reference to grade deflation at McGill? It would be nice to include it in applications to grad schools and jobs.</p>

2

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<p>are you a current student or future student, because to be honest, adding this information to an application (without an official mcgill seal) would be detrimental to your applications</p>

3

<p>i agree but its very frustrating how unlike schools like princeton, mcgill doesnt publicize its grade deflation policies</p>

4

<p>Grade deflation at mcgill is kind of a myth. The school is harder than U.S. schools with comparable selectivity. The school is not as hard as MIT or U Chicago. A lot of kids at McGill would score very low on the SATs if tested. These weaker students bring down class averages.</p>

5

<p>wrong. blanket statement with no factual basis.</p>

6

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<p>wutangfinancial likes blanket statements… He might be partially right about the SATs though, as most local students would not have studied to these tests, but it is a moot point. Having seen the kind of questions they ask on SATs, AP calculus tests and GREs, they’ve got a significant amount of useless material (e.g. AP calculus asking for definite integral with no closed form, thus requiring the use of graphic calculator). In math and the sciences, cegep students generally come to McGill much better prepared than their American counterparts.</p>

7

<p>SAT prep has become a major industry in the US: books, classes and coaches are used by students who can afford it in order to raise their test scores.</p>

8

<p>I could be wrong. But i see very little good data to support the whole grade deflation thing since there’s no study that controls for student ability-the fact that average GPAs are lower doesn’t mean much and shouldn’t scare away students. Also, knowing transfers from other schools, those transferring from top 50 US schools (financial reasons) did not find the faculty of arts grading any harder. Science and engineering could be different. </p>

<p>Also, it really depends on major. IDS gives really high grades…honours econ not so much</p>

9

<p>Isn’t the class average on the transcript anyway?</p>

<p>also - wutang were you in IDS? how do you know about IDS grading if I may ask?</p>

10

<p>How is it possible that “most kids being tested on the SAT would bring the average down”? Looking at the applicants (on this website and friends from college), I’d say most are in the 1900-2300 range. How can you consider that to be bad? Plus, most students admitted to McGill are also admitted to top US and Canadian schools.</p>

11

<p>yea. Can someone discuss IDS grading? I’d be interested in knowing how easy/difficult the major is</p>