Grade inflation? Grades fairly granted? Thoughts?

<p>I’m curious on how grades are handled at Bard. That is, I know my daughter’s HS did not have any grade inflation and an A or a B really meant something. This was OK because the colleges knew that by looking at her HS’s school profile report when comparing her grade transcript to applicants from other high schools.</p>

<p>But I’m curious what is the overall feeling about grades at Bard? Are A’s and B’s hard to come by? Are grades fairly granted for the students’ efforts and hard work? (I realize that how a teacher fairly assesses student work, effort, etc. can be a difficult task.)</p>

<p>When students from Bard apply to graduate schools at other universities, is it an issue when comparing grades at Bard to undergraduate students from other colleges? (And I’ve been told that grade inflation is pretty rampant at even some of the Ivies.)</p>

<p>Thanks and appreciate any info or opinions on this.</p>

<p>This is a hard one - as I suspect every professor will be a little bit different. However, my son, who just finished his first year feels that it was very fair - if one works hard one can get good grades. If one doesn’t put in the effort - it will be noted, and the grading will reflect it. He did, btw., choose mostly professors who on ratemyprofessor were categorized as life-changing - tough, demanding, but ultimately rewarding.</p>

<p>No idea, however, how grad schools view the GPA. There is that old notorious list from Boalt Law School, which periodically resurfaces, which rates a number of schools and shows how the law school admissions will recalculate grades for each college - but Bard is not one of the ones on the list!</p>

<p>I don’t know about grade inflation - D has worked very, very hard for the good grades she’s earned - but Bard’s letter grade also comes with a narrative from the professor that speaks directly to the student about their strong and weak points in the class. This, of course, provides much more information not only about the student’s performance but about the prof’s teaching style as well, and all of the ones I’ve seen indicate that professors in a variety of disciplines are not only committed to serious academic conversation with their students but also that they are genuinely concerned about each student’s personal intellectual journey.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your thoughtful replies. D’s high school teachers also provided detailed assessments mid-year and end-of-year, which I always thought was useful in “filling out the gap” besides the letter grade, so I’m glad that Bard’s profs do the same. Thanks again for your replies.</p>

<p>As said, each professor is different. I’ve worked very hard to get Cs in some classes and barely worked at all for some As. I’d say Bs are the most common. It also depends on the department and type of class. Lecture classes tend to be easier to get better grades than socratic classes (the latter being the more common of the two).</p>