<p>like USC, NYU, northwestern, etc.?</p>
<p>Most, but not all, colleges that aren’t LAC have fairly inflated grades. At Swarthmore they once had a t-shirt that said “It would have been an A anywhere else”.</p>
<p>what does LAC mean? i’ve seen it a lot on CC</p>
<p>Liberal Arts College</p>
<p>How do they inflate the grades?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I dunno, I think I have to disagree with that. Lots of universities, especially in science classes, “weed” out students in really tough classes. At most LACs its less about weeding out and more about making sure students don’t fall through the cracks</p>
<p>what do u mean? why would they want to “weed” them out? where do they go if they are outta the class? to a diff university or another teacher?</p>
<p><why would=“” they=“” want=“” to=“” “weed”=“” them=“” out?=“”> Charles Darwin. If you’re unfit, it’s better off that you go bye bye than staying to cause potential harm. In the language of choosing a major/field, that means sucking at your major/field.</why></p>
<p>Like melin said. Flunking introductory mechanical engineering is bad of course, but at least you can then change majors or something. If you flunk out of the mechanical engineering courses you take junior or senior year, what are you going to do?</p>
<p>Princeton deflates, not inflates, grades. The other Ivies have various grading policies, not all of which are uniform.</p>
<p>Why do CCers think ivies inflate grades. There is no data to support grade inflation. If true transfers from a 4 year institution, should perform at or above the GPA of students admitted as freshman. Based on the anecdotal data I have the opposite is true. Is there any hard data on this issue?</p>
<p><a href=“Office of Institutional Research | Brown University”>Office of Institutional Research | Brown University;
<p><a href=“http://media.thecrimson.com/NewsMedia/commencement09/classof2009/survey.pdf[/url]”>http://media.thecrimson.com/NewsMedia/commencement09/classof2009/survey.pdf</a> (cf. “Grade Point Average”)</p>
<p>[Median</a> Grades for Undergraduate Courses](<a href=“This page has moved”>This page has moved)</p>
<p>[Cornell</a> University Registrar: Median Grades](<a href=“http://registrar.sas.cornell.edu/Student/mediangradesA.html]Cornell”>http://registrar.sas.cornell.edu/Student/mediangradesA.html)</p>
<p>Go nuts.</p>
<p>[National</a> Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities](<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com/]National”>http://www.gradeinflation.com/)</p>
<p>[USATODAY.com</a> - Ivy League grade inflation](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2002/02/08/edtwof2.htm]USATODAY.com”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2002/02/08/edtwof2.htm)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I disagree: while Princeton may arguably deflate the percentage of A’s, it also surely *inflates<a href=“meaning%20that%20it%20practically%20never%20allocates”>/i</a> poor grades, which is far more important. Let’s face it, while you might not get A’s at Princeton, you won’t flunk either. The difference between graduating with top grades and graduating with only mediocre grades is trivial compared to the difference between graduating with mediocre grades and flunking out entirely.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Compare the graduation or flunkout rates between the Ivies and, say, Caltech. Caltech’s student body is just as academically qualified, if not more so, than any of the Ivies. Yet I think there is little dispute that students are far more likely to flunk out of Caltech than any of the Ivies.</p>
<p>B students, or even C students, in Ivies would be A students at most of other colleges. Other colleges might have to stop giving out A grade, then.</p>
<p>Ivies have better academic advisory and support systems. Maybe than Caltech?</p>
<p>As others have said, it varies from college to college. Another factor is the major, one reason that CalTech and MIT have tougher grading systems in place. Engineering, no matter where you study it, is always grade-deflated. Next in line for deflation is the sciences – all of them. For example, at my daughter’s LAC very few science majors graduate summa and magna cum laude. </p>
<p>But really, what does it matter whether your university or major is grade inflated or deflated? Everything is relative.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>(1) There’s nothing “arguable” about the grade deflation policy and practice. You obviously haven’t attended there, and you more obviously don’t know what you’re talking about.</p>
<p>(2) If you actually think that there are lots and lots of students at Princeton & similar Ivies that are “struggling students,” then you are even more naive. Because of admissions policies, the only students who might flunk unless an Ivy supported their not flunking, are those very, very hooked students who are slackers or not very bright. And there are only a handful of those. Even most recruited athletes to Ivies are excellent students both before and after admission.</p>
<p>(3) Most people who ask about grade inflation or deflation are concerned about grad school admission. Let’s ask the OP if her question was oriented toward how little work she could possibly do as an undergrad – for some odd reason. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes. But most graduate programs are aware of grade-deflated universities and majors. Everything is relative to the pool of students coming out of your university and to those in your major. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Thanks for the smile!</p>
<p>Engineering is not “grade deflated”, it is grade-normed. </p>
<p>We always talk about “grade inflation” and “grade deflation” at schools, but I want to ask, what is a normal distribution of grades (without being inflated or deflated)?</p>