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<p>All of my upper level chemistry courses curve to an average grade of C+/B-.</p>
<p>Same here, chem. dept tougher than others. Those that don’t curve, just make it difficult enough to yield somewhere between C and B-</p>
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<p>This is why you end up with a sort of race to the bottom. If a single school decides to make their grading much harder, their graduates will be at a disadvantage when theyre competing with graduates of other schools in the job market or grad school admissions.<br>
If other schools are inflating their grades, you have an incentive to do the same.</p>
<p>I’m banned for a week and this is still going on? Lol</p>
<p>I just started back to school after a ten year hiatus and I would say it has changed dramatically since the last time I attended. There are people complaining that they can’t pass without doing all the homework. No, really? That surprises you? There are people complaining about getting points deducted for failing to show up to more than 3 classes during the semester and complaining that no one would send them the class notes.
Don’t get me wrong, we had complainers last time I was in school too, but, really just in the math classes. The classes that were legitimately difficult for some people. Now most of the intro to human nutrition class is complaining and the class is truly a very easy A. Three 250 word mini-essays each week and 2 tests for the whole class. I’m not even proof-reading this stuff and I’ve got perfect scores while the class is averaging a 70%. Really people? All you have to do is get close to the correct answer right out of the text book in front of you and my classmates can’t do that. Scary I tell you… However, there are still professors who are true to their courses and grading systems. The biology class I’m taking this fall has plenty of empty seats while all the rest are full because the professor has a reputation for a difficult class with a C average.
It seems like even ten years ago I had to work a lot harder for an A than I do now. Though, that is probably a common blight at community colleges that accept everybody. They’re the ones getting those students no one else accepts. I’m hoping it will change when I move on to a different college in January.</p>
<p>probably won’t or only a little better.</p>
<p>obviously students have many outlets for cheating these days. but many educational websites these days, like [Slader</a> :: Homework Help and Answers :: Slader](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■%5DSlader”>http://www.■■■■■■■■■■), are there for students and find a way to cap the amount of cheating that goes on. They do it with a point system and getting math help is FREE!</p>
<p>First, I feel the need to defend Brown here. Brown is NOT grade inflated compared to most colleges. You cannot make a determination of grade inflation there by citing the median gpa. You can take as many courses you want on a S/NC (satisfactory/ no credit) basis. So, many students take courses outside their majors S/NC. Other students, e.g, a lot of aspiring actors, take almost all their courses S/NC because all they want is the degree. So, even if it’s true that 60% of grades are As–I don’t know if it is–that’s because a fair number of students in most classes are taking the courses S/NC. The bottom third of the class probably isn’t taking the course for a grade.</p>
<p>The end result of this is that many Brown students take REAL classes in subjects outside of their major. They don’t avoid the tough courses because they are worried about the impact of a lower grade on their chances of admission to law or med school. So, instead of taking “Clapping for Credit,” “Rocks for Jocks,” “Think Green,” “How to Plug in Your Computer” and other “guts” that are frequently used to fill distribution requirements at other colleges or to inflate gpa’s, they take REAL courses along side people who are majoring in the subject. They just don’t take them for grades. </p>
<p>Now, many other colleges CLAIM that you can take a limited number of courses pass/fail and that this should satisfy students who do want to take the tough courses outside their fields of interest. But in many cases, offering the course P/F is at the discretion of the prof. STEM profs are notoriously unwilling to offer courses on this basis. So, the kids at top colleges who got 5s on every math and science AP they took but who don’t want to compete with the pre-meds can NOT take REAL science courses unless they are willing to take them for grades. So, they take the “guts” instead. </p>
<p>At some of the colleges, there are additional incentives to avoid P/F. It can mean, for example, destroying your chances of making Phi Beta Kappa–though only those “in the know” are aware of that. P/Fs count against you in the selections process. So, the kid who takes clapping for credit and gets an A will make it and the humanities major who takes organic chem on a P/F basis won’t. </p>
<p>We’ve created a generation of students whose approach to education is to “game” the system to get the highest GPAs with the least amount of work possible. Unfortunately, the future physicians and lawyers–or at least those who think they want to go in those directions when they are in college–are the worst offenders.</p>
<p>In any event, I want to defend Brown here because I think it’s system makes a lot of sense. I think we ought to be encouraging kids to take classes outside of their comfort zones. The fixation on GPAs at many colleges, especially by students who plan to apply to med and law schools discourages that. Brown’s S/NC policy encourages its students to explore new and/or difficult subjects and I think that’s a good thing.</p>
<p>It’s meaningless to compare the median GPA at Brown, where the typical student probably takes about 8 courses S/NC (one a semester) with those at schools where students take every class for a grade. Of course Brown will have higher median GPAs. It doesn’t mean that it’s easier to get an A at Brown.</p>
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<p>This is sort of an odd thing to say in a post that details the way Brown’s policy has the effect of inflating its students’ GPAs, and how the vast majority of schools do not have such policies.</p>
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<p>Well, it also doesn’t mean that it isn’t easier. And I think it would make it easier in the sense that taking a class pass/fail means a student can focus more of their attention on the classes that actually count. And since some percentage of the students in those classes are probably taking the class P/F, their work will look better by comparison.</p>
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<p>At which school is there a policy that it is instructor’s discretion to allow or not allow S/NC or P/NP grading? I don’t recall seeing any such policy when I went to school; P/NP was at the student’s option, although it was generally not allowed for courses needed for your major (unless they were offered only P/NP) or the writing requirement.</p>
<p>Also, the pre-meds usually were not in the “REAL” physics, chemistry, and math courses; they typically took the easier ones for biology majors unless their majors required the harder ones.</p>
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<p>Is it just this generation, or was this the case before (especially with pre-med and pre-law students)? Seemed like it was the case before.</p>