<p>Could someone explain this to me? I've seen the term on this forum and I'm not sure exactly what it is. Does it mean that a school gives out too many A's and B's?
Also, how should I find out if my undergrad is grade inflated?</p>
<p>There are several different definitions of the word. Compare, say, school A and school B.</p>
<p>One kind of grade inflation is very simple: if the average GPA at A is higher than the average GPA at B, we could call A "inflated."</p>
<p>A second kind of grade inflation is probably more useful. If the average GPA at A is higher than the average GPA at B for a student of similar intelligence and work ethic, then A is grade inflated.</p>
<p>As it turns out, the two types have very different lists. State schools like yours are generally deflated by the first definition and inflated by the second, but of course that is not a hard and fast rule.</p>
<p>That is an interesting distinction bluedevilmike. I have always wondered how adcoms at T14 schools viewed public universities like mine (3rd tier). I understand that adcoms receive info on your school's average GPA and LSAT, but how do they interpret that info? My school's average GPA is something like 3.05, but it is actually quite easy to get A's, the reason being that the student body is unmotivated/not-so-intelligent. I am sure my school's average lsat would shed light on this, but I do not know what it is. I am sure it is low because i have heard a few people here act like a 160 is an AMAZING/GENIUS lsat score.</p>
<p>We often hear on this board that your school does not matter as much as your numbers, but wouldn't adcoms look down on grade inflated (by the 2nd definition) public schools?</p>
<p>At least in medical, graduate, and business school, what I've seen is that a mediocre GPA from a very deflated2 school (the 2 indicates that I'm using the second definition) can be forgiven, while a mediocre GPA from a inflated2 school cannot be.</p>
<p>High GPAs, which need no forgiving, can come from either place and will be treated pretty equally if all else is also equal.</p>
<p>I happen to think that the more interesting cases of grade inflation don't happen between school to school but rather within the same school, that is, between different majors in the same school. I think I can assert with little controversy that every school has certain majors that are simply easier than others such that a student in those majors can work less hard yet be awarded higher grades than an equivalently talented student in a harder major. In extreme scenarios, the latter student might find himself expelled for "poor" academic performance when if he had just chosen one of the easy majors, he would have successfully graduated. Maybe he wouldn't have graduated with strong grades, but at least he would have graduated.</p>
<p>I believe law schools are beginning to ask for class rank in college. Or, at the very least, some people at lawsschoolnumbers.com are beginning to put class rank as part of their profile.</p>
<p>Law schools can already see where you rank among other law applicants from your school because it's on the LSAC score report. Schools can get a rough sense of how inflated your school's grades are relative to other schools by looking at the GPA and LSAT numbers. In other words, if applicants from your school have an average GPA of 3.25 but an LSAT of 155, it's probably inflating grades to a greater extent than a school with the same average GPA but a 160 average LSAT. </p>
<p>I think schools emphasize LSAT over GPA in part because there are so many variables that can affect GPA. Not only can the level of "grade inflation" vary from major to major at the same school, but even from professor to professor within the department. I believe some schools (including Cornell, I think), list the median grade in each of the classes you took on your transcript.</p>
<p>My class rank (overall) is not included on my LSAC report, my approximate rank among law school applicants from my school is. I can see later tonight if actual class rank is requested on actual apps.</p>
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I believe law schools are beginning to ask for class rank in college.
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<p>I've always wondered how meaningful a "college class rank" can really be, considering that people take different classes in different majors, and even with different profs within the same major. It would seem to me that a strong determining factor of "class rank" would simply be whoever happened to take the easiest classes with the easiest profs.</p>
<p>Only two of the six law schools I applied to asked for class rank.</p>