Despite common perceptions that classes in the hard sciences have much lower median grades than those in the humanities, a recent study by The Dartmouth reveals that all students are in the same boat.
The Dartmouth analyzed the median grades of 13 departments by averaging the median grades of every class offered by those departments in the past year. The departments, both small and large, were chosen to represent the range of Dartmouth's offerings and consisted of natural sciences, social sciences and humanities.
Of the 13 departments sampled, all averages were within 0.4 points of each other and ranged from B/B-plus to A-minus. In ascending order, the departmental average medians were B/B-plus for biological sciences; B-plus for anthropology, economics, government, mathematics and engineering; B-plus/A-minus for psychological and brain sciences, history, environmental sciences, philosophy, classical studies and English; and A-minus for Spanish.
Many students, however, perceive that the natural sciences, like biology, have much lower median grades.
"The hard sciences are definitely scary. There is a lot less room for opinions and interpretation -- it's either right or wrong," psychology major Emily Elliott '06 said.
In reality, Elliott's own department's average median grade is only 0.2 higher than the biology average.
Conversely, students generally think the humanities have markedly higher median grades, because professors might allow more room in grading for creativity.
" I would think the arts and humanities have higher median grades because the material is a lot more creative in nature, which allows for greater flexibility in grading," Shannon Troutman '06, a government major and classics minor, said.
Dartmouth began requiring median grades to be posted in 1994 in an attempt to limit grade inflation. The slight variations between median grades seem to suggest that the policy has effectively kept grades in a reasonable range.
There is another possibility for the narrow scope of the medians -- industrious Dartmouth students are producing comparable work and, thus, deserve comparable grades.
"I think that it is important to reward hard work, so it's not surprising that the grades are relatively close," said Christine Kopprasch '05.
Median grade policies also vary within departments. In biology, for example, the department approaches introductory and upper-level courses very differently.
"We try to drive for a B-minus in our introductory classes; upper-division classes don't have a set policy and range from a B-minus to an A because of factors such as size, subject matter, format and laboratory sessions," biology chair Marty McPeek said.
The Dartmouth found that individual class medians within departments vary enough to produce similar median grade averages across the chosen sample, largely because of the different grades given in courses of different levels and sizes.
Instead of complaining about low median grades, many students, like Hannah Cho '07, actually use the published median grade figures to choose what might be an easier course load. Cho visits the Registrar's website before enrolling in classes.
