Inflated Grades Hide Mediocre StudentsTo the editors:
I read with some amusement the recent article regarding Kenan Professor of Government Harvey "C-Minus" Mansfield '53 and the issue of inflated grades (News, "Mansfield To Give Two Grades," Feb. 5).
It may surprise many of your students and faculty, but the Harvard name no longer has the luster that it one had on an applicant's resum. I deal with post-graduates on an almost daily basis, and in recent years, those who came from Harvard have been deficient in their base intellect as well as in their education--and these same people had spectacular grades on their transcripts.
Most of our faculty considers the Harvard name to be either neutral (at best) or a profound negative (at worst) when considering college graduates for admission to our facility.
This is true largely because we can longer trust the grades we see on a transcript from a Harvard graduate. A "Harvard A" does not, in fact, mean that the graduate has learned the course material. I am glad, however, that these same graduates feel good about themselves.
Timothy J. Clader
Rochester, N.Y.
Read more in Opinion
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