Does not compute.

compute. I'm Angela Duckworth.

I'm Mike Mon and you're listening to no stupid questions.

Today on the show, do we place too much emphasis on grades?

How much of college is trying to get a perfect GPA and how much of it is actual learning. Mike, there is a question from a listener named Ali that strikes close to the heart for me, and I'm going to read it to you.

All right?

Dear NSQ, at the risk of sounding like a super grumpy adult, help me understand

why is academic grade inflation on the rise? So I have to say that as you

know my daughters Amanda Lucy are in college and I am shocked at how many a's just seem to be sort of like it's

raining a's right like you were their mother no but you know what I'm saying

this not just because of their own transcripts, which by the way are not entirely A's, but they'll ask me to review the resumes of their friends because you know they're all on the job market. And you know, the first time I get and I'm like holy smokes this kid's gotten like

practically all A's and A minuses but then I get the next one and the next one and then I'm like

wait is everybody getting A's and A minuses?

Or are you guys just really good at picking your friends?

But I'm guessing you've seen the headlines, right?

Oh, for sure.

Like there was that article about Yale recently in the New York Times?

Yes, an amazing article by Amelia Nuremberg that came out in December of

2023 that showed that nearly 80% of all the grades given to undergraduates at Yale were A's or A-minuses.

And Yale maybe is an outlier, but maybe not, I guess, is what we're saying. I don't think it's an outlier. maybe not I guess is what we're saying I don't think it's an

outlier I think there's some statistic about Harvard right 79% of all grades

given to undergraduates over the 20 to 21 school year were A minuses at Harvard.

...