<p>I was wondering if there is any grade inflation at this school, like at the college of natural sciences, and what is the average undergraduate gpa.?</p>
<p>There is no grade inflation.</p>
<p>The average was a 3.08 in 2002. No data here for more recent years, though.</p>
<p>[University</a> of Maryland Grading Trends](<a href=“http://gradeinflation.com/Maryland.html]University”>University of Maryland Grading Trends)</p>
<p>I’d venture to say that there are very few physics or astronomy classes that DD1 would say were “easy” A’s. She had to work hard for every A she got. There was one physics class her junior year where her overall average for the class (with final included) was a 62%. Hers happened to be the highest grade, and only she and one other person earned A’s in the class. There are a few classes across the university (some CORE classes specifically) that are considered “easy A’s”, and using ourumd.com you can see the historical grade distribution for every course, also by professors. There are very few of these courses in math, the natural sciences, computer science, or engineering…I can’t speak to any of the other courses. </p>
<p>One note about the grades on ourumd.com…you’ll see very few F’s; the reason for this is that most students who are flunking a course will drop (or withdraw) from the class to avoid the F.</p>
<p>My experience is that there is astounding grade inflation at UMD. While DS is enrolled in a different program where high GPAs are the norm, I could only find supporting data for the College of Education. Apparently, A’s are so commonplace that to be in the top 10% of the class requires a 3.929:</p>
<p>The breakdown for Commencement Honors for the College of Education for Spring 2011 follows:
Summa Cum Laude: 4.000 - 4.000<br>
Magna Cum Laude: 3.999 - 3.972<br>
Cum Laude: 3.971 - 3.929</p>
<p>What is grade inflation?</p>
<p>College of Education ≠ UMD</p>
<p>CMNS is a bit different, but…</p>
<p>GPA Ranges for Latin Honors: August 2010
Summa Cum Laude: 4.000 - 4.000
Magna Cum Laude: 3.999 - 3.960
Cum Laude: 3.959 - 3.874</p>
<p>GPA Ranges for Latin Honors: December 2010
Summa Cum Laude: 4.000 - 4.000
Magna Cum Laude: 3.999 - 3.961
Cum Laude: 3.960 - 3.874</p>
<p>I agree that this looks pretty high. However, keep in mind that these are the top 2%, then top 3%-4.9% then top 5%-10%. I don’t think you can use these numbers as an argument that there is necessarily grade inflation. People under 2% have already been dismissed from the university, and I suspect there is a high level of self-selection (i.e. drop outs) in the 2-2.5% range.</p>
<p>Also consider that anything lower than a C cannot be counted towards major requirements. (I think it’s D for everything else, but it might be C as well). So if nothing less than a 2.0 can be figured into the average, they’re going to be higher. I guess that seems like grade inflation, but I don’t think it counts as no one gets given a higher grade, they have to retake the class for the higher grade.</p>