C- now a failing grade in engineering

yagottabelieve
Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:45:03 +0000

The fact is, we have to use some sort of admissions system. Nobody is seriously proposing open admissions; some people must be rejected. Therefore we ought to be rejecting those people who are likely to fail anyway, as determined by statistical data mining analysis.



Since we are talking about something that is unique to engineering programs, there possibly isn’t enough data in a student’s life prior to entering these programs to make reasonable predictions of success (or lack thereof). Especially since we are talking about some of the top engineering schools, where most of the applicants (and nearly all of the admits) excel in quite a few areas.

Since you (sakky) mention Stanford engineering often as a model for admissions standards, I should point out that it is not highly regarded in some professional circles. I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about honor code violations, grade inflation, etc.