Reputation Matters
In her editorial, "Deflating Grade Inflation," (The Dartmouth, April 22) Amie Sugarman argues against the Princeton administration's plan for limiting grade inflation and the possible institution of such a plan at Dartmouth. Sugarman's main argument is that if Dartmouth were to curb grade inflation, the resulting lower student GPAs would hurt graduate school and job applicants and sully Dartmouth's academic reputation. Because "students from top institutions are vying for [a] limited number of spots," and "grades are what makes someone's application competitive, not just the school from which someone hails," Sugarman makes the vast deductive leap that "a student from a much lesser university with a 4.0 grade point average clearly has the advantage over an Ivy Leaguer with a much lower average."