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As an explanation to the poll from last post, I have something of a pet peeve when it comes to reading fiction. In this case, I was reading the book Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines (which is about superheroes and the zombie apocalypse) when I came to the more in-depth introduction of the character Stealth, the local Batman expy. It got to describing how intelligent and not-taken-seriously-because-she's-attractive she is when it came to the phrase "got a perfect 4.0 and made the dean's list first semester at MIT". This threw me right out of the novel. Why?
a) MIT uses a 5.0 scale.
b) MIT does not have a dean's list.
and, for the record:
c) MIT does not have Latin honors or honors of any sort. You either graduate or you don't.
This sort of thing keeps happening when I read fiction, and the author is trying to establish how intelligent a character is. And 9 times out of 10, they get the details wrong. (The place isn't a typical college. I could probably write a FAQ on the damn topic.) But as I was grumbling, it occurred to me to wonder if the actual truth was more unbelievable. Would having a character get above a 4.0 seem even more super-special, even though it's what actually happens? Hence, the poll.
So what have I found out? Both are pretty unbelievable. So really, writers should probably just stay away from GPAs.
a) MIT uses a 5.0 scale.
b) MIT does not have a dean's list.
and, for the record:
c) MIT does not have Latin honors or honors of any sort. You either graduate or you don't.
This sort of thing keeps happening when I read fiction, and the author is trying to establish how intelligent a character is. And 9 times out of 10, they get the details wrong. (The place isn't a typical college. I could probably write a FAQ on the damn topic.) But as I was grumbling, it occurred to me to wonder if the actual truth was more unbelievable. Would having a character get above a 4.0 seem even more super-special, even though it's what actually happens? Hence, the poll.
So what have I found out? Both are pretty unbelievable. So really, writers should probably just stay away from GPAs.
