#2: The Harvard Uncertainty Principle: The B+ Means Everything; Therefore, The B+ Means Nothing

Ask any two people about the B+, and you're likely to get two diametrically opposed responses. Sabin Balzora '96 declares, "I would love a B+... My parents would love a B+." Lina Yoo '94, on the other hand, asserts that she wouldn't be satisfied with a B+ "because B+ isn't good."

What exactly does a B+ mean? Many students have no idea. Jennifer Sessions '96, a concentrator in history and literature, says, "The thing about the B+ is that you don't know whether it's good or bad. After the whole grade inflation thing, I have one person telling me a B+ in the humanities is basically worthless," complains Sessions, "and somebody else telling me history and literature is the hardest concentration at Harvard and a B+ means you're doing a good, solid job." Sessions joins other students in venting her frustration about the enigmatic B+. "It's a grade that doesn't mean anything," she concludes. "I can't tell if I'm an average person in an easily graded class or a competent person in a realistically graded class."

The B+ squats on the fence. While it's certainly no disgrace, it's nothing to rejoice over. It's "so borderline" says Smith. "What is it telling you?

The B+, according to many students, is utterly meaningless--both slackers and strivers get it. "You know what they say," remarks Adam L. Cohen '96. "B's are easy. A's and C's are hard." Lump says that "the concept that a person would put off all their work until reading period and get a B+-- which is the same grade that a lot of people will get who have consistently done their work--just illustrates the incredible range of quality that's found within the B+."

Lump groans over all-encompassing nature of the grade. "I think you can do lackluster work and get a B+. Likewise, you can do work that is incredibly close to A work and get a B+. It's a catch-all grade. I think the B+ is too big."