What are the most DIFFICULT schools?

sakky
Fri, 23 Sep 2005 05:08:39 +0000

That’s MIT’s problem, perhaps? I guess what that means is Harvard’s grades are “inflated” with respect to MIT but probably not inflated with respect to some other schools if because of the caliber of the H students. Anyway, what gives MIT the right to be the standard?



I would turn the situation around and ask what gives Harvard the right to be the standard? Keep in mind that I’m not just talking about MIT. Caltech is in the same boat. So are you prepared to say that if Harvard inflates its grades, that’s not Harvard’s problem, but rather MIT’s and Caltech’s problem?

And perhaps a larger point needs to be made. It is a well known fact that engineering and science courses tend to be graded harder, even within the same university. Why? Why should that be the case? From an equity standpoint, why should certain disciplines be consistently graded harder than others? I recall that when Princeton implemented its new grade-change policy to rein in grade inflation, the science and engineering departments noted that that they wouldn’t have to change a thing because they had already been complying with the tougher grading standards, and that it was the humanities departments who would have to change their ways to comply. But that simply elicits a larger question of why were the humanities departments grading easier in the first place?