hookem168

The UCs have a penchant for standardization in various admissions procedures, and this article was written over 12 years ago, but I can definitely attest to their assessment of Duke's toughness (they seem to have ranked it as the third most difficult, behind only Swarthmore and Williams). From my experiences in a difficult humanities Focus cluster to my friends' trials in engineering, it's tough to pull consistent A's here. Obviously, I can't knowledgeably affirm all the other school's "rankings," but Duke'll be tough on your GPA. Be willing to suck it up.

bluedevilmike

That was 1997, and I can promise you that Duke has gotten easier in the meanwhile.

kwu

Duke GPAs have steadily risen over decades | UWIRE

The story, originally published in the Duke "Chronicle," is no longer accessible. The above represents a cached, text-only version of the article.

"To get a C from professor Jerry Hough, a student would have to consciously avoid doing the coursework.

Hough, James B. Duke professor of political science, said he does not often venture far from the upper-end of the grading scale, with about 40 percent of students earning A's and 55 percent earning B's. But Hough-along with numerous other faculty members-is only grading in line with the average undergraduate grade point average at Duke, a 3.44 or a B-plus."

See the following, too:

http://fortyquestions.blogspot.com/2...-stomping.html
http://fortyquestions.blogspot.com/2...omping_23.html