<p>What makes Ivy league schools so much harder than other schools? Why do they require that only the brightest students in the nation get admission? What makes their classes so much harder, thus better?</p>
<p>-Can Ivy league students (especially Upenn) please respond.</p>
<p>THANKS!</p>
<p>The classes and curriculi themselves are not necessarily harder, but the curves often are. Translation: the same effort may earn you an A in the top 5% of a non-elite school class, but a B- in the mean of an Ivy League class.</p>
<p>Yes.. I am also waiting for responses =)</p>
<p>That's not always the case. Some ivys are well known for grade inflation and it can seem like the toughest part is getting in. On the other hand, with such bright students, it doesn't seem so wrong that many would get As. There's been ongoing debate about this for a long time. The pendulum keeps swinging - some schools are trying to minimize their past reputations for grade inflation by tough curves, especially in math and science classes. Humanities are generally less affected. It really depends on which school, and which department you are talking about, though.</p>
<p>You are all correct. I am a transfer student, and the amount of effort that earned me an "A" from where I came from, has produced a B-/C+ in some of my classes, thus I need to make some adjustments. On the the other hand, some of my classes are just as easy if not easier than from where I came from, then concluding that the hardest part was just getting through the admissions' process and being accepted.</p>
<p>Penn is trying to grapple with grade inflation right now. It seems to be a problem (im not sure how big a problem, but big enough to be considered i suppose) in the College, but not in Wharton or Engineering. I'm not sure if its a problem in Nursing.</p>
<p>I'm talking about The college of arts and sciences at Upenn. Economics major, more specifically.</p>
<p>I am an Econ major. DogDay...what do you mean about Penn is trying to grapple grade inflation? This is my first semester as a transfer, so I wanted to understand what was going on. Thanks!</p>
<p>The DP had large articles about it, look in their archives.</p>
<p>is that the students in your classes are smart.</p>
<p>yeah there was a big DP article about it. i dont remember the exact percentages, but the college is trying to decrease the percentage of As they give out.</p>
<p>It's been told to me and I think it's true, but I've been at Penn for only 2 months.</p>
<p>You don't have to do much for a B, you have to work your ass off for an A, and you have to do practically nothing for a C.</p>
<p>I haven't encountered a C yet, but this appears so regarding A's and B's. Right now, I'm in the B+/A- range in all my classes.</p>
<p>Oh, and apparently the average GPA for Wharton is 3.8. Definite grade inflation there.</p>
<p>chocoman - We have just been looking at the stats for your class, last year' s CC EDers over on the Nervous/Anxious thread : ) </p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>um, that wharton GPA fact is wrong.</p>
<p>the average wharton GPA is 3.3, a B- basically. the "wharton curve" wouldnt really be so infamous if the average GPA was 3.8</p>
<p>the inflation issue was regarding the college specifically (if i recall the DP correctly, though im not sure about nursing). but engineering and wharton havent had a problem.</p>