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OasisBU
Posts: 24138 Alba Posts: 4 Joined: 6/18/2002 Member: #257 USA |
6/7/2012 12:58 PM
earthmansurfer wrote:OasisBU wrote:ramtour420 wrote:loweyecue wrote:Perspective helps - 3.1 GPA in Harvard should be worn like a badge of honor. It's better than 4.0 from about 70% of other colleges. The point of my post is that a 3.1 from Harvard is nothing to write home about in response to the statement that a 3.1 from Harvard should be worn as a badge of honor. This really isn't a debate over Lin's basketball ability but it is a valid response to the statement about Harvard and grades. You bring up an interesting point about the school accepting more gifted students so by nature the grades should be better - I guess that's valid but I would think that would make it much harder for employers and other schools to select the truly exceptional students from a Harvard class if everyone gets good grades. Wikpedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_inflation: Grade inflation is often equated with lax academic standards. For example, the following quote about lax standards from a Harvard University report in 1894 has been used to claim that grade inflation has been a longstanding issue: "Grades A and B are sometimes given too readily ... insincere students gain passable grades by sham work."[11] Issues of standards in American education have been longstanding. However, rising grades did not become a major issue in American education until the 1960s. For example, in 1890 Harvard's average GPA was 2.27. In 1950, its average GPA was 2.55. By 2004, its GPA, as a result of dramatic rises in the 1960s and gradual rises since, had risen to 3.48. NPR http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1133702: Student's grades at Harvard University have soared in the last 10 years. According to a report issued Tuesday by the dean of undergraduate education, nearly half of the grades issued last year were A's or A-minuses. In 1985, just a third of the grades were A or A-minus. Linda Wertheimer talks with Susan Pedersen, Dean of Undergraduate Education and a Professor of History at Harvard University, about grade inflation. Boston.com http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/blogs/thenextgreatgeneration/2011/10/whats_in_an_a_grading_policies.html: But while many Ivy League schools -- most notably Princeton, a consistent competitor for the nation's top college -- have a reputation for severe grade deflation, Harvard contends with the opposite trend. The student body freely recognizes the reputation, and The Crimson, Harvard's student newspaper, has even spoken out against the trend. The Economist suggests that Harvard's alleged grade inflation is the product of two environmental factors: First, and seemingly obviously, students accepted to such internationally renowned Ivy League universities have an undeniable drive and academic talent for success. Second, the professors hired to teach these brilliant minds also frequently engage in their own research, in comparison to which the grading process seems trivial. So why not give out a few more As? "If at first you don't succeed, then maybe you just SUCK." Kenny Powers
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