Berkeley's Grade "Deflation" Is A Myth?

sentimentGX4
Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:52:36 +0000

Grade deflation at Berkeley is a myth.

Even disregarding the rigor of the coursework and considering only the GPA, Berkeley’s mean GPA is far lower than that of other comparable universities.

Why, you may ask? Its because Berkeley is often compared to private schools and the mean GPA from a private school is 0.3 points higher than a public. These privates are some of the only universities of comparable rank given that Berkeley is the highest ranked public.

So, for many people considering Berkeley, grade deflation is real and an unavoidable aspect of the university. Anyone who compares Berkeley to a higher ranked school (whether by major or by general rankings) will not like Berkeley’s grade curve. Even looking down, there are only 3 publics to compare Berkeley to: UCLA, Michigan, and UVA.



If it is fair for, say, the engineering majors to be harshly weeded, then the American Studies majors should also be similarly harshly weeded. What’s fair is fair.

It’s much easier to tell an Engineering student he failed an exam based around mathematics than an American Studies writing a subjective essay about democracy. The former students has little power to challenge the instructor while the latter can quarrel all day with valid arguments.