<p>While several subjects such as mathematics and physics have a median GPA of about 2.6~2.9, the average overall GPA of the universities is about a 3.1, which indicates a B or B+. Plus, it’s not that students are more motivated. </p>
<p>According to the data above, students are studying less and less; the average hours students spent studying has dropped to nearly half of what it was decades ago. Plus, I really doubt that the huge influx of college students is what is driving the mean grade up. The majority of college-bound students at my school aren’t really scholarly-like, to put it mildly.</p>
<p>Although I haven’t read all of the posts in this thread, I wanted to add one further thought. With jobs being less plentiful, employers are becoming more particular. Higher GPAs from better schools is becoming required. The schools want their graduates employed. Thus, we are in an academic arms race of sorts. The schools need to raise the average GPA so that their people seem more competitive.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t employers know that a school is attempting to artificially inflate their graduates’ GPA? And if everyone could simply waltz through a school, wouldn’t their diplomas amount to naught and their status reduced to a diploma mill?</p>
<p>Though, your hypothesis of grade inflation to aid student success is not entirely flawed. High schools around my area seem to be going on a GPA arms race, but since there are far more high schools than colleges, it’s sort of easier for high schools to inflate their students GPA and get away with it than colleges.</p>
<p>They will probably know how the few schools they recruit from most heavily compare to each other, but they won’t know how to compare every school to every other.</p>
Do you mean to tell me that non-engineers were the sole reason your class average in Physics was a 55? That’s ludicrous.</p>
<p>And I’d bet good money that there are plenty of students who got Bs and Cs in your physics class who will go on to become successful engineers. I know plenty of people who have done it at Purdue, which is one of the best engineering schools in the country. It’s because the introductory classes, like bernie said, are structured in order to test the limits of the students and weed out the ones who aren’t cut out for it.</p>
<p>Perhaps that isn’t the case at Michigan, but Michigan is large, public, and very well-regarded, just like the Purdues and Georgia Techs that have brutal introductory physics classes. Maybe you’re just good at physics. ;)</p>
<p>I haven’t taken the time to read through all the replies, but here’s a point to be made. Nowadays, grades are mostly curved to classes, maybe the whole course itself. Therefore, a B doesn’t necessarily mean an 85 percent; it could mean 75 in harder classes and possible 88+ in easier classes. If it were up to me, I’d try as hard as possible to stick to the B+/A- range to be competitive. An B is a little to the lower side, but not a “bad” grade.</p>
<p>It depends on your major, your school, and your curve. At my alma mater many of my classes were curved to a low B/B minus. In some majors they were not. A B is still pretty bad in my book since college is generally a joke except at MIT and Caltech.</p>
<p>The concept of GPA is a very subjective. A “D” in an engineering theorey class like structures may be very acceptable; an “A” in another class may be very easy. If you get take a class and 50% are taking it over and only 50% pass and you are among them then it is not great but it is OK.</p>
<p>On my past semester grade, I got 4 B’s, and only 3 A’s; but i am used to getting straight A’s, and when I saw those grades on my report cards I litteraly started to tear up. When a student does their absolute best, and always have had done so in their academic carrier, it hurts. A lot. It is a dissapointment, and it killed my dreams because I wanted to graduate with a Vaildtorian from high school, and now I’m not sure if I can do that anymore. So getting B’s, well at least for me, is a big deal.</p>
<p>"I think a lot of it is because you’re on college confidential. For the most part, we’re a bunch of overachievers and work pretty hard for our grades. For a lot of us, that usually culminates in an A, and when people don’t get what they expect, they get upset about it.</p>
<p>I definitely wouldn’t say we’re the “norm” and most people in the real world, on the whole, are fairly satisfied with a good mix of A’s and B’s."</p>
<p>This is true and i’m glad I joined this website because of this actually. My lowest grade this sem was a B+ and it really bothered me. I got this attitude from this website and how frustrated people are on here about not having a 4.0 GPA. I was not like that before. I’m glad I am like that now, because I used to be very lazy and would be okay with “just passing”. I admit I still became lazy mid semester and didn’t try my best, but still got two A- and one B+. But it made me realize if I do actually try, I can get straight A’s.</p>
<p>I’d agree with the majority of the posts above and say that it depends on the college and environment. There are very competitive schools and less competitive schools. Regardless, you as an individual should be striving to receive the best grades as possible in order to line up the best future for yourself.</p>
<p>Well, I know that in a few high schools, there is a “one B and you are ruined for life” mentality. And though I know that it isn’t true, at times it just seems like it.
(Mainly when I go on College Confidential lol)</p>
<p>Just think of it this way: If a class is curved to a B+/A- (so the mean score is a B+/A-), then a B or B- is most definitely below average (below the mean). Who wants to be below the mean? I mean, As are nice and all, but to be quite honest, it’s just nice knowing you’re above average…not so much the “I must get an A” mantra, but just being above average is a nice feeling. Can anyone honestly say they like or enjoy feeling below average? Or even average (in the case that the course was curved to a B)? I may not always aim for an A in every course, but I know I really, genuinely enjoy being “above average”, whether the average is an A-, B+, B, C, etc.</p>
<p>I recently looked up info about college class curves. What one site said is the problem with regular distribution curves is that there needs to be as many F’s as there are A’s per that type of distribution. So students who get F’s or D’s may not have such bad scores but the curve requires they get those grades.</p>
<p>It was described that classes should instead have 20-25% A’s, 30% B’s, 40% C’s and 5-10% D’s and F’s. </p>
<p>This type of curve then would make a B- the midpoint.</p>