Organic Chem grading scale

[bbas]

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When you guys took Organic Chem, what numerical grade did you need to get an A? I just got my syllabus for the class today, and any grade above an 80 is going to be an A, and any numerical grade above a 65 is a B. I realize that the class is very difficult, but I didn't realize that test scores that low were so common.

 

[CCEMTP2DOC]

When you guys took Organic Chem, what numerical grade did you need to get an A? I just got my syllabus for the class today, and any grade above an 80 is going to be an A, and any numerical grade above a 65 is a B. I realize that the class is very difficult, but I didn't realize that test scores that low were so common.

Yes, ochem is a very difficult class. It is a lot of memorization and spalatial thinking. This is right up my alley and i did manage an A, but I have Physics I and I think this will be a much harder class for me. I am hoping my hard work will result in acceptances to med school. Good luck and please feel free to PM if you need anything.

Rob

 

[Labslave]

My OChem classes were graded on a curve, where only 10% of the class that was left AFTER everyone dropped got an A. I loved organic and performed well (A's both semesters), but there were a lot of C's handed out (and hence a lot of people complaining). I think an A ended up being about 88% the first semester and 85% the second semester after everything was said and done, and 9 people got an A first semester whereas 12 got A's the second semester.

 

[JustR]

I had ochem with curve too!! About I say 85% to 88% being an A. I m not a big fan of it, but I tend to answer the organic questions right sometimes.

Most of the schools, do require two years of orgo with labs.

 

[chacem]

Aww. Damn- My professor doesn't have a curve, but rather opens up the C range over 20% 🙁 instead of 10. ;(

 

[fiddler]

You lucky people. UMass Boston, A is 90+. average of 3 best of 4 semester exams and final which counts as 2 tests. I think the lab grade counts as 10%.

it is difficult to obtain an A there. They make you earn it the old fashion way.

fiddler

 

[NapeSpikes]

When you guys took Organic Chem, what numerical grade did you need to get an A? I just got my syllabus for the class today, and any grade above an 80 is going to be an A, and any numerical grade above a 65 is a B. I realize that the class is very difficult, but I didn't realize that test scores that low were so common.

My orgo class was about that, 80+ equals A. Sadly, I never got one 🙁

By the way, do people say orgo or ochem? Perhaps it is a regional thing 😕

 

[g3pro]

My organic chemistry class had only a curve in the grading structure. 10% of the class gets A, 25% gets B, 45% get C, the rest are D/F.

 

[MahlerROCKS]

no curve; 93% or higher is an A

 

[DrBowtie]

No curve 87.5% A- 90ish and above is an A.
You can drop one of the five tests.

 

[penguinophile]

no curve; 93% or higher is an A

Ditto plus dropping 1 of 5 tests

 

[Sweetlill1]

my orgo classes the average scores on the tests were around 45-50%, the average grade was set to a C+ and they went from there... I don't know if it was bad teaching or hard tests, but to have an average grade in the 40s or 50s is just bad. I didn't end up doing so well, but then again, I don't know anyone who did at my school.

 

[MahlerROCKS]

Ditto plus dropping 1 of 5 tests

at least you get to drop a test

 

[frostynorthwind]

Hmmm, in my orgo I and II classes we used the traditional 90 and above = A, 80 - 89 = B, etc. It was a tough class but the professor's exams were always fair in that if you studied the major concepts discussed during lecture and in the Wade text, there were never any surprises...

Still, I think the grading scale should reflect the difficulty of the course, so it makes sense you might have a modified scale if your class is more difficult. As long as the grade distribution isn't anything too suspect, it doesn't really matter.

I recall that my biochem II class, however, was an entirely different story from Organic II. 70 students, mostly pre-med, all vying for one of those elusive 5 A's the professor gave out during the semester... Only truly cut-throat class I've encountered (fortunately) in which the mean was around a 65%! *still a little bitter about that whole experience*... 🙂

 

[BigRedPremed]

We had 3 midterms + final. Means were generally around the high 50's to low 60's so you needed around an 80 for an A-. Worked out to around 16% of people scoring A- or higher.

 

[kathyt009]

My orgo class was about that, 80+ equals A. Sadly, I never got one 🙁

By the way, do people say orgo or ochem? Perhaps it is a regional thing 😕

I say OChem...but I'm from Oregon and we say OREG-IN...not ORE-GONE. Please everyone. Just try. (hey, especially if you're applying to OHSU).

I heard "orgo" for the first time last summer when I went abroad with people from the east coast...maybe it is a regional thing...

 

[novawildcat]

93+ = A

Just needing 80+ for an A is simply rediculous.

 

[manta]

i've never heard of anyone changing the grading scale before! it seems almost more honest than curving heavily.

i remember getting a 38 on an exam once, and after curving, it ended up being a high C. 🙂

 

[hardy]

93+ = A

Just needing 80+ for an A is simply rediculous.

well, that depends. Just needing 80+ on the same tests you were writing might be ridiculous. But if the professor makes the tests so hard that only a few students can get over 80 then it is not ridiculous at all.

The grading scale by itself doesn't tell you anything. It depends both on the grading scale AND the kind of tests you have and how they are graded. If a professor wanted to he could set the percentage for an A at 10% and then grade so hard that nobody can achieve it.

 

[amberm4]

No curve at my school. We started the year with 52 in the class and ended with 17. I was one of a couple A's, (I did get an A- winter quarter). It is definitely a weed out class. It gives me confidence to know that if I can get A's in OChem, then I can survive medical school. Oh, that is if I can get in.....Where or where are those August MCAT scores - the waiting is killing me!

 

[tifxiii]

90 = A at my school and I got a damn 89 in both orgo I and II. Oh I was so mad!! I'm taking Biochem this semester and an A is a 95 or higher... uhh... i'm going to have to study hard.

And by the way, I'm from Texas and we pronounce that Tex-Ass... jk

 

[Zuras]

We have a curve. The top 5% get an A.

 

[dbth77]

93+ = A

Just needing 80+ for an A is simply rediculous.

I can see why you ended up at nova

 

[g3pro]

We have a curve. The top 5% get an A.

Yeah, no kidding. The lucky bastards who are posting here at least get a point scale to work off of.

 

[novawildcat]

I can see why you ended up at nova

I can see why too.

 

[Dave_D]

You lucky people. UMass Boston, A is 90+. average of 3 best of 4 semester exams and final which counts as 2 tests. I think the lab grade counts as 10%.

it is difficult to obtain an A there. They make you earn it the old fashion way.

fiddler

Actually the lab was 20%. Also Schwartz gave extra credit so you could up your grade by 3%. But there was also a weird "quirk" in grading for anybody that cares. She also gave you a way to turn things around at the end. If your score on the final was better than your test average (IE you got a 90% on the final and your regular tests averaged out to 77%) she ignored the other tests and counted the final as your test average. But(and this makes it even more confusing.) if doing the calculation this way gives you an A she would drop your grade to an A-. (Guess how I know that to be true 🙂 )