Canadian vs. US GPA grading scales

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onelastpuff23

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Despite being a dual, I did university in Canada.

The grading scale is the following

>90=A+
>85= A
>80=A-
77-79=B+
73-76=B
70-72=B-
..

However, a good friend of mine kept castigating that grading scale pointing out that American schools award far harsher grades. For instance:

He said an 80-82=B-
97-100=A+

This is amazingly harsh to me. Are raw scores standardized based on the class where the top bracket gets the A+?

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My UG had the same grading scale as your friend's. Almost all of my non-science classes it was the raw score. Many of my science classes were curved to some extent.
 
Most universities here don't have an A+ (as over 4.0 is not possible, usually), but it varies from school to school. I have never seen a grading scale at my time in university (bell curve), but many schools, and classes within schools, have different grading scales...
 
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Grading scales can vary a lot here. For my school in the U.S.

A >93 (no A+ at my school)
A- >90
B+ > 87
B > 83
B- > 80
C+ > 77
C > 73
C- > 70
D > 65 (no + or - for a D)
F < 65

Raw scores are standardized sometimes, at some schools. Depends on the professor and school policy.
 
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The important thing is where the class average sits. In Canada the average percent score for the class often is about ten points lower than in the US, which corresponds with our ten point lower letter scale. You should let your friend know that Canadian averages often sit in the 60s (ie Cs), while US averages often sit in the 70s - either way, the class average is still a C. And getting above a 90% on a test/class in Canada is MUCH harder than doing so in the US.
 
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