BusinessWeek’s Geoff Gloeckler has penned an interesting article on the use of grade nondisclosure (GND) at leading MBA programs. For the uninitiated, GND is a policy that forbids b-school students from sharing their grades with recruiters. This policy is designed to relieve pressure and reduce competition among students, while promoting a more collaborative academic environment.
The following top schools have GND programs in place:
(click in the school name for details on the nature of their GND program)
Harvard Business School
Stanford GSB
Wharton
Chicago
The BW article offers an interesting take on this contentious topic, citing pros and cons and highlighting the perspectives of students, recruiters, faculty and administration. The author of the article has also created a discussion thread in the BW Discussion Forums where members of the MBA community are talking about the issue.
As for our viewpoint on the subject, we’d like to offer a few pros and cons for our audience to consider:
Grade Nondisclosure Pros
-GND eliminates much of the fierce competition among students – exchanging it for a more collaborative environment (many MBA programs were criticized for being incredibly cutthroat in the 80′s and early 90′s – before GND policies were put into action).
-GND allows students to take risks, pursue challenging coursework and not worry about how a slightly lower grade might look on their transcript.
-GND allows students to focus on all aspects of the MBA experience, including outside activities (clubs, forums, lectures) and recruiting – without the fear of GPA repercussions.
-GND allows top programs to make a clear statement to recruiters about the caliber of their curriculum – essentially saying that any student who goes through the course is at a certain level.
Grade Nondisclosure Cons
-GND forces some recruiters to resort to other tactics when ranking candidates (asking for GMAT scores, using challenging case interviews, etc).
-GND has a poor effect on some students, causing them to do the minimum and coast through the program without contributing to the their study group or the broader MBA community.
-Classroom discussion may be less fruitful at programs with GND (if students aren’t feeling any pressure to do the readings and professors aren’t using cold calls or taking attendance to ensure participation).
-GND may deprive stronger students of a way to stand out from the pack.
Of course, we’d like our readers to keep in mind that each school has a slightly different policy. For example, Wharton is commonly thought to have a pass/fail system in place, yet, the school actually offers the following grades to students: Distinguished Pass, High Pass, Pass, Qualified Credit, Fail. While these grades cannot be shared with recruiters, students are clearly being given feedback on their performance.
This subject highlights the importance of doing research into the schools you are considering. It clearly pays to be up to date on critical campus issues, since this is all part of the process of making an informed decision and demonstrating knowledge of the school in your essays, interviews and alumni interactions.
