<p>This is going back aways but I remember when I was an undergrad at University of Chicago–the kids that did poorly and left did not fail because they couldn’t do the work, they failed because they freaked out and lost confidence in their ability.That’s what I remember thinking then (in the 70’s), and I guess I still believe the same thing. So, encourage and support your kid if he is doing poorly–you know he has the ability! </p>
<p>Also, my perception of grades of University of Chicago, even back then, (pre-grade inflation?) was that B’s were not that difficult to get but A’s were. Not every professor followed the only 10% will get an A in a class rule, but many did. They had something called “student marshalls”, I think, at graduation–those were the kids that graduated with a 3.75 or above (4.0 was the maximum). There weren’t very many of those in a graduating class. I wonder if the numbers have grown? (If they still have them, I don’t know).</p>
<p>This is neither here nor there, but back then, Chicago was pretty generous with giving incompletes in some classes–a mixed blessing. You could find yourself taking way too long to finish up a paper for a class this way, could have it hanging over your head way too long. A friend of mine had numerous incompletes, and she did finally finish them and graduate, but it took a long time. I’m curious as to whether Chicago and other schools still do this.</p>