Audio wrote:
kidderek wrote:
rca215 wrote:
I think, but I'm not sure, that GND can more easily lead students to blow off their academics and use the program as just a recruiting tool.
Hmmmm . . .
You think??
To be perfectly honest though, I'm much more interested in the people you meet, the speakers that come to school and the events than in the academics; I've studied most of this stuff in uni or in the CFA anyway. Hush hush.
I actually look at this as the best reason for grade non-disclosure. Some people are way ahead and will naturally get better grades because of their backgrounds. The obvious examples are CPAs, consultants, bankers and people with undergraduate business degrees. If you're in an accounting class graded on a hard curve and there are a bunch of accountants with CPAs in the class, it's going to be exceedingly hard to get a high grade. In this example, someone will already be credited for their CPA and work experience in recruiting, but will essentially be getting double credit for also getting a high grade in accounting. Then consider that, at most schools, students will have schedules jam-packed with activities, recruiting events, guest speakers and other things that increase the value of the experience; so there's not necessarily an opportunity to just catch up by putting in more time and effort. Someone with an undergrad business major has a huge advantage over a liberal arts major in first-year subjects like accounting, finance, statistical analysis, marketing and more.
I think schools with grade non-disclosure want to make sure that people who were not business majors and don't have feeder-type experiences have a chance to acclimate to business school live and still have a legitimate chance with recruiting. It's not only a chance for people to branch out and take challenging classes, it's also an opportunity for people to consider other career tracks. Otherwise, people might find it too risky to compete for certain jobs if they don't have favored backgrounds.
The flip side, of course, is that the true slackers will not be punished for slacking off; they'll be allowed to hang around and compete for jobs. Honestly, I think few people in business school really slack off. However, I think I would be a little sick to my stomach if someone slacked off (or couldn't keep up) in class big time and had the opportunity to compete for a job I really wanted.