Own Marks vs. Averages of others in class

[scienceisbeauty]

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Say someone has an "A -" or "A" average in one class, but then the average for that class is an A or A+ respectively, would the professor care? Would he/she question why in that one class you got below average or would they not even bother to look at class averages and compare them to yours ?

Just a random question I guess...THANKS FOR ANY INSIGHT! 😛

 

[RayneeDeigh]

I'm not sure I know what you're asking. Do you mean if you had an A- in a class but the class average was an A+, would people look down on you?

 

[Ollie123]

Are we talking undergrad or grad school?

In grad school, no one gives a crap about your grades (at least here). Most advisors actually encourage their students to not care about classwork, so it would seem quite hypocritical to hold it against other students who don't do well in their classes.

Undergrad I imagine is a bit different. Are you talking about getting LORs from people? I'd say it depends on the professor. If you had a good working relationship with someone afterwards, they won't care if you got an A- versus an A. If its someone who only knows you as a name on a page, then it might matter more.

 

[thewesternsky]

Are you talking about for admissions, or the professor of the specific class?

In the first case-- I highly doubt they would care unless scoring below the average was a common trend on your transcript.

In the second, your professor would probably think of the quality of your actual work (papers, participation, etc.) rather than as a number/letter, but if your performance in the class was worse than the average... I can see how that might affect their opinion of you.

 

[RayneeDeigh]

Can courses actually have A+ averages? When I grade undergrad stuff I'm told to keep the average between 60 and 70.

 

[blindchaos]

Can courses actually have A+ averages? When I grade undergrad stuff I'm told to keep the average between 60 and 70.

😱 You are told to keep the average between a C and a D?? Yikes!

 

[RayneeDeigh]

😱 You are told to keep the average between a C and a D?? Yikes!

I'm in Canada, that's not a C or D. My friends and I always fight over this, haha.

 

[JockNerd]

😱 You are told to keep the average between a C and a D?? Yikes!

Ugh, grade inflation. A C is average. Most people are average, by definition. Class averages should be about 60.

 

[blindchaos]

I'm in Canada, that's not a C or D. My friends and I always fight over this, haha.

*whew* 🙂 Sorry, I can never remember who is in Canada and who is in the US!

 

[scienceisbeauty]

I meant for undergrad. For me, I have an A- in a class where the class average is an A, for one class
I'm just so worried that my POI will look at the transcript and be like "you got below average in a class?" what the heck is up with that??? Never mind that all my other marks are way above average....


I dunno. I'm really paranoid at this point about anything that might make my transcript look funny.

 

[blindchaos]

How would the POI know what the class average is for individual courses? And touching on what westernsky said (assuming all class averages are somehow on your transcript), it probably won't be a big deal as long as scoring below the average isn't a trend. Besides, the discrepancy appears to be pretty small assuming the grading scale is normal (B=mid 80s, B+=high 80s, A-=low 90s, A=mid and high 90s)

 

[WaitingKills]

I don't think your POI will find out about the class average.

The only time that this could happen would be if your referee is the prof in that class and he is asked to rank you in the class. For example, I had about 3 schools this year who had referee forms that said 'if you were a prof for this applicant, please state for which class and the applicant's rank in the class'... so the answers were eg. PY 6011 - 5th/30.

I wouldn't worry to muh about this. Unless you are at the bottom of the bottom, and you happen to be asking this prof for a reference and you happen to have schools that ask this particular question, it'll never come into question.

Beyond that, your GPA is your GPA. You can't really fake it. But I will agree with JockNerd, that's grade inflation at it's best with your example. The average grade in any class should be around a C or C+.

 

[thewesternsky]

Essentially, don't worry about it. If class averages aren't on your transcripts (most schools don't put them there), he/she will never know. If class averages ARE on your transcripts (I know of one school that puts them on), chances are they won't even notice. If they do notice, they won't care.

 

[RayneeDeigh]

I meant for undergrad. For me, I have an A- in a class where the class average is an A, for one class
I'm just so worried that my POI will look at the transcript and be like "you got below average in a class?" what the heck is up with that??? Never mind that all my other marks are way above average....


I dunno. I'm really paranoid at this point about anything that might make my transcript look funny.

I agree with everything everyone else has said. Plus, I want to add something.

You're not applying until next cycle, right? You need to stop freaking out (well you don't NEED to, but it will help you greatly). It's an A-. I've never heard of anyone ever caring that someone got an A- instead of an A. In fact on the applications I filled out (where some of them have you calculate your own GPA) they just lump all the A-, A, and A+ together anyway. Really, I promise you, that nobody is going to care about your A-. If that's the worst thing they can find on your application then you're in a good spot. I can't even tell you how many C's were on my transcript (mostly 'cause I don't remember, but I know there were at least three). I know for sure that I was below the class average for one class I took in my last year. I still got in somewhere. Just take a deep breath and save the stressing out for when your applications are submitted in a year and you're waiting to hear something. You don't wanna sound like you're begging them to take you in your Statements of Purpose, and that requires sort of a Zen state.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

If it makes you feel better...if/when you get into a grad program, many people think of it as B = Ph.D. Of course, anything less than a B in most programs will get you on academic probation. I think my GPA is like 3.6-3.7, since I don't much care about getting an A in every class. Those last few points between a B and an A may take A LOT more work, and the effort is better spent elsewhere.

-t

 

[scienceisbeauty]

*takes breath in* ok.
this stuff is all good to know....

Averages ARE on my transcript, so they will see them. But, as you guys mentioned...not so so important enough to be worried about.

From this thread , I have another question. Since I live in Canada, we calculate % --> Letter differently.

80 = A- ; 90 = A+

How would that fare in evaluating my application for schools in the States where 80 isn't an A- ? Would they do some sort of strange score conversion thing?

Essentially too, what if schools only give %ages not GPA scores, how does the conversion work?

Thanks tons guys!

 

[RayneeDeigh]

*takes breath in* ok.
this stuff is all good to know....

Averages ARE on my transcript, so they will see them. But, as you guys mentioned...not so so important enough to be worried about.

From this thread , I have another question. Since I live in Canada, we calculate % --> Letter differently.

80 = A- ; 90 = A+

How would that fare in evaluating my application for schools in the States where 80 isn't an A- ? Would they do some sort of strange score conversion thing?

Essentially too, what if schools only give %ages not GPA scores, how does the conversion work?

Thanks tons guys!

I've actually never heard of a Canadian place using A-. But anyway, most applications ask you to calculate your own GPA for their sheet and they'll tell you how (usually they just use A, B, C, etc). Then you mail them your transcript. Some private schools that I've heard of require you to get your transcript sent to one of those weird equivalence evaluating places, I think it's in New York. But that's rare I think.

I think it was WaitingKills who said this, but it doesn't really matter how they convert it, your GPA is your GPA and the best you can do is the best you can do. Once you're above their cut-off they mostly look at your other attributes like fit with the program, research experience, yadda yadda.

Most universities use GPA scores rather than percentages (or they use both on a transcript) so it'll be fine.

 

[scienceisbeauty]

Eh, yeah my uni is just like that ...80 = A- ; 90 = A+ ; and a 3.7 = A or 3.7 = 80 for any one course, it doesn't always work out the way in cummulative GPA calculations, like if you have a 3.7 cummulative GPA it does not mean that you have an 80% average, it's just the way it was calculated

My cousin's uni only uses percentages ; not GPAs -- they get only percentage marks without corresponding letter grades

My friend's uni uses a 9.0 scale...so how would those scores be converted into 4.0 GPAs since a 9.0 scale is strange ...I dunno...

Anyone have any idea?

 

[RayneeDeigh]

my undergrad university used a 4.5 and it didn't cause any problems.

Schools figure it out, I don't know. They just need your transcript.