3 ms·
I used to Head TA CS at Harvard (or "TF", to use their verbiage), so can answer this: the graduation rate is very high, but honors are capped (mainly because th
by objclxt 9y ago
I used to Head TA CS at Harvard (or "TF", to use their verbiage), so can answer this: the graduation rate is very high, but honors are capped (mainly because the honors rate was at one time out of control). Personally I never really cared for honors, but for many people it can be extremely important.
Because honors are capped at a fixed percentage of the class relative to GPA this means it's vital to maximize your grades, hence the cheating. No joke - I used to get many e-mails from students after grades were released begging for us to bump them up.
- nebabyte 9y agoWhy not turn that to your advantage? Institute a policy wherein they are bumped down if they send an email and their reason for doing so does not fall within pregiven requirements (e.g. clerical error in recording a grade). An excellent prof at the non-Ivy I went to did this, and it was quite effective. Some small percent of your grade (significant enough to bump you if needed) was guaranteed unless you chose to try and create noise to get moved up.
- UK-AL 9y agoI think this creates a massive disincentive in order to ask why they didn't get the mark they want. For fear of being marked as a complainer. At the end of the day you are there provide guidance to get their skills and knowledge to place they want to be. Not to simply filter wheat from chaff.