Can Someone Please Explain a "Grading Curve"

[SpongeBobby]

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....for a typical premed intro class. What % of the class gets each grade? Are working students stuck with C+s &B-s? Why do some schools want to weed out their premeds when they know they have a strong student body to begin with?

God, I'm going to college next month and I'm starting to worry about this nonsense. My future is all based on a curve and how I perform relative to my classmates (who I guess are my enemies now). 🙁

 

[HollyJ]

God, relax. 🙂 You haven't even started yet.

Grading curves usually mean that the professor has a rough idea of the proportions of grades he or she intends to give. Usually, the curve is centered on about a B- or C. About 10% of the class will get As, but this is WILDLY variable.

Seriously, this is not as bad as it sounds. First, it guarantees that at least SOMEONE will get an A, no matter how hard the class is, and that someone may as well be you. Also, there are generally many people in the class (even at top schools) who won't bother to show up, so you'll at least have that going for you.

DO NOT get into the "my classmates are my enemy" thing. It will (a) make you more obnoxious than anyone has a right to be, and (b) make your college time really miserable, when it really can be one of the best times of your life. Get into study groups -- help each other do well.

Just relax and do your best -- don't worry about anyone else's performance. That way lies madness and no parties. 🙂

 

[SpongeBobby]

Assuming the average student is a working premed, it seems cruel to give him/her a B- or C in the intro science classes.

 

[DAL]

Originally posted by SpongeBobby
Assuming the average student is a working premed, it seems cruel to give him/her a B- or C in the intro science classes.

Don't worry too much. You'll soon learn that for the most part everyone gets the grade they earn.

 

[HollyJ]

Sorry Charlie. College isn't about being nice. The point of grades isn't to reward hard work or even brains, it's about separating people based on performance. Seriously, though, stop obsessing about this -- it isn't a big deal.

Just to clarify, curves almost always go up. That is, it's not like everyone has above a 90% and then grades are assigned so that the 91s all get Ds. College classes are a lot tougher than high school. What that means (and yes, your mileage may vary from school to school and even from class to class) is that there will be a few gunners who have 95%, a whole bunch of people who have 82%, and another mass of people who have under 75%. For the curve to work, the prof will give the 90s and the upper 80s (once again, depending on the class) As, the lower 80s and the upper 70s Bs, and so on.

It's not like they're curving to be mean -- they're curving to compensate for the difficulty of the class.

This entire process, whether you're doing medicine or law or whatever, is always about being successful in more and more selective groups of people. It's just the way of the world. Get used to it, because there's a lot more coming.

 

[mattorama]

Originally posted by SpongeBobby
Assuming the average student is a working premed, it seems cruel to give him/her a B- or C in the intro science classes.

It is what the average student deserves. Just don't be average. Most of the average premeds you will meet in those intro classes will never even make it to the point of applying to med schools. Just work hard and don't sweat it. Curves can be fun too. I remember once telling my mom that I got a 50% on a thermodynamics test and having to explain the whole curve thing to her (I guess her college classes didn't have such severe curves). Since the average was in the low 30s I had a strong grade. It is fun bragging about a 50%. 🙂

 

[HollyJ]

Hee. At my undergrad we had the "Single Digits Club." You brought in your test with a single-digit grade on it and you got free beer all night.

 

[umass rower]

The average freshman may be a pre-med hopeful on some level, but not everybody's cut out for it. And generally curves are used to correct for the difficulty of a class, not put you down: if you get a 90 on a test, and most of the class gets a 95 or 100, the professor won't fail you just to fit his or her curve (unless the prof is a complete @$$hole). Trust me, in my experience people get what they earn. Just do what you can, and if you have what it takes, then you should be able to keep up with the class.

And I agree with HollyJ- chill the **** out, buddy. Save the stress for those things that will really cause you to freak out, like having three exams, three papers, a fundraiser to organize, and a major crew race all in the same week.

 

[SpongeBobby]

The college grading system seems ******ed. They need to be standardized. Students from Cornell/Chicago/Johns Hopkins/MIT/CalTech/other top Schools with no inflation get screwed. Didn't any of you see that website about the kid from MIT with a 36 & 3.3 that couldn't get into medical school after YEARS of applying? Don't any of you recall that student from Hopkins on this board with a 39 that couldn't get into medical school because of his 3.0. Look on MDApplicants.com: A student from JHU with a 37, but is CELEBRATING about going to Jefferson. His GPA was a 3.21 which is average at Hopkins. The average student from JHU is more competitive than a student from the top 10% of a Tier 2 school. And then there is that Berkeley student on this board with a 3.4X who said he knew twice as his friend with a 3.9+ from an easier school.

Since the average GPA & MCAT score for incoming medical school student is around 3.6 & 30, all undergraduate schools should try to work their curves so we don't end up having this mess. The grading system in college is a f'n trap.

 

[DieselPetrolGrl]

spongeybobbbys!!
do u live in a pineapple under the sea??😍



i am in jr in college and let me tell u ..its not worth worring about..my 1st semster i got a 2.6 now im on staright A lane(..i hope the adcoms appreciate that)..my school is pretty avg (university of miami) and the whole adcom thing just blows of evilness ..the thought that i may not "make the cut" because they dont see how hard i tried to improve..blah blah..they wont see all the extra currics i see because i wont even make the gpa cut ..and so on..all we can do is try our best and hope. i know its all numbers and thats unfair but we pick our colleges...what does college mean to you? if u just want a good # go to a easy school..but remember you wont learn to work hard for them, develope a persistant attitude, and learn good study skills. i really look up to people who struggle for their 3.2's as compared to slacksters who have 4.0s because i know the person in the 1st senario probabbly faced a challange head on -- and i would like to hear their story if they have one (they had to work, family stuff, ect.) . I think its important to fail once in a while -- teaches u a s*it load about life, and yourself.

 

[....]

CURVES ALWAYS GO UP.
ALWAYS.

teachers may start to get upset if people do too well and they may make the class excesivly hard. But At my state school in your sylabus it states A=90 or 94 depending on the class. If you make a 90 you GET an A. Now in organic chemistry when the class average is a 50 an 85 might be an a and a 50 might be a C- the minimum passing grade. But you will bever be crewed out of a grade because your peers are competitve too.

 

[DAL]

Originally posted by SpongeBobby
The college grading system seems ******ed. They need to be standardized. Students from Cornell/Chicago/Johns Hopkins/MIT/CalTech/other top Schools with no inflation get screwed. Didn't any of you see that website about the kid from MIT with a 36 & 3.3 that couldn't get into medical school after YEARS of applying? Don't any of you recall that student from Hopkins on this board with a 39 that couldn't get into medical school because of his 3.0. Look on MDApplicants.com: A student from JHU with a 37, but is CELEBRATING about going to Jefferson. His GPA was a 3.21 which is average at Hopkins. The average student from JHU is more competitive than a student from the top 10% of a Tier 2 school. And then there is that Berkeley student on this board with a 3.4X who said he knew twice as his friend with a 3.9+ from an easier school.

Since the average GPA & MCAT score for incoming medical school student is around 3.6 & 30, all undergraduate schools should try to work their curves so we don't end up having this mess. The grading system in college is a f'n trap.

Bobby...if you worry this much before you even get to school you're going to go mad. Just do the best you can and try hard to make great grades.

 

[Dr.Linus]

Hey spongebobby,

PM me for some study tips.

 

[SaltySqueegee]

Originally posted by SpongeBobby
The college grading system seems ******ed. They need to be standardized. Students from Cornell/Chicago/Johns Hopkins/MIT/CalTech/other top Schools with no inflation get screwed. Didn't any of you see that website about the kid from MIT with a 36 & 3.3 that couldn't get into medical school after YEARS of applying? Don't any of you recall that student from Hopkins on this board with a 39 that couldn't get into medical school because of his 3.0. Look on MDApplicants.com: A student from JHU with a 37, but is CELEBRATING about going to Jefferson. His GPA was a 3.21 which is average at Hopkins. The average student from JHU is more competitive than a student from the top 10% of a Tier 2 school. And then there is that Berkeley student on this board with a 3.4X who said he knew twice as his friend with a 3.9+ from an easier school.

Since the average GPA & MCAT score for incoming medical school student is around 3.6 & 30, all undergraduate schools should try to work their curves so we don't end up having this mess. The grading system in college is a f'n trap.

... and I'm sure you think the adcoms at medical school only look at those numbers, and they never give a glance at the institution, ecs or personal statement.

I think a person who got a 39 on the mcat and a 3.3gpa deserves a thorough read over... did he/she go to a rigorous institution, if so, send a secondary and find out more info...

... in the end it really is all a crap shoot. Best not to worry about the minor details now, but to think about the big picture: STAY ABOVE THE CURVE!

🙂

 

[beanbean]

You have no control over how well anyone else does on an exam; the only grade you have control over is your own. Don't worry about how "competitive" your school is. Some classes are hard; others are relatively easy. Go to lecture, get to know the professor (office hours, after lecture, etc), ask questions, come prepared to class, do the reading and other assignments and
study for exams. You earn the grades you receive and for some classes it takes a lot of work. There are some professors who make it very difficult to get a high grade in their class and others will be too lenient. Life isn't always fair.

Be grateful for a grade curve - it ensures that the top performing students receive the top grades they deserve even when their overall grade is low but far above the class average.

A grade of C+/B- is an average grade and is very fair if the student's performance has been average. Remember that most people with 2.3(C+) - 2.7(B-) overall average gpa do not get into medical school. An overall above average gpa is needed to demonstrate that you can handle the academic rigors of medical school. This is a competitive process and you need to demonstrate the ability to master undergraduate coursework.

Lastly, there are always stories of students with fantastic numbers who don't get into medical school and of students with very low numbers who do. Those situations are very rare and usually are indicative of extreme circumstances (positive or negative) that influence the person's acceptance or non acceptance to med school.

Just enjoy school and do what is required to maintain a decent average. Later on you can worry about the MCAT and all the other pieces required to put together a well-balanced application.