<p>The only classes that I felt that I was graded slightly unfairly in were the core MOL ones – I hate the stupid rubrics! But they had <35% As even before grade deflation. The rest of the classes I felt like I got the grade that I deserved-- it’s pretty easy to get a B+ in a humanities class, if you do the work and go to precept. An A- should need the extra effort.</p>
<p>If they make 35% A and A- they should state it clearly in the policy. I didn’t find it mentioned anywhere. They always mention “A”.</p>
<p>It’s stated here, and this sheet accompanies all transcripts sent anywhere.
<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/odoc/docs/GradingTranscript.pdf[/url]”>http://www.princeton.edu/odoc/docs/GradingTranscript.pdf</a></p>
<p>Honestly, by setting a necessary amount of D’s and F’s for a department, you’re basically failing students before they even take the class. Does anyone else hear ethicality alarms?</p>
<p>And to those who agree with setting a “cap” on A’s…Do you realize the caliber of your student body? Have you really taken a second to consider it? Yes, 70% of work done CAN be excellent…</p>
<p>^^ There are no regulations on any grades besides A’s. No one has to fail the course if all students produce satisfactory work.</p>
<p>^ The policy adopted in 2004 is meant to mirror the approximate grading scheme seen in the 1990’s, before grade inflation became rampant. Some argue that the caliber of the student body has grown, to which this response has been provided: [Princeton</a> University - Dean of the College - FAQ](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/odoc/faculty/grading/faq/#comp000047219e980000000acf78c0]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/odoc/faculty/grading/faq/#comp000047219e980000000acf78c0)</p>
<p>Ohhh Ok that’s fine then :).</p>
<p>And let me read that really quickly.</p>
<p>Ok, I think that’s a reasonable response.</p>
<p>However, I think that setting a “cap” on A’s like that still has its problems. Yes, Princeton students should be held to a tougher standard, but not if only a few students can excel in any given class. By all means please make the grading harder, but the grades shouldn’t be relativized.</p>
<p>I do recognize the difficulty of taking grades like this…but a system that allowed students in a single department to ALL shine in any given semester without taking each other down would be nice. No, I’m not for “A’s for effort” or anything like that…I just don’t think that this should be a permanent solution</p>
<p>I wonder how big a role grade deflation played in princeton’s yield (57%) difference with Y(~70), S(70). Kids know that getting an A is much easier in Y and S than P.</p>
<p>I’d say Yale and Stanford’s SCEA/REA programs were much more responsible for yield differences than grade deflation was. And if people don’t want to go to Princeton because they’re scared of grade deflation, they may not be the people I would want to go to college with in the first place.</p>
<p>Tide11; Its one thing to have an opinion about grading policy. Its an entirely different thing to have an attitude that you may not want to go to school with people having an opposing viewpoint. </p>
<p>The majority of Princeton students will probably find something to dislike about the grading guidelines. Your strident, uncompromising attitude might be a problem for you.</p>
<p>Do I like grade deflation? No, I’m completely indifferent toward it (this will change). I believe it is a fair policy since it affects all students (okay, there are some discrepancies between humanities departments and science departments, for example), and Princeton takes a huge interest in making sure that this policy will not hurt a students future prospects in grad school, professional school, and the job market.</p>
<p>When I get to Princeton, I’ll dislike grade deflation as soon as I get what I believe is my first undeserved grade. So will nearly everyone else other than the 4.0 students. I don’t find that to be a problem.</p>
<p>However, if an admitted student who would choose Princeton in the absence of grade deflation actually chooses not to attend Princeton (if they choose because of any other reason or combination of reasons like strength of department or location or facilities, I have no problems with that), then I am inclined to believe that the student is placing an recklessly high emphasis on their GPA. I am inclined to believe that this student would also, then, be less likely to take a challenging or interesting course because of the potential impact on his GPA. If this is indeed the case, then I believe that the Princeton student body will be stronger on the whole (not necessarily between individuals) than it would otherwise, because I would expect (based on personal experience) that students who are more likely to embrace academic challenges are stronger students in general. If I knew nothing about student A and student B other than that student B was more likely to embrace an academic challenge than student A, then I would rather student B attend my institution if I had to choose only one to attend.</p>
<p>This is where I think I went wrong with my last post. I should have said that I would rather go to school with those like student B than those like student A (if I had no other information about them) as opposed to saying that I would not want student A to be at my school. Sure, there are probably many students who chose not to attend Princeton because of grade deflation that I would love to have as classmates, but I also believe that Princeton will have a stronger overall student body with this policy in place.</p>
<p>FighttheTide, have you ever thought that people might not want this grade deflation BECAUSE they felt like it would make gpa too important?</p>
<p>Let me explain:</p>
<p>I’m the kind of guy who hates grades…I just get my A and then go learn a little bit about the world outside of the classroom. By making it hard to reach the “max” grade, I will be forced to try to get some of the A’s for graduate school, competing with grade-grubbers (some are, you have to admit) who just go after that 4.0.</p>
<p>In at least my eyes, this is making grades too important.</p>
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<p>LOL good one. It has, does, and will continue to hurt Princeton students’ prospects in grad school, professional school, and the job market. Just giving you a heads up. Don’t believe everything Malkiel says.</p>
<p>Also don’t believe everything that whiny Princeton students say.</p>
<p>@randombetch</p>
<p>Competition ultimately makes the world a better place. Can the same be said for murder?</p>