<p>Since we leave the hardcore, scientific discussions for the weekdays, let’s poll how we VIEW schools when it comes to grade inflation or deflation. I am sure that there must some hard data to support an “official” rank, but it is more interesting to see what our perception are. </p>
<p>So, I’ll shoot first:</p>
<p>What comes to my mind when I hear grade inflation? </p>
<p>Funny enough, It must B for Boston, because here are the schools. </p>
<p>Hey, Xiggi, DS is almost for sure going to UT Austin now that he is accepted. He plans pre-med. As you know grade inflation help greatly with med school admissions. Have you done any research on grade inflation at UT? We are hoping to hear it is rampant.</p>
<p>Yep...I agree that BU is known for grade deflation. DS who goes there says he works his tail off for every grade he gets. Even at orientation, the folks said that those students used to getting all A's probably would see their first C....and I have to say that is true from what DS tells us and from what we have seen.</p>
<p>Reed--for grade deflation. Several months ago there was an NYT article about grade inflation that singled out Reed as a school where the average GPA has remained steady for decades.</p>
<p>I would second Reed- I hear that there are less than a handful of people that have graduated in the past few years with straight A's- considering they have high scores/stats and win quite a few academic prizes for the size of student body- they seem to have pretty persistent grade deflation.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd boasts that only one (or two, I can't remember which) student has ever graduated with straight A grades in the entire history of the school.</p>
<p>Coureur, I think that is really true about Harvey Mudd and not just boasting. My husband interviews lots of new hires in science at his job and he always is amazed at how low the GPA's of Mudd students are compared to other "science" schools, yet he considers them amazingly qualified.</p>
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<p>how tough is it at BU to maintain the GPA necessary to keep merit scholarships?>></p>
</blockquote>
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<p>That depends entirely on the merit scholarship. For some, it is a 3.0, for others a 3.2. DS's is 2.7 (a B-). The information for GPA requirements for merit aid is contained in the packet your son received awarding him his scholarship (or at least DS's was).</p>
<p>S didn't apply for the Trustee Scholarship for that very reason. That requires 3.5 GPA. S's scholarship is 3.25. I told him that 3 Bs and 1 A is a reasonable goal even at a school with grade deflation.</p>
<p>Grade deflation is horrible at Cornell. You'll also find a lot of grade deflation at MIT, CalTech, JHU, and schools known for their pre-med programs. You'll find a lot of grade inflation at Harvard and Stanford.</p>
<p>I heard there is grade deflation at Swarthmore, but I'm not sure if that's true. I'm sure someone here can tell us that.</p>
<p>From the available statistics, Swarthmore's grades have inflated at virtually exactly the same rate as Princeton's over the last 30 years. Chicago, by the way, has inflated at the same rate as well. It is true that Harvey Mudd has not inflated much in the past 30 years, but that's because they began HIGHER than the other schools. In 2001, the average GPA was 3.28.</p>
<p>Most of this stuff, by the way, is myth. In the top privates, with very, very rare exceptions, median GPAs are 3.2 to 3.4. GPAs tend to be lower in the publics, which you can interpret as 1) the work is harder; 2) there is more competition; 3) there are more failing students; 4) the grades are more "honest" and the administration/faculty feel no need to coddle students, or...you can make it up as you like. ;)</p>
<p>That's interesting re Swat, as it has such a hard reputation and we have heard so much about the grade inflation at Princeton. However, with Princeton's new anti-inflation initiative, it is definitely in the other category now. Even the profs are complaining.</p>