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Editorial: Revisiting Princeton grading

The predominant such harm concerns the policy’s effect on the post-graduate prospects of Princeton alumni. Because — contrary to the University’s initial predictions — no other schools have followed Princeton in introducing a grade deflation policy, seniors often graduate with lower grades than they would have received at peer institutions, placing Princetonians at a disadvantage when compared to students from other schools. While the University claims these harms are minimal, it has thus far done an insufficient job at collecting and sharing information with the student body concerning the policy’s effects. Currently, the website of the Office of the Dean of the College lists the number of students employed in particular sectors or enrolled in particular types of graduate programs before and after the introduction of the new policy but provides no information whatsoever as to whether students’ range of options within a particular field has been limited. While the University lists how many students have been admitted to law school, for example, it does not reveal whether they have been admitted to the law school of their choice — and worlds of difference lie between a top-five and top-20 law school. Further information should be collected and disseminated to clarify the relationship between the grading policy and student outcomes.

Furthermore, the University ought to implement two additional steps. In the past, we have endorsed the idea of grade translation — the practice of reporting Princeton GPAs on a scale other than the standard 4.0. We reiterate our endorsement here. The University insists that as a result of the policy, Princeton grades simply do not mean the same thing that grades from other schools do. If that is the case, we should not report them as if they did. Employing a different scale, as schools such as MIT do, will reinforce that Princeton grades simply cannot be directly compared with those of other universities. Second, the Registrar should include data on the grade breakdown of the classes a student takes on his or her transcript. A chief obstacle to the successful implementation of grade deflation has always been a lack of information: Students’ grades cannot be fairly evaluated unless the evaluators know exactly what they mean. Releasing statistics on the grading in particular classes would increase the available information and thereby make the evaluation of applicants more fair.

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The grading policy at Princeton is of great significance to our experiences as students, given the centrality of academics to our work here, and the new Dean of the College will likely devote considerable thought to it as her administration begins. The recommendations here proposed will alleviate many of the concerns associated with the policy, and they ought to be adopted.

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