Does anyone else think minus grades are STUPID

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plus minus system is bull****, if I have a 92% and the kid beside me has a 93%, he isn't smarter than me yet he's transcript A and mine will have an -A.....10 point scale is much more relevant IMHO.
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
plus minus system is bull****, if I have a 92% and the kid beside me has a 93%, he isn't smarter than me yet he's transcript A and mine will have an -A.....10 point scale is much more relevant IMHO.
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But that's like saying, on a 10 point scale, that the guy beside you with a 89%, and you, with the 90% don't have any difference. No, there's a difference and that's where the professor/your school decide the difference would be.
 
Are you trying to at like the actual Sheldon Cooper? (well, not exactly actual, but character..).. Because he's at least witty, but it sort of seems like you're trying to have that attitude.
 
JoshUNCW said:
But that's like saying, on a 10 point scale, that the guy beside you with a 89%, and you, with the 90% don't have any difference. No, there's a difference and that's where the professor/your school decide the difference would be.
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my point is that getting a 90 is pretty difficult in most classes, but anywhere between a 90-93 is -A....and that is just stupid IMO.
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
plus minus system is bull****, if I have a 92% and the kid beside me has a 93%, he isn't smarter than me yet he's transcript A and mine will have an -A.....10 point scale is much more relevant IMHO.
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Over 100+ credits, it'll wash out. i promise.
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
my point is that getting a 90 is pretty difficult in most classes, but anywhere between a 90-93 is -A....and that is just stupid IMO.
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And my point is that it's the professor/departments choice. So why worry about it? Do the best you can and that's all. It probably won't affect your med school chances.
 
Sheldon Cooper said:
Ha no, I'm not that neurotic. I relate with him in a lot of ways though, so I'm sure my attitude has some similarities. Sorry my wit doesn't come across in text form 🙁
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i'm sure you're just a bundle of delightful wit in real life though
 
Man, do some of you hear how pathetic you sound?

"Boo hoo hoo, I got an A- instead of an A. Boo hoo hoo, I got a B- instead of a B."

Is 0.3 points in an undergrad class going to make a big friggin difference in the long run? Do you think med school adcoms are going to say "Let's reject John Gunner because he got a B MINUS instead of a B in introduction to crybabying. He would be a terrible physician."

Give me a break.
 
My undergrad just switched over to a plus minus system this semester. It has already impacted my GPA in a negative way so I am not a fan. I guess people just don't like change though. I'm assuming if I had no experience with straight letter grades I would feel negatively toward this system as well!
 
Still arguing about +'s and -'s? Only on SDN...
 
JoshUNCW said:
And my point is that it's the professor/departments choice. So why worry about it? Do the best you can and that's all. It probably won't affect your med school chances.
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I'm not worried, just venting because I hate the system 😎
 
Sheldon Cooper said:
Don't misquote me. That's not at all what I said.
What I actually said was an observation, not an insult. Some people have difficulty understanding abstract ideas, hence the concrete example. I'm sorry if you misunderstood me, but it seems some people have just been conditioned to view every comment on SDN in a negative light.
Have you decided not to follow up on your UNLV remark? Should I think less of myself for going to that school? Or did I just misunderstand what you were insinuating?
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There's no way that was an observation. If it was simply an observation, you would have phrased it much differently.

What it meant was simply that you're probably not a superstar. Neither am I. You can't possibly have even a misguided justification for being so condescending to people.


p.s. maybe I'm confused, but I was under the impression that bleargh rocked the MCAT. I doubt he's incapable of abstract thought.
 
bleargh said:
aren't they free in vegas as long as you gamble
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BACK THE TRUCK UP


....really?

REALLY REALLY? drinks, free drinks?

also, really people, so serious when i was being quite facetious. while i do believe i deserve an A in everything, i should maybe work a little harder for them. 😉

i mean really...
"If it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."

ps i don't have add, i just am emphatic...and sleep deprived, and out there, and have a final at 830....


and seriously, FREE DRINKS IF YOU GAMBLE????
 
Isoprop said:
Man, do some of you hear how pathetic you sound?

"Boo hoo hoo, I got an A- instead of an A. Boo hoo hoo, I got a B- instead of a B."

Is 0.3 points in an undergrad class going to make a big friggin difference in the long run? Do you think med school adcoms are going to say "Let's reject John Gunner because he got a B MINUS instead of a B in introduction to crybabying. He would be a terrible physician."

Give me a break.
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cool, thanks for your insight. want some of my kit kat bar? for your break, i mean.
 
here at NC State, we have an A+. It is 4.3 points...definitely helps
 
Sheldon Cooper said:
Well done. The key is asking a question that is even 0.2% controversial and you can be sure people from both sides will go at it. Usually ends in personal attacks 🙂 I like to kiss and make up afterwards 😍
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as long as you aren't this guy

article-1172372-04940A67000005DC-534_468x543.jpg
 
wut a qt m i rt?


i had never even gone to craigslist until someone showed me the best of site...which is priceless.
 
For some of my classes an A- is like a B+ to a 90.5 or something, anything above its an A. I guess that makes the minuses work in your favor.
 
I understand the +/- system, but I seriously don't understand why the A+ doesn't count for anything extra like a B+ does. Why can't the A+ at least cancel out a "-" on you record or something at least? I worked my butt off for the A+'s that I got...
 
curbye said:
What the title says. I understand plus grades, obviously, because you're better than a B but not an A, but SERIOUSLY? MINUS grades? that's the teacher saying, you know, you did pretty well, but......it just wasn't well enough to NOT ruin your gpa.
🙁

sorry for ranting, it's just wtf B-'s ruin everything and all the teachers know it, yet they still insist on putting them on the syllabus and therefore giving them out.
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I'm at Stony Brook now and I dread the threat of the "minus." At Rutgers, there are no minus grades. Then again, there are plus grades, which isn't necessarily fair without minus grades. Ideally, all schools would be small enough that effort counts and grades could be bumped up the 0.5 points for those who attended every lecture, contributed to class discussions, and showed that they're really learned the material despite being confused by the wording on a few multiple choice questions.

But when we go to med school, the first two years don't matter THAT much. The USMLE Step 1 (and 3rd year rotation grades and recs) matter much more.

I'm someone who has always done phenomenally well in small classes, or at least those with non-MC exams. Without getting off-topic, my point is that we just have to learn to deal with the system as it is, and maybe try to change it in the future.
 
bpost137 said:
I understand the +/- system, but I seriously don't understand why the A+ doesn't count for anything extra like a B+ does. Why can't the A+ at least cancel out a "-" on you record or something at least? I worked my butt off for the A+'s that I got...
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I think something like this (or having an A+ count for 4.3) is the only thing that makes sense since an A- counts as less than 4.0...
 
jfanny88 said:
I think something like this (or having an A+ count for 4.3) is the only thing that makes sense since an A- counts as less than 4.0...
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right, this makes sense. i think schools who use it currently are just giving you the "extra satisfaction" of seeing the a+ on your transcript...which is baloney.

this is solely in reference to your signature:

funny-graphs-rap-paradox.jpg
 
curbye said:
right, this makes sense. i think schools who use it currently are just giving you the "extra satisfaction" of seeing the a+ on your transcript...which is baloney.
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i know! what was the point of working my butt off for the A+? Why is this hard work not rewarded?

Does anyone know the reason why these schools with +/- systems choose not to count an A+ as a 4.3? I'm curious to know their reasoning...
 
Currently contesting a course in which I received an A-.

I had a 93.5%.

This is bull.
 
bpost137 said:
i know! what was the point of working my butt off for the A+? Why is this hard work not rewarded?

Does anyone know the reason why these schools with +/- systems choose not to count an A+ as a 4.3? I'm curious to know their reasoning...
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I think school's would look more credible if their students were graduating with either a 4.0 or below. I understand that working hard for an A+ is an awesome goal, but since grades are on a 4.0 scale, why do there have to be exceptions. Wouldn't medical schools and other graduate schools look awkwardly upon someone with a 4.1 GPA from college? Sounds like High school..

I'm at a small liberal arts college that uses the +/- scale, and I think it works well, and balances out my GPA. If i recieve an 89%, B+, i have 3.3 gp, instead of the strict 3.0 gp for recieving a high B.
 
Elpenor said:
Currently contesting a course in which I received an A-.

I had a 93.5%.

This is bull.
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Agreed I've been unlucky to take three classes with a 95% A baseline!!! Freaking ridiculous if you ask me. Two of those I ended with a ~94.5% and the profs would not budge since it would be unfair to previous students if he gave the extra bump. Buddy I know you made mistakes in the past but you can avoid making one now! Although one or two A- probably wouldn't hurt, I can imagine 5 or 6 can affect someone's GPA.
 
True story:

In undergrad, I took a pharmacology class and walked into the final with a high A. I studied hard and knew my crap, and I needed an 80ish to keep my A and a 70ish to get an A-. In the middle of the final, I needed to go to the bathroom really really really badly.

I went up to the prof and quickly explained my situation but before I could let him answer, I ran out the door and had explosive poo in the bathroom. Took 20 minutes out of my 2 hour final.

I ran out of time and got a 75% on my final and got an A- in the class. I was pissed off for about 30 seconds until I remembered that I'm not a douchebag who complains about getting a friggin A-.
 
In reality, the OP laid out the grade points for the respective grades at her school.
I'm also trying to cheer up the lil scamp, but thanks for your invalid nit-picking.
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:laugh::laugh:
 
bleargh said:
false.
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Sheldon Cooper said:
Oops, fixed it. Point is still valid though.
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bleargh said:
not really.. .3 vs .4 is only if you round. in reality the distances are all 1/3 of a gpa point, or .3333
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Sheldon Cooper said:
In reality, the OP laid out the grade points for the respective grades at her school.
I'm also trying to cheer up the lil scamp, but thanks for your invalid nit-picking.
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bleargh said:
which is just the rounded version of the AMCAS standard.

why are we even arguing about this?
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Sheldon Cooper said:
I dunno, let's be friends. :biglove:
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bleargh said:
word.
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Very funny. :laugh::laugh::laugh:

But bleargh's right.
 
Isoprop said:
True story:

In undergrad, I took a pharmacology class and walked into the final with a high A. I studied hard and knew my crap, and I needed an 80ish to keep my A and a 70ish to get an A-. In the middle of the final, I needed to go to the bathroom really really really badly.

I went up to the prof and quickly explained my situation but before I could let him answer, I ran out the door and had explosive poo in the bathroom. Took 20 minutes out of my 2 hour final.

I ran out of time and got a 75% on my final and got an A- in the class. I was pissed off for about 30 seconds until I remembered that I'm not a douchebag who complains about getting a friggin A-.
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Please dont take offense to that..but...HAHAHAHAH
 
Sheldon Cooper said:
Still trolling and making remarks on topics you contribute nothing to? Only on SDN...
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Oh and the frivolous debacles you shown here are top-notch quality. It's a forum... And, just like the 2-3 pages of most threads, we've veered off topic. But it seems like everyone is having fun.
 
ChubbyChaser said:
Please dont take offense to that..but...HAHAHAHAH
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No offense taken. I laugh about it myself.

Moral of the story: don't eat tacos the day before your final.
 
OP,

I agree that +/- grading systems shouldn't be used, but I think straight A, B, C, D, F is going in the wrong direction in terms of fairness and accuracy. I've always thought that GPA is needlessly inaccurate in some cases and, instead of having GPAs, students should receive flat percentage grades. For example... If you took five three-credit classes and got 88, 91, 95, 79, and 86, then your cumulative percentage would be 87.8 instead of getting a B+, A-, A, C+, and B, which would be a 3.34. This removes any uncertainty of performance (e.g an 89 'B' vs. a 90 'A')

This probably won't ever happen, but I don't understand *why* people wouldn't want their grading system to be as fair as possible.
 
STAT EKG said:
OP,

I agree that +/- grading systems shouldn't be used, but I think straight A, B, C, D, F is going in the wrong direction in terms of fairness and accuracy. I've always thought that GPA is needlessly inaccurate in some cases and, instead of having GPAs, students should receive flat percentage grades. For example... If you took five three-credit classes and got 88, 91, 95, 79, and 86, then your cumulative percentage would be 87.8 instead of getting a B+, A-, A, C+, and B, which would be a 3.34. This removes any uncertainty of performance (e.g an 89 'B' vs. a 90 'A')

This probably won't ever happen, but I don't understand *why* people wouldn't want their grading system to be as fair as possible.
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It's funny that you use that example because an 87.8 and a 3.34 are both solid "B+" averages. So your example shows that both schemes gives you the same information.
 
Isoprop said:
It's funny that you use that example because an 87.8 and a 3.34 are both solid "B+" averages. So your example shows that both schemes gives you the same information.
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The example that I used was just to show what I meant. A more drastic example is an 89 'B' versus a 90 'A' in an A, B, C, D, F system. I actually favor the +/- system to the flat A, B, C, D, F system, which can cause bigger incongruities in the representation of a student's class performance.

The +/- system is still subject to being less fair than a percentage system though, which is my main point.

I can see what you're saying about the 87.8 and 3.34 that used though. Bad random choice of numbers I guess :laugh:
 
Does AMCAS look at the +/-? Or do they just consider any A, be it an A- ,A, or A+ to be a 4.0 while any B, (B-, B, or B+) to be a 3.0.
 
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