<p>So I hear that it is possible to get A+s at Columbia. Has anyone actually ever managed to get one? If so, what course was it in and who taught i? It seems incredulous that anyone would get an A+ considering the high academic caliber of all the students at Columbia. How can you exceptionally distinguish individuals amongst a group of high achieving students?</p>
<p>haha, this is a pretty silly question since grading is all relative...meaning that you are being compared to the other students there and out of every group there will be a few who are exceptional and stand out in each class.</p>
<p>in my case, i got three A+s during my four years at columbia....i won't be specific but they were all in 4000 level (senior level) BME courses.</p>
<p>"If so, what course was it in and who taught it? "</p>
<p>A+s are given out in larger courses where outliers exist and can be verified, and in smaller courses with objective grading standards. Or sometimes in classes where the prof is stupidly generous. But in all circumstances they are given out to the very best. </p>
<p>"It seems incredulous that anyone would get an A+ considering the high academic caliber of all the students at Columbia. How can you exceptionally distinguish individuals amongst a group of high achieving students?"</p>
<p>this is what they tell you in high school so you don't feel bad about getting rejected from universities or some other competitive program. University is more real, and you definitely see huge gaps in achievement between the good, the great and the phenomenal. Some people are just that amazing/committed and can pull it off. it isn't impossible to get an A+, one just needs to be very committed to the class (and of course pretty smart in that discipline the first place).</p>
<p>It's possible to get A+'s in courses where your grade is based entirely on objective tests (multiple choice, true/false, etc.) and there may be extra credit questions and/or the prof grades on a curve.</p>
<p>The OP's self-righteousness is pretty annoying. I got 2 -- one in Yiddish (it seemed like the prof gave half the class A+'s) and the other in independent research (I worked my butt off and got published).</p>
<p>I've earned 3 so far (2 Lit Hum, 1 Music Hum). The Core's been good to me.</p>
<p>This is where it's not fair. Percentage wise, I earned an A+ in at least LitHum, at least one polisci course, possibly MusicHum, and in a history course that Denzera also completed (yes, you know the one). Each time, I got As. In the history course, the professor actually stood before the class one morning and stated that he "does not give out A+s; they're too special."</p>
<p>I ended up with two. One in a science course (because, well, they're clearly more common in courses with objective exams) and another in a summer humanities course where I produced a really good final paper. Could've had as many as five or six, I think.</p>
<p>Calc III will be your best bet!</p>
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Percentage wise, I earned an A+ in at least
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<p>What do you mean by "percentage wise"? This isn't high school where 90% is some magic number that means A, and 98% is some magic number that means A+. In my organic chem class, the whole class probably would have failed "percentage wise" (whatever that means) since 60% probably got you the high mark in the class and I got like 30% on the final.</p>
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This is where it's not fair.
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<p>Not sure why the unfairness vis-a-vis A+'s is any different than the unfairness with respect to grading generally. Some profs/classes/departments grade extremely easy, and others extremely hard. Move along...</p>
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Could've had as many as five or six, I think.
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<p>I could have to. And I bet a lot of people could have as well. But we don't.</p>
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What do you mean by "percentage wise"? This isn't high school where 90% is some magic number that means A, and 98% is some magic number that means A+. In my organic chem class, the whole class probably would have failed "percentage wise" (whatever that means) since 60% probably got you the high mark in the class and I got like 30% on the final.
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Since you're snarky enough to ask what percentage wise means twice, I'll explain in a way that you should be able to understand (I'll let it pass since I'm going to guess you graduated SEAS). While it varies by class, especially with those that have curves, it generally means as follows and is customarily indicated, in my experience, on course syllabi:</p>
<p>90 - 93 or 94 = A-
93 or 94 - 96 or 97 = A
97 or 98 -100 = A+</p>
<p>Oftentimes, however, 94 and above means an A when there's no possible way to earn an A+. No, it's not high school, and my high school didn't grade according to your assumed standards, but the vast majorit of courses I've completed have very specific numerical cut-offs for individual letter grades.</p>
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Not sure why the unfairness vis-a-vis A+'s is any different than the unfairness with respect to grading generally. Some profs/classes/departments grade extremely easy, and others extremely hard. Move along...
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You indicated that you earned an A+ in both LitHum and MusicHum. In my sections, instructors indicated at the start of the term that an A+ was not possible to earn. Likewise, moving along...</p>
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I could have to. And I bet a lot of people could have as well. But we don't.
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Absolutely, but only in those sections where an A+ is possible to earn.</p>
<p>The larger point I made, which you did a nice job purposely glossing over, concerns the same course with multiple sections and an inability to earn the highest grade possible.</p>
<p>windowshopping...what kind of courses are you talking about there cause those are CERTAINLY not science/math/engineering courses ....as C02 said, by those standards half the class would fail which of course they don't</p>
<p>Shraf -- I completed a political science major, so no, aside from a few science courses that went toward core requirements, these are not math/science/engineering.</p>
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While it varies by class, especially with those that have curves, it generally means as follows and is customarily indicated, in my experience, on course syllabi:</p>
<p>90 - 93 or 94 = A-
93 or 94 - 96 or 97 = A
97 or 98 -100 = A+
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<p>I've never seen this on a course syllabus at Columbia. There simply isn't numeric grading in humanities classes, and in the science/engineering courses I took the whole class would fail under that regime. Find me a Columbia syllabus indicating this.</p>
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The larger point I made, which you did a nice job purposely glossing over, concerns the same course with multiple sections and an inability to earn the highest grade possible.
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<p>To which you glossed over my larger point that the same course with multiple sections could have vastly different grading standards overall. Not only can multiple sections of LitHum have different A+ rules, but one section of LitHum can give 75% A's and another can give 20% A's. I'm not sure how the problem of A+ unfairness and inconsistency is any different than grading unfairness and inconsistency at Columbia generally.</p>
<p>Yes, 2- Frontiers and Lit Hum</p>
<p>How am I being self-righteous by asking if anyone has gotten an A+? If anything that response just indicates that this particular person is some pathetic loser who is bitter that he has gotten nothing out of life after graduating many years ago. You can say something in response; however, arguing with/insulting someone much younger than you will just prove my point. I really pity you. You're still posting on college forums after you have been out of college for how long?</p>
<p>For someone near his 30s (I'm assuming since you graduate so long ago), you have the maturity level of about someone half your age.</p>
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How am I being self-righteous by asking if anyone has gotten an A+?
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<p>You didn't just ask a question. You not only asked a question, but made an ignorant statement containing your OPINION on the propriety of Columbia awarding A+'s.</p>
<p>It also really depends on your instructor. I think only 1 person in my Lit Hum class has gotten an A, let alone an A+ all year and my UW teacher doesn't give out A-.</p>
<p>Scary that someone taking organic chem (probs premed) is passing with a 30% on their final. This means that (a) a whole lot of time is being wasted teaching unessecary material, or (b) a whole lot of future doctors are graduating without a thorough understanding of the basics.</p>
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Scary that someone taking organic chem (probs premed) is passing with a 30% on their final. This means that (a) a whole lot of time is being wasted teaching unessecary material, or (b) a whole lot of future doctors are graduating without a thorough understanding of the basics.
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<p>Well, organic chem profs don't see themselves as giving the Kaplan MCAT review course. There's something to be said for learning the theory, expecting challenging problem solving, and preparing people for advanced courses as chem majors. However, this prof expected people to know a ton of complex crap and happened to be a horrible teacher, so nobody learned it anyway.</p>