<p>Is there grade inflation at Cornell?</p>
<p>Cornell is known for grade deflation.</p>
<p>...though there are some fluff classes where grade inflation will be present. Unfortunately, it's nowheres near the level of inflation at Brown, Harvard, Penn, etc.</p>
<p>There is actually increasing concern (amongst a few deans at Cornell) that grade inflation is rising. I participated in a study last semester that tried to get a handle on this by attempting to measure effort/performance against final grades in several classes. I don't know how it turned out though.</p>
<p>my friend used to say that often times the test averages in her bio and chem classes would be around 40%.</p>
<p>....of course those were curved later?</p>
<p>why curve, and just not give out the Fs??? Most probably, that would force people to work harder, and therefore recieve a better education. Just my opinion..........</p>
<p>the grades are not 'curved' (like the way high schoolers know of), but rather they are often graded on a curve. </p>
<p>The average grade for one of the papers in one of my classes last semester was a D-. The only way to save your butt was to do great on the next paper.</p>
<p>Can you explain what the difference is?</p>
<p>ktoto: In my opinion I think your method would make many classes unfair. The reason professors do not just give out F's like that is because maybe he or she did not teach the material well enough or maybe there was some "X factor" unaccounted for that caused the average - that is, a good portion of the class - to miss. I think the curve is the most fair way to motivate students to compete against one another instead of with the teacher.</p>
<p>Its an enduring legend at Cornell that it is "tougher" and suffers less from grade inflation than other Ivies. </p>
<p>The is zero evidence that this is true. </p>
<p>In fact, such evidence as DOES exist tends to indicate that there is little substantive difference among the Ivies when it comes to "grade inflation."</p>
<p>See the famous "Boalt Formula" showing how one law school (and presumably others) normalizes for various schools grading policies when comparing GPAs. (This link seems to be temporarily down, but should be back up shortly.)</p>
<p>56% of the grades handed out at Penn are A's
At Brown, the number is around 48%.
Same thing at Harvard.</p>
<p>In fact, Harvard is known to be incredibly grade inflated ... how else can you explain the ridiculous amount of students who graduate with honors? (correct me if i'm wrong, but a few people on CC have said it's around 90%). What a joke!</p>
<p>The percentage of A's given out at Cornell were reported as significantly lower then its fellow ivy institutions. This was comming from a newspaper article published by and ivy league school that wasn't Cornell. Go figure...</p>
<p>i would support a dramatic increase in grade inflation :D</p>
<p>no one wants to be a hero....grade inflation!!!!</p>
<p>i agree that grade inflation would be great for my GPA. </p>
<p>But it's hard to take a decent gpa at a highly grade inflated school seriously. I'd much rather have people look at my GPA and think "he earned this."</p>
<p>the point of a curve is so in every different class there is the same amount of people with different grades so say 20 with A+, 30 with A, 50 with B+ in every class, etc. </p>
<p>also the point of the curve is to make you compete with the other students.</p>
<p>"I'd much rather have people look at my GPA and think "he earned this."</p>
<p>gomestar, a 3.9 at harvard or a 3.5 hard working guy from cornell. if im an employer, it would be tough to convince me that the 3.5 at cornell is better than the 3.9 at harvard. even though that mite actually be the case</p>
<p>harvardman - both of my parents recruit often for two different Fortune 500 companies - and have both stipulated that their businesses are well aware of the grading procedures at numerous colleges throughout the US. This doesn't necessarily mean that a 3.5 at Cornell is better than a 3.9 at Harvard, but will certainly raise an eyebrow if somebody comes in with barely a 3.0 from a place like Harvard.</p>
<p>harvardman, not to be rude, but i don't think you're currently in a position to be making hiring decisions for top companies. maybe in 15-20 years, and by then, you'll realize why gomestar is correct. also, gomestars point about the harvard 3.0 is a good one.</p>
<p>lol</p>
<p>3.0 at Harv = 1.5 at Cornell</p>
<p>3.0? i was comparing a 3.9 at harvard with a 3.5 at cornell. i wasnt assuming anything, just asking, from the hiring standpoint, will you take a 3.9 from harvard or a 3.5 from cornell, based on academics alone. because i get the feeling that a 3.9 student at harvard is actually a 3.0 student without grade inflation.</p>