05-21-2026, 10:28 PM
Fun stories.
My first year at MIT was 1965. Completely C centered curve. One or two of the guys in my pledge class flunked out freshman year. Mind you, they had been good enough to be admitted to the place. Fast forward, I’m teaching econ at Stanford (I forget the exact class but it wasn’t principles). After the quarter ended, a student came into my office asking me to raise his grade from A to A+. In that class of about 130 students I gave one A+ to a student who was way better than anyone else. I believe I told my office visitor that he was on his way to a C if he didn’t leave quickly.
Fun times.
My first year at MIT was 1965. Completely C centered curve. One or two of the guys in my pledge class flunked out freshman year. Mind you, they had been good enough to be admitted to the place. Fast forward, I’m teaching econ at Stanford (I forget the exact class but it wasn’t principles). After the quarter ended, a student came into my office asking me to raise his grade from A to A+. In that class of about 130 students I gave one A+ to a student who was way better than anyone else. I believe I told my office visitor that he was on his way to a C if he didn’t leave quickly.
Fun times.