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Harvard figures show most of its grades are A's or B's
Boston Globe ^
| November 21, 2001
| Patrick Healy
Posted on 11/21/2001 1:43:03 AM PST by sarcasm
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:07:03 AM PDT by Jim Robinson.
[history]
In a report sent to all faculty members yesterday, dean of undergraduate education Susan Pedersen said that a Harvard faculty committee plans to develop common guidelines for grading and ''restore a more robust distinction between excellent and good work.''
According to the report, 48.5 of Harvard grades last year were A's and A-minuses, compared with 33.2 percent of grades in 1985. Grades in the three C categories fell from 10 percent in 1985 to 4.9 percent last year. D's and failing grades accounted for less than 1 percent each.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
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1
posted on
11/21/2001 1:43:03 AM PST
by
sarcasm
To: sarcasm
According to the report, 48.5 of Harvard grades last year were A's and A-minuses, compared with 33.2 percent of grades in 1985. Grades in the three C categories fell from 10 percent in 1985 to 4.9 percent last year. D's and failing grades accounted for less than 1 percent each. Damn, I should have gone to Harvard.
To: sarcasm
Not all observers see an increase in A's as a sign of slipping standards. One reason for higher grades, according to the report, is that students may be better prepared and harder working than in years past. LOL! I wonder what a Harvard 'A' translates to at a good school.
To: sarcasm
The worst professor I had in college was a jerk who announced on the first day of class that his grading would fit a bell curve. No ifs, ands or butts. It put fear in the hearts of us and made competition the primary focus of the class (Econ). Sounds like Harvard could use a dose of that.
4
posted on
11/21/2001 1:49:21 AM PST
by
Glenn
To: sarcasm
Pederson cited other factors that might influence professors' grading practice, including pressure to grade similarly to colleagues, fears of being labeled a ''tough grader,'' and pressure from students, who have come to expect A's and B's. That's quite simply stupid!
To: sarcasm
--and quite a large percentage of these "elite" think they have the right to "govern" the rest of us as a result of their exalted standing. I still think Bill Buckley has it right-- better "governed" by the first 400 names in the phone book than an Ivy League faculty--
To: sarcasm
Grade inflation is rampant in graduate schools across the country. Looks like Harvard didn't want to discriminate against undergraduates.
7
posted on
11/21/2001 2:08:39 AM PST
by
fso301
To: sarcasm
It's becoming more and more the case that if you can pay the tuition, then you can get a diploma. Before you know it, students won't even have to turn in papers or take tests at all.
8
posted on
11/21/2001 2:16:02 AM PST
by
Fraulein
To: sarcasm
At Harvard and everwhere else, it always ticked me off that enginering and science majors( who learn real knowledge) would have lower g.p.a. than the arties types who learn...a..ah....um...go to law school.
9
posted on
11/21/2001 4:29:49 AM PST
by
Leisler
To: Always Right
I hear the admissions are selective. You can get books everwhere that will break down admitted freshman classes giving, for example, the 25th and 75th percentiles on the SAT's. It's a crude measure, but it gives you a quick read on what sort of population they're working with.
To: Leisler
Some places give you a BA if you major in pure math. You know ... Algebra, Analysis, Topology, .... Spivak, Royden and all that good stuff.
To: rellimpank
The President graduated from an Ivy League School. Two of them, I think. Preceeded by some elitist prep school on the east coast.
To: Glenn
Take every last HS graduate and ask them to write an essay on ... you pick, say Dante. Then sort the essays into two piles, better and worse. Then sort the pile of better papers into to further piles, better and worse. Repeat till you've got a pile of a couple of hundred papers. Gets harder as you go along ... You're asking Harvard to make a dozen further distinctions between the papers in that pile. At some point, the sort of diagnoistic tools available are not going to be able to make the distinctions one would easily make elsewhere.
To: sarcasm
Shouldn't EVERYONE who goes to Harvard make an A? What about the self-esteem of the children? Don't they even care?
To: Leisler
That's why we MIT students who were really working long hours on our engineering of physics or math always looked down at Harvard, since the common opinion at MIT was that Harvard was more a place for well-connected students on the fast track to becoming the elite. I think the survey above validates what we always thought, but that's the way the world works. (When DID the Unabomber Kaczynski graduate from Harvard, anyway?)
To: sarcasm
Going to an Ivy Leage school has always been, in part, a question of self-selection and signalling to the world one's ambitions. The second part was education acuired, so that by graduation time you signal both your ambition and the knowledge which it produced.
Nowadays, it's purely self-selection. Stated differently, there is not much value added by that education: the graduating student is above the median by the same amount that was there upon matriculation.
Our language refelcts our attitudes: fifty years ago, you were graduated from a high school or a college by that institution --- it was up to them to do so; twenty years ago, you graduated from college --- it became your prerogative to do so; presently you graduate it. It's like shaving: you may cut yourself but you cannot fail.
16
posted on
11/21/2001 5:22:55 AM PST
by
TopQuark
To: sarcasm
It should be an indication of how smart they are when they pay Bill Clinton for a speech.
17
posted on
11/21/2001 5:26:57 AM PST
by
Piquaboy
To: sarcasm
Several professors declined to comment on the report yesterday because they had not read it....or were simply unable to read.
18
posted on
11/21/2001 5:29:35 AM PST
by
Wm Bach
To: sarcasm
What a joke! My daughter attended a 6 year Medical School at UMKC that was extremely selective (not to mention outrageusly $$$$$) and instead of handing out A's, they ended up with a higher than usual drop rate because of the grades they demand in order for you to stay in the program. Harvard sounds like it has turned into an overpriced diploma mill. If you have the $$$, they have the paper.
To: sarcasm
After working in a program that trains medical students for a dual degree, MD/PhD, I would suggest that no one consult with a doctor under 65 years old nor put complete trust in articles published in even the most prestigious scientific journals until the biographies of the authors are checked assiduously.
20
posted on
11/21/2001 5:40:43 AM PST
by
Orual
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