It's a common complaint among math and science students that their grades are lower than those of their peers in humanities classes.
And it turns out the figures back up their feelings - 63 percent of students in humanities courses get As compared to only 40 percent in the natural sciences, according to College of Arts and Sciences data from 2004-05.
Today's humanities grades tend to cluster in the high-B to A range while natural sciences still commonly range the A-F spectrum with Bs and Cs dominant, according to Associate Dean of the College and Director of Academic Affairs Kent Peterman.
He attributed the distribution differences to class size and dynamics. Humanities classes tend to be smaller, which lets professors know students personally and encourages high performance, he said.
College data shows that 61 percent of students receive As in classes with fewer than 25 students. Only 40 percent receive As in classes with more than 75 students.
Peterman added that small seminars also attract more advanced and experienced students, such as majors in the subject.
Another factor behind grade disparity is whether professors grade on a curved scale.
Larger lectures in math and science are likely to be graded on curves, which may keep averages low, Peterman said.
Curves are used to maintain consistency across multiple sections and allow students to gauge their performance against that of their peers, Chemistry professor Donald Voet said.
But some students say curves add to stress by pitting already driven students against each other.
Wharton and College freshman Hersh Patel said classmates try to score highest on every test.
"I thought I did decently in my Math 114 class, but when you compare it to what everybody else did, it's just not as good," Patel said.
Peterman said even without curves, competition would exist in math and science classes because of the weight they have in graduate school admissions.
Still, he thinks the competition would exist even without curves.
Humanities classes, on the other hand, don't use curves because exams are more interpretive, often with writing-based evaluations. Curved exams usually involve problem sets or reproduction of information that can easily be assigned points, History Undergraduate Curriculum Chair Anne Moyer said.
"Grading essays on a curve would make no sense at all," she added.
Still, different grading policies and averages don't necessarily make humanities classes any easier.
Wharton and College freshman Aneesh Jain said he does more work for his history and music courses.
"There's more to read and interpret in preparing for tests and discussions," Jain added.
Peterman added that he knows professors across all disciplines who say if all students do good work, they will all get A's.
"I like to think of grades not as how you're comparing with other students but in terms of what you learn about the quality of your own work," he said.
