<p>i just wonder if it's true.
how do wellesely people manage this? especally if they wanna go grad school.</p>
<p>Notorious? Wellesley does have a “grade deflation” policy, but I would hardly call it notorious. There’s a B+ recommended median for all 100 and 200 level courses (lower and intermediate level) that have more than 10 students. If a professor thinks the class was in fact exceptional, he or she merely has to fill out a form.</p>
<p>People complain about grade deflation constantly, but I did not find grading to be unfair. The statistical reality of the policy was that fewer students got As, more students got Bs, and the same number of students got Cs, Ds (D is for diploma, just remember that) and Fs. In general the policy lowered the GPA of humanities majors, but did very little to science major GPAs (our tests were curved up anyway and we were grateful for it!).</p>
<p>Remember that one person’s “easy” class is a class that another student is just glad that she is getting by in. Credit/non is always an option.</p>
<p>If you are applying to medical school, grades matter very much. As for grad school, grades are important, but absolute perfection is not required, nor are they the ONE THING that gets you into grad school. For most other post-college careers- your transcript is not required- they care that you graduated!</p>
<p>I got my share of B-s and Bs at Wellesley and was often glad to see that the professor was so generous, as I would have graded myself lower. I did not make Latin Honors at Wellesley. I went directly from undergrad into a PhD program. You manage by taking your classes as they come, and doing well as you can because you care about your work. That will show.</p>
<p>i wanna go grad school(not medical school though) and i think my college grades will matter a lot as well as GRE scores. don’t you think so?</p>
<p>I’ve read somewhere that Wellesley sends little pamphlets out to explain the grade deflation policy when students apply to grad schools. Is this true?</p>
<p>I’ve heard the pamphlet thing before, but I have no idea what they send or don’t send with the transcripts I never paid my $3 to get the “sealed” report to open it and see. There’s a sample transcript outside the door at the registrar’s (third floor of Green) that does a pretty good job of showing what different academic situations look like.</p>
<p>As for grad school admissions, everything is extremely dependent on program and department you apply to, not the school. The grad school forum here cannot help you with much because every program is simply that individualized and different from other programs in the same school. In fact, the fastest way to bother the long-time advice-givers there is to say, “I want to go to ‘X’ school” with no department in mind.</p>
<p>Grades, GREs are a small part of the package. You can’t flunk out of college and take your GREs smashed, but an earnest effort in a place where the median grade is roughly a B+ will do you no harm and is not worth obsessing over. As far as the “general” GRE is concerned, many people who apply to PhD programs sign up, take it and that’s the end. No $$$ Kaplan course required and they receive very good scores. The subject test GRE, which is much harder, another matter and not always required, is a larger factor in some admissions. And yet I know of several people (not necessarily Wellesley students) that scored in the <em>single digit</em> percentile for the subject GREs and got into at least one grad school because they had the recommendations to back up their competence. When I was looking for grad schools I sat down with professors, both of whom were frank about the where I would stand in the applicant pool at each school, recommended schools based on who they knew there, and the fate of their small sample of students in my department with each type of background and what happened to them.</p>
<p>While I can only speak from impressions beyond my department, I would say that every department at Wellesley is equipped to send and prepare students for grad school in their field. </p>
<p>At this stage in your life, you do not need to think much about grad school, other than the fact that your college of choice does send their enthusiastic students from your favorite department there. You need merely to know what classes you would need to begin take in order not to be “behind” in your program. In some departments (Physics) the major requirements and the grad school requirements are identical (though extra courses are suggested, but not always possible, to take). In other departments (Math), you would need to take a larger number of upper-level courses than is required for the major.</p>
<p>There is a large amount of mind-changing at every school. People often stop, realize that they aren’t enjoying what they are doing or doing it as well as they like and say “Hey wait! This is my life. I can do what I want and I don’t want X anymore, I want Y”. With any luck, they then major in Y.</p>
<p>So take my assurance that Wellesley is not the wrong place if you are interested in grad school. Instead consider it against all the other schools you are looking at on the basis of the great opportunities you can get as an undergrad at each place, and chose from there.</p>
<p>discoball- that is true</p>
<p>as far as grad school grades are important but so are experiences/leadership etc. I know a person who withdrew from classes and didn’t have a perfect GPA but go into grad school at harvard, upenn and bc so it’s not all numbers the way it can be in undergrad admissions</p>
<p>yes, wellesley does send out a packet explaining the grading system when you apply to grad schools. this system is very similar to the one when where your high school sends out a packet about their grading system to the colleges you apply to.</p>
<p>Apparently, this letter accompanies a Wellesley transcript:
[To</a> the recipient of Wellesley College transcripts:](<a href=“http://www.wellesley.edu/Registrar/grading_explanation_for_transcripts.html]To”>http://www.wellesley.edu/Registrar/grading_explanation_for_transcripts.html)</p>
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<p>To be quite honest, I’m surprised that this topic keeps coming up, almost five years after the grading policy was passed.</p>
<p>I was a senior at Wellesley when the big brouhaha was going on and the debate about what the new grading policy should be raged amongst the students and faculty. Since the change, 4 classes have graduated from Wellesley. I could be wrong because I don’t know any specific numbers, but I doubt if there has been any sudden drop in the number of grad school/med school/law school acceptances since the 04-05 year.</p>
<p>In other words, I really wouldn’t worry about it. Grad programs and professional schools all recognize the worth of a Wellesley education. You don’t want your degree to be less meaningful if everyone, including you, had a 4.0 gpa upon graduation, would you?</p>
<p>Interesting article that mentions Wellesley in the context of grade inflation and deflation:
[GPAs</a> gone wild – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.grades25mar25,0,339426.story]GPAs”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.grades25mar25,0,339426.story)</p>
<p>I was talking to a friend of mine on the bus about it, and we kind of griped how Wellesley is “working against us” as we try and get good grades. At the same time, though, we agreed that we don’t mind it. If I get a good grade, I know it’s because I worked darn hard for it. A B+ is awesome, but it still leaves room for improvement, and I still have something to strive and work for.</p>
<p>I also have not heard issues about students not being able to get into grad school due to grades. From my understanding, most grad schools are aware of Wellesley’s policies, and take that into account.</p>