<p>Is the math courses? The physics courses? Or the engineering courses?
I have looked at sample mechanical and electrical engineering schedules and I am a bit confused why the average gpa for engineering is so low.. Usually, people who like math and/or physics go into engineering. So those people should do well in the physics and math courses right? Or are the actual engineering courses really hard?</p>
<p>People think that Engineering = $$ and therefore go into engineering despite being week in math. Not surprisingly, they can’t handle the math, get poor grades and switch to business majors within a year. Those that don’t leave and fit the above profile continue to get poor grades. </p>
<p>Also, certain engineering schools will curve classes with an average around a B-. This results in a lot of people getting very bad grades.</p>
<p>Usually the engineering classes are harder…</p>
<p>I don’t really think the above statements are true. Engineering gpas are low in comparison to (for lack of a better word) softer majors. If you look at engineering gpas, they’re similar to the gpas of all students in the science and math fields. This is because, in these classes, for the most part, there is only ever one right answer. Compare this to someone who’s majoring in English or a foreign language, where there are plenty of ways to write an essay or hold a conversation.</p>
<p>I actually read an article about this somewhere; in college, grading is more harsh than in high school, and grade inflation doesn’t exist. However, (in my experience) it’s a lot easier to BS an english essay than it is a mathematic proof.</p>
<p>I think time management is also an issue.</p>
<p>Here in Canada, a full course load is considered 5 courses per semester. However, for engineering at my school (and other universities that my friends attend), we need 6 courses per semester to graduate in 4 years.</p>
<p>Technically it’s not hard to have a high GPA as an engineer… it’s hard to get a high GPA, and it’s hard to keep it, but it’s pretty easy to have one.</p>
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<p>Grade inflation does exist; see [National</a> Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities](<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com%5DNational”>http://www.gradeinflation.com) . It does note that grade inflation is generally greatest in humanities, with engineering and social studies GPAs being about 0.1 behind humanities, and science GPAs being about 0.3 behind humanities. (Obviously, engineering majors take a lot of science in their first two years.)</p>
<p>Introductory science courses tend to be key prerequisites for other courses, so there may be some pressure against too much grade inflation (i.e. no one wants to be the instructor who gave A grades to freshman calculus students who are unable to use freshman calculus knowledge in physics or sophomore math).</p>
<p>Eng rigor causes stratification of the cohort.
Harder the course work, greater the stratification.<br>
Pretty simple concept. eh</p>
<p>Because it requires such a higher understanding of the material, and a dedication to learn it. My first degree was in Psychology from a top 20 university. All I ever did was just cram right before tests. I even missed 2 weeks of class one time and I was still find. And, I don’t think I ever did homework. After being in engineering, there is no way I could adopt that study style and do as well as I did. To be honest, there is no way I could even pass Engineering school if that was still the case.</p>
<p>No, you guys got it all wrong. The material is tough, yes. The classes and labs take all your time, yes. But the real key reason for low grade is the professors. Face it, those who can design are already working in the industry making much more money. So those who are left behind ended up teaching. And you think they will give you an easy pass???</p>
<p>BTW, I graduated from a great engineering school years ago. But I found most of my professors were not that great. I was a TA to one of the professors. He asked me to grade the midterms and the answers(which he did himself) he gave me were wrong. I had to sit down with that professor and showed him why his approach/solution was wrong. Sad…</p>
<p>^ I don’t believe that these professors were “left behind and ended up teaching”.</p>
<p>Someone correct me if I’m wrong, because it wouldn’t be the first time, but:</p>
<p>Those professors have a PhD, something someone looking for work in industry doesn’t typically get. Because of this, they usually have advanced knowledge, and are doing research for the university. Of course they’re going to teach, too. Why would the university (a business) want to hire a set of researchers AND a set of “teachers” when they could have the researchers teach? Sure, maybe some professors aren’t the greatest at being professors, but I’d be willing to bet that they’re good researchers, and I KNOW they’re not all there because they were “left behind”.</p>
<p>That is such an ignorant statement, yaujar. Professors are not professors as a consolation prize. In fact, that profession has one of if not the highest job satisfaction rate in the country, which doesn’t sound to me like a bunch of disgruntled people who are stuck in their second choice job.</p>
<p>There are simply a lot of bad professors because many are there only to do research and teaching is just an unfortunate part of the job. There are, of course, many of them that value teaching, but then you deal with the fact that not all of these are inherently good teacher. This trend holds in more than just engineering.</p>
<p>Well if I got an easy degree like communications for example, I would probably have a super high GPA. However with engineering you have math classes galore, plenty of physics classes, chemistry classes, etc. Engineering is one of the hardest degrees that you can get. Obviously with the difficulty of the classes and how time consuming the classes are, it’s not a big mystery why engineering majors have low GPA’s.</p>