I’m trying to find out which top tier schools in the northeast (ivies, small liberal arts colleges, etc with acceptance rates up to 40%) practice grade inflation and which schools practice grade deflation. Any information or links would be appreciated.
Thanks!!
Try doing a search on it in CC and you’ll get some results.
Brown is known for grade inflation; Princeton for grade deflation. Also, I’ve read William and Mary has grade deflation.
Holy Cross, grade deflation.
The only comprehensive source I’ve seen on the topic is Boalt Law’s chart for the adjustment of GPAs, which is now 20 years old and therefore of dubious accuracy. All of the Ivies and many similarly elite colleges received an upward bump on their GPA, whereas less selective colleges like the Cal States received a downward bump.
http://web.archive.org/web/20000829094953/http://www.pcmagic.net/abe/gradeadj.htm
Applicants from the following colleges received upward bumps in their GPA:
89.5 Swarthmore
89 Williams
88.5 Duke
88 Carleton / Colgate
87.5 Johns Hopkins
87 Chicago / Dartmouth / Wesleyan
86.5 Cornell / Harvard
86 Middlebury / Princeton
85.5 Bates / MIT
85 Haverford / Pomona / UVA
84.5 Amherst / Reed / Vanderbilt / W&M
83.5 Bowdoin / Tufts / Vassar
83 Bryn Mawr / Hamilton / Oberlin / Penn / Rice
82.5 Claremont McKenna / Yale
82 Brandeis / Northwestern
81.5 Colby / Michigan / Notre Dame
81 Wash U
80.5 Barnard / Columbia / Stanford
80 Brown / Georgetown / Smith / Wellesley
79.5 Emory / UNC Chapel Hill / Whitman
79 Rochester
I think the overwhelming trend is toward grade inflation, particularly at “better” schools. Those that already had high grades have perhaps experienced less. Of the schools you mentioned at the beginning, I think they all have experienced inflation. Princeton has been trying to control, but was starting from a high average GPA to start. W&M has had grade inflation, and average GPAs are pretty high.
I’ve seen evidence that there is grade inflation in high school as well, particularly in college preparatory tracks.
@TiggerDad From the video: “The Ivies no longer embrace rich dunderheads.” =))
And, “maybe the excellent sheep have lackadaisical shepherds…” =D>
If a school is full of kids who were top students in high school, and continue to be top students in college, is that really grade inflation? Or does that simply reflect that the kids are achievers and unlikely to earn many bad grades?
@OHMomof2 I had the same thought. If you get into an Ivy or a top school, you’re a pretty great student to begin with so why wouldn’t that continue in college?
“If a school is full of kids who were top students in high school, and continue to be top students in college, is that really grade inflation? Or does that simply reflect that the kids are achievers and unlikely to earn many bad grades?”
You will have students with differing abilities, not everyone will not be top students, academically anyway. If you have a college with 30-34 ACT say for their 25%-75%, you’re going to have students with mid 20s and some in 35-36, a big difference.
Even if you have these great students, not everyone is going to do well in say mechanics or organic chemistry, and you don’t want someone who got a D in those classes to be allowed to continue into civil engineering where they could be building a bridge or medicine.
Cal Tech has a lot of really smart kids, and a bunch get below 3.0.
Not giving less than C is an obvious inflate. I hope we let OP figure out where that applies, not spoon it to him.
But yes, 4.0 from an inflation school will mostly impress only friends and family.
thank you for all the information everyone!!