GPA Deflation Forum

[zysun]

I know it's kinda early to ask about admission stuff as a sophomore but I am really concerned about my GPA. My school (Wesleyan U in Middletown, CT) has a terrible policy of using 94% as the bar between A and A-minus; thanks to this policy I got a straight A-minus for this semester and I fear that this trend will continue given the general deflation at my school. Moreover, since I am aiming for law schools in Canada (U of T, Osgoode Hall, and Ottawa), I have the feeling that they do not know much about the deflation thing going on at Wesleyan. What should I do? How can I inform these schools about the situation at my school?

[cavalier1138]

I'm not sure that anyone here will be able to tell you the specifics of how Canadian law schools treat GPA, but Wesleyan's grading standards are perfectly normal.

And yes, it's too early to be thinking about this.

[zysun]

I'm not sure that anyone here will be able to tell you the specifics of how Canadian law schools treat GPA, but Wesleyan's grading standards are perfectly normal.

And yes, it's too early to be thinking about this.

Thank you for your reply.
To my observation, for all the classes I attended the professor only award 1-2 As per class as a result of 94%-equals-A policy. For all the 13 full-credit courses I took at Wes, I got A-minuses on all of them. Putting my situation in the context of applying to top-15 law schools in the states, am I screwed up already?

[cavalier1138]

I'm not sure that anyone here will be able to tell you the specifics of how Canadian law schools treat GPA, but Wesleyan's grading standards are perfectly normal.

And yes, it's too early to be thinking about this.

Thank you for your reply.
To my observation, for all the classes I attended the professor only award 1-2 As per class as a result of 94%-equals-A policy. For all the 13 full-credit courses I took at Wes, I got A-minuses on all of them. Putting my situation in the context of applying to top-15 law schools in the states, am I screwed up already?

No, and stop thinking about law school. It's not going anywhere, and a 3.7 average will not keep you out of a top school.

[chargers21]

I'm pretty sure 94% = A is the standard grading scale at every normal school

[181plz]

Agree that 93% is normally A-. Also,a 3.7 is a decent gpa. Many of us make it into t13 with less than that

[Mikey]

yeah.. 94% is an A and anything below that but above like a 90(IIRC?) is an A-.

this isn't a weird or terrible policy at all, OP, it's normal.

also, there's no need to contact law schools about your current schools grading system. they will most likely not give a crap tbh. and I'm sure they have info on grading policies for colleges if they really wanted to look into it, but again, they probably don't care.

[Slippin' Jimmy]

I'm pretty sure 94% = A is the standard grading scale at every normal school

The only school I’m familiar with that doesn’t do this is a community college. Personally I prefer this system to no +/-

[sharris2017]

I'm not sure that anyone here will be able to tell you the specifics of how Canadian law schools treat GPA, but Wesleyan's grading standards are perfectly normal.

And yes, it's too early to be thinking about this.

Thank you for your reply.
To my observation, for all the classes I attended the professor only award 1-2 As per class as a result of 94%-equals-A policy. For all the 13 full-credit courses I took at Wes, I got A-minuses on all of them. Putting my situation in the context of applying to top-15 law schools in the states, am I screwed up already?

Were you on track for A-s the whole semester? If so, you probably had time to evaluate why you weren't getting on the A and improve yourself. Your chances for T13 are not bad with 3.7, but you should seek to constantly improve yourself rather than dwelling on the shortcomings of the past and the structure of the system being unjust. I have no doubt that you will get the A if you internalize and act upon this advice.

[mcmand]

I would have liked to have A-'s raining down on me that often in undergrad. OP, reflect on your hard work and good fortune and don't beat yourself up so much. Enjoy your success so far and keep focused on the present.

[OakBrook2021]

Not to hijack this thread, but I always assumed 93 was the cutoff for an A

[icechicken]

Not to hijack this thread, but I always assumed 93 was the cutoff for an A :o

It sometimes is (especially, IME, in systems that have an A+). It's usually not a huge deal because professors end up fudging things either way to give the grades they want to.

[Slippin' Jimmy]

Not to hijack this thread, but I always assumed 93 was the cutoff for an A

The community college I went to Freshman year didn't do +/-, and made the cutoff for an A 90. Made a class that should have been an A- an A, and one that should have been a B+ a B so it really is a wash in the end.

[saf18hornet]

Unfortunately for me, it was not a wash. I earned just a ridiculous amount of A- on my degree. Schools that have simple A, B, C grading scales would have been a big advantage to me.

[cavalier1138]

Unfortunately for me, it was not a wash. I earned just a ridiculous amount of A- on my degree. Schools that have simple A, B, C grading scales would have been a big advantage to me.

The point was more that it's a wash when you look at everyone's grades. Yes, your GPA suffered comparatively, but one of your classmates who had a lot of B+ grades would have had a much lower GPA without the +/- system. So that's why it ends up being a wash.