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Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:26 pm
by violinst
http://web.archive.org/web/200008290949 ... adeadj.htm
Just a random find. It's a bit old, but still quite revealing.
(edit: My LAC is doing well!)
(edit: Boalt is no longer using this formula. Consider it as an educated assessment of grade inflation/"GPA" prestige.)
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:35 pm
by 2ofspades
This sheds more than a little light on Berkeley's LSN graph.
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:37 pm
by Kswizzie
Arg...my school was right on the cusp of the little bonus
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:38 pm
by 2014
Hey hopefully it's true given that I'm coming from a red school and have a low GPA for Boalt haha
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:41 pm
by 094320
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Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:44 pm
by 4102011
Oh snap, I'm right at 72.0. I'm not applying there but mehhhh. They should at least look at the individual schools within universities...
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:45 pm
by odoylerules
really interesting. i wonder if other schools use a similar formula.
also, the article leaves it really vague about how many points are added/subtracted... i cant imagine it being more than .2 a GPA point at most
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:46 pm
by 2ofspades
acrossthelake wrote:Cool! I get a bonus! Interestingly--all the Ivies get a bonus despite our notorious grade inflation. Interesting.
The article says the boost/penalty is a function not only of grade inflation but also of schools' LSAT histories.
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:46 pm
by ShuckingNotJiving
Hm. I really thought most ppl knew this. And that other schools do it as well. It's too bad that don't mention how many points are added / subtracted, exactly.
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:47 pm
by 2014
odoylerules wrote:really interesting. i wonder if other schools use a similar formula.
also, the article leaves it really vague about how many points are added/subtracted... i cant imagine it being more than .2 a GPA point at most
That would get me above their 25th, which certainly wouldn't hurt!
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:49 pm
by 094320
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Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:52 pm
by violinst
acrossthelake wrote:Cool! I get a bonus! Interestingly--all the Ivies get a bonus despite our notorious grade inflation. Interesting.
But comparing to their LAC peers, some (Brown at 80, Columbia at 80.5, and Yale at 82.5, v. Oberlin at 83, Middlebury at 86, and Swarthmore at 99.5!) are not doing as well.
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:52 pm
by cowgirl_bebop
Oh this is some crap! Of course I would go to the school that is tied for the lowest ranking (Howard). As a splitter (one who is NOT applying the Berkley BTW), this is bad news if many other schools use this system,and Im sure they do.
And no, I obviously dont think it's fair. I feel like it punishes people because of how poorly other people have done at their school. I dont understand why the LSAT scores of other people should affect how a school views me and mine. Meh...
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:55 pm
by FlanAl
Think I'm a little confused. The date at the top says 1997. Is that when this info is from?
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:57 pm
by 094320
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Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:57 pm
by violinst
FlanAl wrote:Think I'm a little confused. The date at the top says 1997. Is that when this info is from?
Yes, as I said, "a bit old".
But nonetheless revealing, IMO.
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:58 pm
by 2ofspades
acrossthelake wrote:2ofspades wrote:acrossthelake wrote:Cool! I get a bonus! Interestingly--all the Ivies get a bonus despite our notorious grade inflation. Interesting.
The article says the boost/penalty is a function not only of grade inflation but also of schools' LSAT histories.
Yes, but that aspect is one that is often dismissed in arguments on this board (which I don't want to get into again) over whether grades at the Ivies deserve a boost, so it was interesting to see which side of the argument that Boalt came down on. I'm curious as to what other schools do.
Ah, yes. I don't want to open the argument either. I do think some other schools pay attention to UG institution and grade inflation, more so than we give those schools credit for, but I don't think others do so as comprehensively or to the degree that Boalt apparently does.
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:07 am
by FlanAl
well if its from 97 I would assume that the list has changed a bit. Maybe the Ivies weren't as notorious for grade inflation back then. It seems like from the research that that guy at Duke does
http://www.gradeinflation.com/ the list might be a lot different now. It is super informative to know that they admit to doing this and actually published how they did it. It would be great to find that same chart but for 09
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:10 am
by Knock
Yes. My gpa doesn't get devalued!
Although I've heard otherwise anecdotally. I guess we'll see.
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:11 am
by FlanAl
Also definitely not trying to start up a what undergrad is harder or whatever argument. just think it would be interesting to see how much its changes in the past 13 years.
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:13 am
by 09042014
FlanAl wrote:well if its from 97 I would assume that the list has changed a bit. Maybe the Ivies weren't as notorious for grade inflation back then. It seems like from the research that that guy at Duke does
http://www.gradeinflation.com/ the list might be a lot different now. It is super informative to know that they admit to doing this and actually published how they did it. It would be great to find that same chart but for 09
They may not still be doing it. Especially since complains were filled because of it.
I think doing this is fair, esp at a school that overvalues the GPA like Boalt does. Their minimum gpa wall is very high. If they didn't correct they'd be penalizing people for going to good schools.
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:16 am
by hijodehombre
FlanAl wrote:well if its from 97 I would assume that the list has changed a bit. Maybe the Ivies weren't as notorious for grade inflation back then. It seems like from the research that that guy at Duke does
http://www.gradeinflation.com/ the list might be a lot different now. It is super informative to know that they admit to doing this and actually published how they did it. It would be great to find that same chart but for 09
I think the point was to show that UG degrees
were, at least at some point, treated differently (that a 3.5 at Cal State X was given less weight than a 3.5 at UCX, for example), not to provide definite, current data. The question isn't what exactly are the current weights given across UGs, but rather, whether this is pervasive and if so, to what degree.
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:17 am
by 094320
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Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:19 am
by Hannibal
My institution doesn't exist. Maybe because it doesn't release its grades? I know they don't release a class rank.
Re: Boalt Hall's secret recipe on grade inflation- t120 schools
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:23 am
by firemed
Great to note that the GPA from my undergrad institution is further devalued... I wonder if I go down into the 2.8-2.9 range because of this....
Whatever. LSAT trumps GPA.