<p>Is there grade deflation? Inflation? Are classes, on average, more difficult at one school… or are they about the same?</p>
<p>I’m told they’re about the same, but it depends on the prof.</p>
<p>I think they are about the same. My daughter got slightly higher grades at Columbia than at Barnard - and as a freshman she got an A+ in a 5-point Columbia course that did wonders for her GPA from then on. (Actually, after her first year, every time she got an A- it brought her GPA down, which is a mixed blessing, as I don’t think students should need to stress out over an A-). </p>
<p>It’s hard to compare though because my d. also pulled very similar grades while studying abroad.</p>
<p>I do think that there is grade inflation at both schools and there was some recent discussion of that in the Spectator – [Students</a>, profs talk grade inflation](<a href=“http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2011/01/28/students-profs-talk-grade-inflation]Students”>Students, profs talk grade inflation - Columbia Spectator)</p>
<p>I do think that the issue is kind of muddled because profs seem to have high expectations of the students, and both Columbia and Barnard are filled with very smart, highly competitive students who generally have aspirations to attend grad school or professional school. My impression is that if my daughter put full effort into a class, she would get an A, and if she did all that was required but didn’t put extra energy, she’d get an A-. </p>
<p>I’d note that my d. was not a math or science person. She did get A’s in the required math/science courses, but certainly put in a lot of effort to get them. So I wouldn’t know how grades compare in those areas – my guess is that math/science classes are more likely to be graded on a curve. </p>
<p>Currently, the top 20% of the graduating class has a GPA of 3.8 or above – see [url=<a href=“http://www.barnard.edu/catalogue/policies/grades]Grading”>http://www.barnard.edu/catalogue/policies/grades]Grading</a> & Academic Honors | Barnard College<a href=“under” title=“College Honors”>/url</a> – this number is based on the average for the three proceeding years and crept upwards every year that my d. was at Barnard. My d. graduated summa cum laude, with her GPA just at the cutoff for 2010 – the same GPA won’t be quite enough for 2011. </p>
<p>Again, it’s hard to say whether this is grade inflation or a trend toward more serious & focused students as admissions gets more competitive. But the bottom line is that once my d. got the hang of things after her first semester - the work was hard, but the grading wasn’t.</p>
<p>I sat in on a french class this weekend. 7 columbia guys, 2 columbia girls, 4 barnard girls. I asked a columbia guy about that balance, and he said “french is better at barnard. the teachers actually take you seriously. Columbia french is very high school”</p>
<p>How does the GPA system work? It seems odd that an A- can pull your grade down</p>
<p>The GPA system at Barnard works like this:
[Grading</a> & Academic Honors | Barnard College](<a href=“http://www.barnard.edu/catalogue/policies/grades]Grading”>http://www.barnard.edu/catalogue/policies/grades)</p>
<p>as you can see, you are awarded 4.3 for an A+; 4.0 for an A and 3.7 for an A-, and so on. So of course an A- will bring your average down…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Basic math. If you have a 3.8 GPA than a grade of 3.7 (A-) is going to bring the GPA down. </p>
<p>It’s not much different than weighted grades in high school, where an A in an unweighted class (4.0) is actually bringing down the overall GPA – assuming that the student has the option of taking a weighted class (potential 5.0, or whatever higher value is assigned by the weighting system) in its place.</p>
<p>Difficulty of classes, in my experience at least, has been more dependent on the department and professor rather than the school. I’ve taken about an equal number of courses at Barnard, Columbia, and through School of the Arts, and my grades in each have been quite varied. I spent two years taking comp lit/english courses at Barnard and Columbia and got an A or A- in every one; when I switched to Visual Arts and Art History, I had a range between A+ and B+. In philosophy I once got a B. Long story short, I think it really depends both on the department (at both schools) and on your own abilities. Everybody always talks about Columbia being harder, but it simply isn’t true. I’d say, if anything, Barnard even expects more of you. Also note that, graduation requirement-wise, Barnard requires you to pick a major and write a thesis, while at Columbia you have the option, but can opt to pick “concentrations” and do no thesis paper or project.</p>