<p>I don't blame you, magnusrex. College is a time when students are experimenting with a whole range of subjects and shouldn't be discouraged from branching out of their comfort zone, which this policy certainly does. Would a humanities major be eager to take a hard science course just for the educational value when she knew that only 30% of the kids would come out with an A, and that 70% of the kids in the class are science majors?
This policy won't last. I don't see how it can.</p>
<p>Magnusrex, please do establish that you are a serious student when you ask this question. You will be helping not only yourself but other students, current and future. The administration too easily dismisses disagreement with the new system as a sign that students are preprofessionally obsessed to an inappropriate degree, or slackers. They don't seem to believe that some truly excellent students who think like ASAP re branching out are being turned off by the new system.</p>
<p>Roger, the method you pointed out for your son's physics class is indeed the best method: every student gets what he/she deserves. </p>
<p>I think the issue that many of us have with the new grade caps is that it may prevent - or, at the least, make kids think that it will prevent* - everybody that deserves an A to get one. If 40% of the kids deserve an A grade, which at Princeton may not be unlikely in some classes - then 40% should get the A. </p>
<p>*The effect on student psyche, I think is really important. Even if it turns out that all who deserve A's will get them as the administration claims, the effect on the student browsing through a course catalog will be such that he/she will be less likely to branch out into other areas or take a risk in selecting courses. At even the smallest level, some kids are going to pick their classes with the new scheme nagging in the background.</p>
<p>"I think the issue that many of us have with the new grade caps is that it may prevent - or, at the least, make kids think that it will prevent* - everybody that deserves an A to get one."</p>
<p>It does, because if "too many" students are getting As on exams, the professors make the next exams harder -- they proudly proclaim that the exams are twice as hard as last year's -- and if that fails to smoke out the students who "ought" to have lower grades, well, then, the preceptors arbitrarily assign a low "class participation" grade that brings down the overall average. Meanwhile, the administration appears utterly indifferent to these practices. Nor are they addressing the fact that, at a time when they claim to want a more diverse student body, students arriving at Princeton from inferior schools are tossed into an environment where those from the most affluent schools are setting the steep curve.</p>
<p>aparent--What should I say to communicate that I am a serious student without sounding cocky? My main problem is that even in high school, the classes where I have to worry a lot about grades are the classes that I dislike the most. And at Princeton, where I could come out with an A and then be curved to a B, the focus would definitely be on grades, not on learning. I plan on taking some classes that have nothing to do with my major, and I don't want to be punished based on what other kids have already taken before me.</p>
<p>Magnusrex, keep in mind you are talking to a Brown grad here, so I am positively allergic to the current grading climate at Princeton! I am glad my d is doing very well. I am not glad that the question, "How brutal will the curve be with this prof and this particular group of students?" plays a role in the decision about which courses to take. </p>
<p>If I were you, I would just ask a probing question, along the lines of your statements above. Your third sentence above says it in a nutshell. Maybe one of the following would work for you: </p>
<p>"I'm really eager to explore new areas and to challenge myself, and I've never been a grade-grubber; is it true, as I'm hearing from some students, that the current environment at Princeton is discouraging them from taking academic risks that could lead to growth?" </p>
<p>"Princeton students I know who are very serious about academics tell me that what's happening in some courses is that grades are being arbitrarily curved downward over the course of the semester so they find it very hard to know how well they are doing; can you comment on that?" </p>
<p>"Although I've read that 30-35 percent of grades are supposed to be A-range, students tell me that in some courses the professors are announcing that only 20 percent of grades will be in the A range. Why would that be happening?"</p>
<p>I am not optimistic that you are going to get any sort of meaningful answer. I do think it would be a good idea for the administration to hear that excellent prospective students are aware of the situation and are concerned. Princeton is very eager to attract top students who are intellectually curious.</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm not too optimistic about the answer either, but thank you for your help.</p>