<p>S has been accepted EA and thinks that law school is in his future. His dad is a lawyer, for whatever that's worth. Looking at the statistics from the top law schools in the country it looks like they all have students with GPAs in the 3.7 mean range for admitted students with LSAT scores around 170.</p>
<p>So, how hard is it to get a 3.7 as a poli-sci major at Stanford? His other choices are Vandy (letter from admissions inviting him to a URM weekend stating he's been admitted and the formal admit letter will follow next month) and waiting to hear from Harvard.</p>
<p>Clearly, the LSAT score will probably be the same regardless of what school he goes to so you can't really factor in that variable into the equation. So, the only thing left is whether those GPAs are attainable at each of the above mentioned schools. </p>
<p>Bottom line, is there grade inflation or deflation at Stanford?</p>
<p>I went to a Stanford student reception today.
There were many alumni who said that they could pull off As and Bs with an ordinary level of work (not study-holics, but not slackers either). Every single one of them (like 6-7) had gone to an Ivy League for grad school, and I assume their GPAs were varied (but all 3.3+ for sure). They hinted at slight inflation.</p>
<p>Contrary to popular belief, Stanford students do walk away from classes with C’s and occasionally fail a class or two. It’s not because they were “slacking off” and not keeping up with the material - classes here are tough and adding to that you’re competing with people who are just as bright as you are. It’s not uncommon to hear about someone re-taking a class to get a better grade, and many people have dropped and/or withdrawn from classes to protect their GPA. It’s also rare to hear about someone getting an A+ in a non-language class or non-seminar class.</p>
<p>That being said, it’s not impossible to earn a 3.7. Most Stanford students who want to get into Law School do, and the same goes for Med School.</p>
<p>I am pretty sure from what my Stanford friends tell me that it depends on major, like at many schools. Engineering at Stanford is hard – while other threads have discussed how it’s not going to slaughter grades necessarily the way a Caltech would, it’s challenging stuff, and while it wouldn’t be impossible necessarily to avoid a terrible grade, I think getting good grades isn’t easy. I would consult with Sakky, who seems to know something on the subject.</p>
<p>I’m sure similar comments apply to the usual toughies - physics, etc. I do think there are easy majors at any school, and Stanford is not known for grade deflation, so I’m pretty sure difficulty of grading is an invalid reason to miss out on the opportunities at the school. </p>
<p>Note: Harvard is not known for deflation either, though some majors (contrary to the hype some people give of inflation) are very hard, and some classes are in particular very hard. I’d definitely not choose Stanford vs. Harvard based on this factor – it seems one of the worst one to differentiate them based on!</p>
<p>There is no doubt grades are inflated at Stanford.</p>
<p>Some departments are worse than others about it, but it’s almost a universal thing. Generally speaking, the higher up the course is (particularly in non-engineering classes), the more inflated the grades will be. This has proven to be almost universally true in the mostly Econ/PoliSci/History/HumBio classes I’ve taken. Intro classes are more of a crapshoot–it really depends on the prof–but again generally speaking in those types of classes the grades are more apt to follow a curve with a lower floor.</p>