<p>does anyone know how the following schools compare with respect to grade deflation?</p>
<p>UPenn, Columbia, UChicago, Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore</p>
<p>bump... <-></p>
<p>I don't think this question is possible to answer absolutely (every professor, every department) or comparatively (if you major in x at y with a GPA of z, that major x at institution a will yield a higher/lower GPA).</p>
<p>I can answer this question in snippets for Chicago:
1. Newmassdad did a calculation (counting the names of the students who appeared in the graduation pamphlet as on the Dean's List) and concluded that about 2/3 of the student body at Chicago is on the Dean's List. Dean's List is a 3.25.
2. The reading and writing classes I have been have not been curved, nor has there been a "conspiracy" to lower grades. Some teachers are tougher graders than others, but I knew that going into the class.
3. Some science and math classes are set to a B or B- curve. All this means is that students slide their expectations-- a B in high school and a B in college mean very different things.</p>
<p>Penn is similar to UChicago for the second two points. The average grade in Wharton is a 3.3. The average grade in engineering is around a 3.0. I don't think there are any stats out for the College, but it wouldn't surprise me if at Penn the average GPA in the College was between a 3.3 and 3.5.</p>
<p>The closest thing I can see to grade deflation at Penn is when courses have strict X% of students can get an A. If the course has easy material and most students do well (average test scores above 85%) you have situations where students who have above 90% do not have As. Those courses can get annoying.</p>
<p>I don't know of any classes that are curved at Swarthmore. For example, I took biology in first semester and that class was not curved. Some teachers do indeed grade much more easily than others. I would guess that the average grade here is in the A-/B+ range. I don't think we have grade deflation at Swarthmore, just very little, if any, grade inflation.</p>