Grading Policy at BU

Colleges & Universities Boston University
1

<p>It’s been tough deciding between two schools that I want to attend, BU and UMiami. Recently, I’ve discovered that BU has a strict grading policy (through articles and by browsing through BU’s threads) and many people’s grades are getting hurt because of this. For me, this is really important because Dental School tends to look mostly at your GPA.</p>

<p>I am not sure if this still happens at BU, but I’ve read a few articles regarding BU’s grade deflation policy, where the administration would set a “limit” for a given course’s class average. For example, they would say that most people should get a B-, and if someone gets an A they should lower the grades. BU’s explanation for this was that if too many students started doing well in their courses, the school woudln’t look as competitive. </p>

<p>The articles are 2 to 4 years old, so I just wanted to make sure if this issue was resolved or is still haunting the students over there.</p>

2

<p>There is no school-wide grading policy. Each department sets its standards. Some courses do have strict curves, but others don’t and in general each professor decides on his or her policy, as long as it isn’t completely out of line with departmental thinking.</p>

<p>A similar question is whether one can get all A’s. The answer is one can get all A’s and A-'s and many people do.</p>

3

<p>I wouldn’t say that many people get all A’s and A-'s but my last two years at BU I have partly because I’ve been taking classes that I want to and not the prereq entry courses and partly because I’ve developed better study habits. I’ve never had my grade lowered, though and don’t know anyone that has.</p>

4

<p>Oh I see. Does anyone know, then, if such a policy is used for the Science departments and the school of biology?</p>