<p>Being that Columbia is an Ivy, do its students benefit from grade inflation?</p>
<p>I am interested in transferring to SEAS, but was just wondering what the avg gpa for SEAS students is, specifically Biomed.</p>
<p>Columbia is generally considered one of the more difficult Ivies to get out of because of the very low grade inflation. From what I have heard from friends, the average GPA at CC is around 3.2-3.3 and at SEAS it is even lower. So I think that the grade inflation issue is actually a non-issue. Work hard and you can have a high GPA...simple as that.</p>
<p>Are grades based on a curve?</p>
<p>Do you know if it is a competitive environment?</p>
<p>How hard it is to land a spot in research labs on-campus?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>An article I read recently stated that Columbia's average GPA as of a couple of years ago was 3.36. Harvard's was 3.41, and Stanford's was even higher. I believe the average GPA at most state schools is around 3.0 or lower. I wouldn't take this to mean that there's rampant grade inflation at Columbia and other top schools, because you have to factor in things like the quailty of the students. We (the students) often joke that Columbia just loves to hand out A's like candy, but I'm not really sure how much we inwardly think that, given the fact that we're all very intelligent and motivated people (I know I don't really believe it).</p>
<p>To answer your questions, Jacobian:
1. Most science and and social science classes (like psychology and economics) are graded on a curve. Typically around 40% of the students in the class will receive an A/A-, most of the rest will get some form of a B, and a small percentage (around 15%) will end up with a C. D's and F's are quite rare and only given at the discretion of the professor.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I guess this is really a sociological question about individual attitudes. Some people at Columbia are quite competitive and you may encounter them when they ask you how you did on a test or why they didn't do so well, etc. Others (I want to say most) are quite collaborative, and this is evidenced by the numerous study groups in dorms and libraries around midterm/final times and problem-set submission dates.</p></li>
<li><p>I tried, albeit not very hard, to get a research assistant job on campus and it never worked out. I'm currently in a summer internship at another lab, so maybe with some experience I can come back and find a prof who needs help. Most students who end up doing science find some form of long-term research assistantship to which they can commit themselves during their academic stay at Columbia. If you can't find one your freshman year, I wouldn't worry; there's always a professor on campus would love to have an undergraduate's help. I fully intend on working as a research assistant next year.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Sorry, I hadn't realized you were considering a transfer into SEAS. I guess I should read things first :-/.</p>
<p>The average GPA at SEAS is notoriously lower than that of the College. Don't pay attention to #1 of my previous post, but otherwise I would suspect the rest is accurate.</p>
<p>Since Columbia is in NY, what type of non-campus research avenue exist? I know the university is near NASA, and the DOE Brookhaven Lab is somewhere in NY (upton?) but am not sure how accessible these labs are, and how advantageous they would be in pursuing rather than just staying on campus.</p>
<p>Any insight from an SEAS student would also help too. I'm interested in BME (imaging track).</p>
<p>Blah, you said that most science and social science classes are based on a curve--how about the liberal arts classes? How would you compare their level of difficulty to that of the sci and SS classes?</p>
<p>I can't really speak to exact departments in liberal arts (such as English, History, Philosophy, etc.). However, regarding the Core Curriculum requirements (Lit Hum, UW, CC, Art/Music Hum), there is no curve; your grade is vastly determined as a function of your knowledge and insight as well as the professor's opinion of your contributions to the seminars (the Core classes are held in a Socratic style, ~20 students or less). Since there are so many sections of the Core reqs and no real standardized grading system, the "professor's opinion of you" section can be quite different depending on who you have. Many students question the parity of grades in the Core courses. While this may be a real issue, realize that many years from now it really won't matter that you got that B+ in University Writing when you could have received an A with a different professor. I'm sure (hoping?) that such a small grade difference in just a handful of courses don't affect your academic and career paths.</p>
<p>As for the difficulty, I'm not really sure what you're referring to: a) the difficulty to grasp and make meaningful ideas in the subject, or b) the difficulty to get an A? Science majors typically have lower GPA's than liberal arts majors, but that certainly doesn't mean that liberal arts are easier or harder; in other words, b) does not necessarily imply a). This is definitely a question that should be asked at the individual level, rather than the global scheme.</p>
<p>Not sure how much that answered your question, but it's about as much as I know about grading in liberal arts.</p>
<p>So how do Columbia SEAS kids fare in admissions to top med schools (Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Duke, UPenn, WashU, UCSF etc) and graduate programs in engineering/applied science (MIT, CalTech, Stanford etc)? Is there any representation at all?</p>