Students see grade problems at BU

Boston University students say grade deflation - the administrative reaction to years of grade inflation - has become a major problem at the university, and many say its effects have already touched them.

While several said deflation is a bigger problem now than inflation was, while other students said they have still benefited from grade inflation, including College of Arts and Sciences junior Rita Assaf.

"I've definitely gotten grades that I didn't deserve," she said remembering when she received a B for an economics test she failed based on the percentages.

But Assaf also had complaints of deflation of her grades as well. BU is not a level playing field, she said.

"I have friends at other schools who get better grades than I do, and they don't do any work," she said. "My grades have definitely been affected by deflation."

Assaf, who also takes classes in the School of Management, said she sees more low grades - both her own and her classmates' - in her SMG classes than in her CAS classes.

CAS senior Nina Quinn also noted differences in grading between departments within CAS. While a statistics class she took pushed grades down to an average of B-, Quinn said her art history professors do not pay as much attention to how the class stacks up as a whole.

"I think inflation is departmental," she said. "I'm an art history major, so my grade depends on papers and class participation. If the whole class deserves As, they all get As."

CAS freshman Francesco Pasquariello said he has experienced the most deflation in science courses. Specifically, he said a biology class had a class-wide C average.

Still, CAS senior Erin McCoy said she got a little help from inflation in an economics course.

"I got an A- when I deserved a C," she said.

Several students contended that both inflation and deflation are unfair, saying grades should be based on performance regardless of a class' grade distribution.

"It's getting harder and harder to get a good grade," CAS senior Mike Tursi said. "[In some of my classes] a majority of the students receive a C because of deflation."

Quinn said she opposes grade inflation because she wants to "keep the bar high." But if an entire class performs poorly, "that says something about the professor, not the students," she contended.

As far as the effects of grade deflation, several students said they are worried about it putting them at a disadvantage when they apply to graduate schools.

Tursi said rather than increasing the prestige of receiving an A at BU, grade deflation has caused BU to lose some academic standing.

"[Prospective] students know that it's harder [to get good grades], so BU won't be as attractive to them," he said.

College of Communication sophomore Vanessa Czarnecki said she feels similarly.

"Grade deflation puts the alumni at a disadvantage when they apply to graduate schools and enter the workforce," she said. "That brings down the school's standing and prestige."