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[butler blue]

I think all of this is why it is so difficult sometimes to know whether one will do well in graduate school or not. Clearly, the high analysis grades in this forum are a combination of some grade inflation and a talented group of people. It's just hard to say which is which for each individual. Hence, the prestige of your undergrad is so important to adcoms.

[Prometheus_Econ]

Originally Posted by butler blue

I think all of this is why it is so difficult sometimes to know whether one will do well in graduate school or not. Clearly, the high analysis grades in this forum are a combination of some grade inflation and a talented group of people. It's just hard to say which is which for each individual. Hence, the prestige of your undergrad is so important to adcoms.

That's not quite true. Suppose a school has grade inflation in analysis, and a student gets the highest attainable grade in this class. Does that allow the adcom to infer anything about the student's ability? Not really. The student might have still gotten an A without grade inflation. So the adcom really doesn't know how smart this person is. It would be unwise to discount this candidate purely on the grounds of grade inflation. What about a student who got a B at a school without grade inflation. Is this student equivalent to a student who got an A with grade inflation? Again, there is not way of telling. If one tries to be completely objective about it, there is really no comparability. Of course a student with an A from an institution without grade inflation might be a safer bet, if one assigns equal probability to the other student from the institution with grade inflation being as good or not as good as this student. Then again, getting a perfect score on the GRE quantitative section might give adcoms a better signal about whether the student would have gotten an A without grade inflation.

Another note on grade inflation. I think even in a given school, it really depends on who teaches a class a given semester. There's a high variance in how different math professors teach a class, and ultimately grade it.

[butler blue]

Originally Posted by Prometheus_Econ

Another note on grade inflation. I think even in a given school, it really depends on who teaches a class a given semester. There's a high variance in how different math professors teach a class, and ultimately grade it.

Very true. For example, my game theory class was the biggest joke ever with regard to grading. On the other hand, my topology class was graded very strictly to the point that I thought my class might mutiny.

[Dannyb19]

I am not sure the quant section of the GRE is a good indicator of success in higher end math courses. I am sure there is a strong correlation between GRE quant success and aptitude for mathematics up to a certain point, but the GRE tests how well you can remember math facts (like geometric relationships or formulas) whereas these upper division or graduate math courses, like Real Analysis or Topology require a much more thorough and rigorous approach. I see very little resemblence between the two. Thoughts?

[Cassin]

At my school transcripts indicate the mean mark and section size:

Analysis I: 28 students with final average of 65% (C)
Analysis II: 13 students with final average of 74% (B)
[different years, different instructors]

I hope that helps.

[Prometheus_Econ]

Originally Posted by Dannyb19

I am not sure the quant section of the GRE is a good indicator of success in higher end math courses. I am sure there is a strong correlation between GRE quant success and aptitude for mathematics up to a certain point, but the GRE tests how well you can remember math facts (like geometric relationships or formulas) whereas these upper division or graduate math courses, like Real Analysis or Topology require a much more thorough and rigorous approach. I see very little resemblence between the two. Thoughts?

Well yes. The quantitative is very easy. I wouldn't think it predicts success in upper math courses. That's not what I was saying. It still in some way is a cross-validity device for mathematical ability. If you're doing very well in topology and analysis, you should not really have problems with the QGRE. If you're getting As in those classes, but then your QGRE is 750, then that might be an indicator that there was grade inflation in those classes.

[Dannyb19]

HA! I got a 760! I guess that means my A's in Real Analysis and Topology were not inflated!

PS: I hope you're happy, you made me cry.

[Prometheus_Econ]

Why would making someone cry make me happy? I was merely presenting my thoughts on grade inflation, and how an adcom might reason. But in reality, I have no idea, I'm not an adcom, so what do I know. I don't understand the purpose of the GRE myself, and maybe schools know which universities have grade inflation and which ones don't. I really don't know.

[Prometheus_Econ]

double post

[Prometheus_Econ]

OK, I said earlier that the QGRE was very easy. But it's also very easy to make a couple of mistakes here and there ...