BU Grade Deflation is Very Real

sinceredesichick
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 22:21:07 +0000

I am a student at BU who took CH101 this semester as a freshman. Looking back at my grades, I did about 10% or higher than average on labs, aleks and webassign, discussion quizzes, lecture exams, as well as the final. My final grade was a B. I think the average must have been curved to around a C+ or B-.

I guess it could be grade deflation, can’t say for sure. There were moments where I felt they were being unfair or “out to get us”, like the final exam which had some physics on it. I think the only way I would have been able to do better overall is if I had better time management with studying for tests and going over material I didn’t understand. The professors/lab TFs/discussion leaders are always open to help during office hours, and there’s even free tutoring at the ERC.

I think the students who performed well took advantage of all these resources AND had good time management were the ones that faired well. In general, it’s a lot to expect from a student in their first semester of college, but I have a feeling it would’ve been the same at any other comparable university.