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Is Grade Inflation really a problem at a top school? Why is it surprising that driven students at an elite institution are probably going to do well most of the

Is Grade Inflation really a problem at a top school? Why is it surprising that driven students at an elite institution are probably going to do well most of the time? I'd take this over moronic experiments like grade deflation at Princeton -- imagine being mandated to give only a small proportion of your students an A in, say, a Calc I class. I'm slightly annoyed at this discourse because I went to Columbia, an institution that seemed hellbent at enforcing some vague sense of rigor at the expense of the sanity of most of its students. I certainly want to be challenged, and don't want top Universities to be glorified country clubs masquerading as academic environments, but I also think that what a defines substantive and rigorous eduction is at the highest level is actually quite hard to pin down.

kurupt213 4y ago
Because there should still be a natural distribution. Even if you are evaluating the cream of the crop.
- neaden 4y ago
  This all depends on if you think a grade at school A should be directly comparable to school B.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- Beltalowda 4y ago
  > Because there should still be a natural distribution. Even if you are evaluating the cream of the crop. Why should there be? Let's say all students in the class are A students, and would get an A in any other class, then some now get a B or C just because their classmates happen to be even better? It seems to me that doesn't really reflect student ability very accurately.
  - ip26 4y ago
    just because their classmates happen to be even better? In theory, getting top marks at a top school means you are the best of the best, in a literal sense. Or in different terms, is a "B" at MIT better than an "A" at a third tier?
spideymans 4y ago
> Why is it surprising that driven students at an elite institution are probably going to do well most of the time? This only makes sense if you assume that Harvard students are unusually academically driven. Given that Harvard has historical been very eager to accept students that have personal relationships with Harvard alumni, I wouldn’t make the assumption that these students are more academically driven than average. A lot of these students will see success because of their connections, rather than their academic aptitude
universityguys 4y ago
Why does Harvard have orders of magnitudes higher GPA than any school with comparable student bodies other than Yale?

kurupt213 4y ago

Because there should still be a natural distribution. Even if you are evaluating the cream of the crop.

neaden 4y ago
This all depends on if you think a grade at school A should be directly comparable to school B.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
Beltalowda 4y ago
> Because there should still be a natural distribution. Even if you are evaluating the cream of the crop. Why should there be? Let's say all students in the class are A students, and would get an A in any other class, then some now get a B or C just because their classmates happen to be even better? It seems to me that doesn't really reflect student ability very accurately.
- ip26 4y ago
  just because their classmates happen to be even better? In theory, getting top marks at a top school means you are the best of the best, in a literal sense. Or in different terms, is a "B" at MIT better than an "A" at a third tier?

spideymans 4y ago

> Why is it surprising that driven students at an elite institution are probably going to do well most of the time? This only makes sense if you assume that Harvard students are unusually academically driven. Given that Harvard has historical been very eager to accept students that have personal relationships with Harvard alumni, I wouldn’t make the assumption that these students are more academically driven than average. A lot of these students will see success because of their connections, rather than their academic aptitude

universityguys 4y ago

Why does Harvard have orders of magnitudes higher GPA than any school with comparable student bodies other than Yale?