<p>It's the dreaded question: is there grade deflation at Williams? Is it supremely hard to do well in classes?
How's the grading system at Williams in general?</p>
<p>I've heard that grades are actually deflated at Williams, and I don't necessarily know what that means. Can anyone help me figure out what exactly goes on at Williams in terms of grading?</p>
<p>See here for discussion of grade inflation at Williams</p>
<p>[Grade</a> Inflation : EphBlog](<a href=“http://www.ephblog.com/category/grade-inflation/]Grade”>http://www.ephblog.com/category/grade-inflation/)</p>
<p>Short answer is that Williams is similar to other elite schools.</p>
<p>Yeah, I did read that already actually. But I didn’t find that it was very clear about it… do you think you could clarify it for me? It explained in such a roundabout way that I didn’t get the exact impression of Williams grading.</p>
<p>Williams suffers from grade inflation, but to a similar extent as other elite schools. (Main exception is Princeton.) So, it is not a reason to prefer or avoid Williams.</p>
<p>As a rule of thumb, grades matter much less than students think.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that Williams suffers from grade DEflation? Is that false?</p>
<p>Me=sold on Williams. Only problem is money (I haven’t gotten the aid package yet).</p>
<p>That is false. Grades at Williams have risen almost every year for decades. There have been some reports (although the latest I have seen was a decade old) that Williams average grades were somewhat lower than other elite schools and that, therefore, law schools and the like would adjust accordingly. But a) Not clear that this is true now and b) To the extent it is, the major consumers of GPA data adjust accordingly.</p>
<p>Please keep us posted on your Fin Aid result. Many of us are interested to see if Williams will change its behavior given the current financial crisis.</p>
<p>The same people who brought you the FAFSA also provide a college search function ([Student</a> Aid on the Web](<a href=“http://studentaid2.ed.gov/gotocollege/collegefinder/]Student”>http://studentaid2.ed.gov/gotocollege/collegefinder/)) which provides some information on the average freshman GPA. FWIW, I looked at the top 20 LAC’s and 11 of them had provided this information, as follows:</p>
<p>Williams 3.3
Amherst 3.5
Carleton 3.2
Claremont McKenna 3.33
Vassar 3.3
Wesleyan 3
USMA 2.7
Grinnell 3.3
Washington & Lee 3
Colgate 3
Smith 3.3</p>
<p>I would say grade deflation at Williams is not an issue. Only Amherst has a higher freshman average (Claremont McKenna grades on a 12 scale, so its number is converted).</p>
<p>Williams doesn’t seem inflated or deflated compared to the other LACs (except Amherst, do they inflate a bit?), so that’s great!</p>
<p>I wonder if Williams will match the in-state tuition at Cornell. If they do, I’m headed for Williams 100%.</p>