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05-08-2008, 02:38 PM
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#2 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Princeton, NJ '11 Gender: Male
Threads: 18
Posts: 890
| There is, clearly, some negative response bias in that second link. That said:
1) Obviously students don't like the grade deflation policy. It hurts their GPA, which has an effect, slight as it may be, on their prospects for jobs. Clearly they're going to oppose it. I'm pretty agnostic on the issue.
2) A lot of the anti-administration sentiment is from a few events this year: annexing part of Spelman into Whitman (so, what, now they have the best new buildings on campus and a section of the best independent housing in their college? I call bullsh**), the new RCA alcohol policies, and the perceived war on the eating clubs. I'm not a big fan of any of those things, but they're not exactly horrible earth-shaking issues either.
Overall, the take-away here is that this is a heavily negative selection of campus views. | 
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05-08-2008, 02:41 PM
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#3 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Princeton, NJ
Threads: 46
Posts: 2,157
| Many students are upset by the administration's demonstrated unwillingness to consider student input when making major decisions. | |
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05-08-2008, 03:08 PM
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#4 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Threads: 5
Posts: 122
| sounds like high school | |
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05-08-2008, 06:49 PM
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#5 | | New Member
Join Date: May 2008
Threads: 2
Posts: 6
| 1of42, what do you think about the numbers (in the first link) getting worse as students get older? Do you have any junior/senior friends who can attest to this? Also, what about the other effects of grade deflation- does it make things significantly more competitive? The whole policy seems unnecessary, given none of the other top schools have changed theirs, and it just seems to be making students really unhappy. | |
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05-08-2008, 07:49 PM
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#6 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Princeton, NJ
Threads: 46
Posts: 2,157
| I have friends who are juniors and seniors, and their attitudes are not surprising in light of the survey results. The main problem students have with the administration is how it approaches student life issues, and area in which students should presumably be given a voice. I have no complaints about academics, faculty contact, or any of the other characteristics which make Princeton such a great place. I don't really have a problem with grade deflation. The initial numbers we're seeing suggest that the policy has not hurt students in the job market. Princeton has done a good job getting the word out to popular employers like investment banks and consulting firms. It would be nice not to have to work as hard to get an A, but it hasn't negatively affected my experience here. | |
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05-09-2008, 12:45 AM
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#7 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Princeton, NJ '11 Gender: Male
Threads: 18
Posts: 890
| prospect2013: So far, I'll be honest, I think I've largely gotten the grades I've deserved in classes. I think a lot of the dissatisfaction with grade deflation comes from the fact that Princeton students by and large got ridiculously uniformly high marks in high school, and expect that (maybe subconsciously) to continue.
Look I don't love grade deflation - I mean, really, why wouldn't I like having better grades, even if it didn't move me relative to other students? But I don't hate it either - it's not unfair or anything. I think there's just a tad bit of entitlement mentality in the anti-grade deflation movement.
What I think about the numbers getting worse is that as time goes on, the sheen of Princeton begins to wear off a bit (as it does with anything - new house, cool new video game, new car, whatever), and the faults become more apparent. I really don't think it's a surprising thing. Moreover, I think that since grade deflation would have been most recent with seniors, and still very recent for juniors and so forth, they would be more likely to be unhappy with it, whereas those of us applying now (and in the future) take it as more of a given. | |
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05-09-2008, 09:34 AM
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#8 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Threads: 4
Posts: 118
| Grade deflation is a good thing. I wish H has it. Now H gets some of the losers
who afraid of grade deflation. | |
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05-09-2008, 04:12 PM
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#10 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Threads: 21
Posts: 184
| Another current issue is shortening the time sophs-seniors have to move in to campus which affects the pre-rade tradition: A hurried welcome - The Daily Princetonian | |
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05-09-2008, 06:06 PM
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#11 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Threads: 10
Posts: 228
| 1 of 42: If your S was a rising junior who drew the lowest room draw number for Spelman next year as an independent and now has no kitchen in which to make his meals, no meal plan, and no eating club (and therefore will basically be living off the overpriced Wa food), you might think it was close to earth shatering as I do. To have independent be a choice while parents and siblings are sacrificing necessities to pay for the Princeton experience and then take away independent living space at the last minute so that others who are on a meal plan can get preferential housing is quite annoying. | |
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05-09-2008, 06:20 PM
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#12 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Princeton, NJ '11 Gender: Male
Threads: 18
Posts: 890
| sewbusy: I'm sorry about your S's situation. As I said in my post I think it should've been much better handled by the administration, and I really don't think any of Spelman should've been annexed. As I made clear in my post, I think it's the worst of all the issues that were brought up. Maybe it even is earth shattering. I'm not sure that's true, but your opinion may differ. | |
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05-19-2008, 05:06 PM
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#13 | | New Member
Join Date: May 2008 Location: Princeton, NJ Gender: Male
Threads: 0
Posts: 29
| Grade deflation really is a bad thing, especially when you get to more difficult upper-level classes during junior and senior year- it makes things unnecessarily competitive and adds pressure to an already tough academic environment. The policy makes sense when other Ivies/top schools follow suit, but not when one school goes unilateral with it. Yes, they have publicized the policy to top firms/grad schools, but only a certain percentage of students are going to get these coveted jobs/acceptances. Other firms and schools out there don't quite understand how much lower Princeton GPA's are, and some have minimum GPA cutoffs. Grade deflation will sometimes push you below these cutoffs when that would not have otherwise occurred under a normal grading policy.
Yes, there is some negative bias in the free response section, but lot of things people said there are spot on. Princeton's a wonderful school, but not all the changes they're making and current policies they have are good ones. | |
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05-19-2008, 09:20 PM
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#14 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Threads: 15
Posts: 107
| That alcohol policy sounds like Fascism. | |
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05-25-2008, 10:46 PM
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#15 | | New Member
Join Date: May 2008 Location: Princeton, NJ Gender: Male
Threads: 0
Posts: 29
| Yeah, deans who are paranoid about having an alcohol-related death on campus tend to go overboard with revising the rules. | |
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