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Paul Samuelson and Jacob Mosak were undergraduate classmates at the University of Chicago. The two of them along with 27 other students were required to take a battery of comprehensive examinations in economics for the Bachelor’s degree. I found the distribution of grades for the comprehensive exams over the period 1934-1938 in the economic department records, as well as the distribution of grades for the separate courses taken by the 29 students.
Plot-spoiler: Paul Samuelson was the top undergraduate student at Chicago in the Spring Quarter of 1935 (or perhaps ever) and the first runner up, who lived to the grand old age of 99, also went on to have a full and distinguished career as an economics professional. Mosak’s greatest research hit in economics was his Cowles Foundation Monograph, General Equilibrium Theory in International Trade (1944).
I have appended to this posting descriptive material about the comprehensive exams and the descriptions of the individual courses along with instructor names according to the 1934-1935 Announcements.
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REPORT ON PAST COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATIONS FOR THE BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
|
Quarter |
A | B | C | D | E | F |
Total |
|
Spring, 1934 |
1 | 1 | |||||
|
Winter, 1935 |
1 | 3 | 3* | 7 | |||
|
Spring, 1935 |
3 | 11 | 12 | 3 |
29 |
||
| Summer, 1935 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
4 |
|||
| Autumn, 1935 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
6 |
|||
|
Winter, 1936 |
1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | ||
|
Spring, 1936 |
3 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 22 |
|
Summer, 1936 |
1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | |||
| Autumn, 1936 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
4 |
|||
| Winter, 1937 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
4 |
|||
| Spring, 1937 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
22 |
|
|
Summer, 1937 |
1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 15 | 35 | 35 | 14 | 0 | 25 |
124 |
|
| *Includes one unfinished examination. [name omitted] | |||||||
| [Handwritten additions:] | |||||||
|
Winter, 1938 |
1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | |||
|
Spring, 1938 |
3 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 22 | |
| 18 | 40 | 48 | 17 | 28 |
151 |
||
| % | 11.92 | 26.49 | 31.79 | 11.25 | 18.54 |
|
|
______________________
[Number of students awarded a particular grade by economics course numbers for the Spring Quarter 1935 comprehensive examinations]
| 209 | 210* | 211 | 212 | 220 | 221-2 | 230 | 240 | 260 | 270** | [Comp. Avg. ] | |
|
A+ |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
|
A |
1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
|
A- |
5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
B+ |
7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
B |
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
|
B- |
4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
|
C+ |
0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
4 |
| C | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
8 |
| C- | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
0 |
| D+ | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
0 |
| D | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
0 |
| D- | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
0 |
| E/F | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
3 |
|
Samuelson |
A | A- | A | A | A | A | A | A+ | |||
| Mosak | A+ | B+ | A | A+ | C- | B- | A |
A |
*Numerical grades reported for this course, converted to letter grade using the following scale:
A+ (95-100); A (93-94); A- (90-92);
B+ (87-89); B (83-86); B- (80-82);
C+ (77-79); C (73-76); C- (70-72);
D+ (67-69); D (63-66); D- (60-62);
F (0-59).
**For four cases of exact border-line grades in Economics 270, e.g. B+/A-, I have assigned the higher grade.
______________________
[Role of the Comprehensive Examinations]
THE BACHELOR’S DEGREE
On admission to the Division, the students specializing in the Department arranges with the Departmental Counselor a suitable program of study in economics. He is expected to include in his departmental program the materials of 7 courses beyond Social science I and II. His comprehensive examination in economics will cover economic theory, accounting, statistics, economic history, and money and banking, as developed in Economics 209, 210, 211, 220 or 221, and 230. The comprehensive examination will also cover two elective fields, preferably labor, government finance, or international economic relations, as developed in Economics 240, 260, and 270. The scope and content of the several courses mentioned are indicated in the course announcements printed below.
[…]
THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS
[…]
The specific requirements for the Master’s degree are:
- A minimum of 8 courses, or their equivalent (of which at least 6 must be in Grades II and III above). At some previous time the candidate should have covered the substantial equivalent of the requirements for the Bachelor’s degree in Economics. This equivalence may be shown by courses taken or by examination. The candidate must also have the preparation in the other social sciences required for the Bachelor’s degree at the University….
[…]
[Economics Course Descriptions 1934-35]
- Intermediate Economic Theory. – A course designed for undergraduates majoring in economics who have completed the other departmental requirements for the degree, and for graduate students with limited training in systematic theory. It deals with forces controlling, through the price system, the organization of economic activity. Prerequisite: Senior standing and Economics 210, 211, 230 or their equivalents. Summer, 10:00; Autumn, 11:00; Winter, 11:00, [Paul Howard] Douglas.
- Introduction to Accounting. – (1) The principles of double-entry accounting. (2) The principles of valuation and of income determination; the mathematical problems arising from accumulating and discounting future sums and annuities. (3) A survey of the uses and limitations of accounting information and compares the concepts of cost used by accountants and by economists. Prerequisite: Social Science I and II or their equivalent. Summer, 11:00, [Wilfrid Merrill] Helms; Autumn, 9:00, Shields; Spring, 11:00, [Theodore Otte] Yntema.
- Introduction to Statistics. – The elementary principles of statistics. Main topics: frequency distributions, correlations, time series, index numbers. Prerequisite: Mathematics 104 or its equivalent. Summer, 10:00, [John Higson] Cover; Autumn, 11:00, [Henry] Schultz; Winter, 9:00,—.
- Intermediate Statistics. [not offered 1934-35, description from 1933-34 follows] This course extends the scope of Economics 211 to include a brief introduction to partial and multiple correlation, but its main objective is to make the elementary statistical methods part of the working equipment of the student. Prerequisite: Economics 211 and introductory courses in economics, accounting, finance, and marketing. Spring 9:00, [Aaron] Director.
- Economic History of the United States. – A general survey from the colonial settlements down to the present emphasizing the period since 1860. Prerequisite: Social Science I and II or their equivalent. Summer, 8:00, [Albert Gailord] Hart; Winter 1:30, [Chester Whitney] Wright.
- Economic History of Classical and Western European Civilization. –A survey of industrial conditions in their relation to economic, social, political, and cultural history at selected periods and in selected countries, undertaken with a view to understanding the nature and significance of modern industrialism. Prerequisite: Social Science I and 2 courses in European history, or equivalent. Autumn, 1:30; Spring, 1:30, [John Ulric] Nef.
- Introduction to Money and Banking. – A study of the factors which determine the value of money in the short and in the long run; the problem of index numbers of price levels; and the operation of the commercial banking system and its relation to the price level and general business activity. Prerequisite: Social Science I and II or equivalent. Summer, 9:00, [Albert Gailord] Hart; Autumn, 1:30, [Lloyd Wynn] Mints; Spring, 9:00, [Albert Gailord] Hart.
- Labor Problems. – General survey of problems of labor arising in a system of free enterprise. Poverty, inequality, conditions of work, and unemployment are some of the topics considered. Trade-unionism and collective bargaining contrasted with state legislation as devices for dealing with these problems. Prerequisite: Social Science I and II or equivalent. Spring, 10:00, [Paul Howard] Douglas.
- Introduction to Government Finance. – A course dealing with fiscal problems of government, mainly in their economic aspect. Practices in regard to expenditure, taxation, and borrowing studied in problems of policy critically examined. Prerequisite: Social Science I and II or equivalent. Spring, 11:00, [Henry Calvert] Simons.
- International Economic Relations. – A survey of international economic relations with special emphasis on the theory of international trade and the economic foreign-policy of the United States. Are Prerequisite: Social Science I and II or equivalent. Winter, 11:00, [Harry David] Gideonse.
Source: University of Chicago Announcements. The College and the Divisions for the Sessions of 1934-1935. pp. 281-285.
Image Source: Photo taken of Paul Samuelson and me at the Harvard Faculty Club following the memorial service for Abram Bergson in November 2003.
2 replies on “Chicago. Paul Samuelson and Jacob Mosak. A.B. Comprehensive Exam Grades. 1935”
Very cool. In the spring of 1935, the average GPA (on a 4.0 scale) was 2.37 and for all of the grades you have posted, the average GPA was 2.00. Wow. How times have changed!
Glad you enjoyed the distributions. I am old enough to be an eye-witness to grade inflation. But with this sort of data we can show that the concept of “a gentleman’s C” simply meant a “measure of central tendency”.