<p>DS2 got off the waiting list of A207 and is officially enrolled in A207 to be taught by Professor Geoffrey Sprinkle. DS2 was #6 on the waiting list. I am not sure why so many students switched out the class just last few days. Professor Sprinkle seems to be a pretty good professor. The grade distribution shows that about 50% of the students got A- and above. However, these are the students with average GPA of 3.7. In A202, usually 20% of the students (average GPA of 3.3) got A- and above. Is A207 really easier than A202 to get a good grade?</p>
<p>There are a lot of good reasons to take A207 with Sprinkle instead of A202. A207 meets only twice a week instead of three times for A202; A207 has 45 students while A207 lectures are probably 200+. Less than half of the A207 students get a solid B or above; probably 80% get that grade in A202. Very few students get less than a solid B in A207, which is a pretty good grade to get out of A202/207 with. The textbook (they use Sprinkle’s) is probably way cheaper, too, ha ha.</p>
<p>A couple of years ago my son took A207, and Sprinkle had pretty much one test per week, about 12 or thirteen tests over the course of the semester and I’m pretty sure no final. And if there was a “final”, it wasn’t weighted any heavier than the previous weekly tests. So there is lots of feedback on how you are doing, and the feedback starts very early in the semester. A202 on the other hand has probably only two or three tests. Mess up the first and/or second one, and you will be in a big hole for the rest of the semester. About 150 out of 699 students got less than a solid C or withdrew in A202 last time it was offered the same semester as A207. Half of those probably bombed the final, as they did not withdraw from the class and got C- or lower for their final grade-- in other words they will be retaking A202 because they stayed in and got less than the solid C required to take icore. There is almost no chance of bombing out of Sprinkle’s class at the end of the semester if you make it that far since there are many, many tests and they are equally weighted; probably impossible to do that also, given all the feedback each student will have by the time the automatic W date rolls around.</p>
<p>I don’t know why so many dropped A202. If your son was #6 at the start of the semester, then I’m guessing some people enrolled in front of him dropped because they did poorly on a test or two in A201. Hutton and Kelley honors students can be pretty quick to drop classes that they expect they won’t get even an A or an A- in. I wouldn’t be surprised if some (non-accounting, non-finance majors maybe) dropped so that they could take A205 with Hewitt instead of A201 again, as Hewitt grades easier than any A201 professors.</p>
<p>Son said that Sprinkle did have a final worth 20% of grade. No mid term, though. And rest of grade was weekly quizzes.</p>
<p>The thing about A207 is that it’s mostly honors students who are majoring in accounting. I’m enrolled for A202 next semester (A207 was already full). If you’re an honors student or a student who works hard then A202 shouldn’t be too hard. I’ve talked to a number of students who have taken the course with success/are taking the course with success and if you do the work you should be fine. But like most honors vs. regular courses, the honors course is designed to get you a better grade. Ex: testing worth less % of your grade vs. 2-3 tests worth 90% of your grade. Bottom line is honors classes are generally more work for a better grade, but if you are an honors student/student who works extremely hard then if you put in the same amount of work for a regular class you will get a high grade.</p>
<p>If you look at it from the macro-level, it’s easier to get a better grade in the honors version, but as an individual student, it is easier to get a better grade in the regular version. I’m taking A201 right now and most of my friends are in A205. A201 is so much easier than what they are doing. They do have many quizzes throughout the semester as opposed to major tests, but the quizzes are very challenging. Even though most of them are guaranteed to get at least a B- in the honors version, I feel like the majority of them would easily get an A in A201. </p>
<p>A201 is set up to where if you want an A-, there is no reason you won’t get it.</p>
<p>bthomp1, thekid, and hkem,</p>
<p>Thanks for the insights. Do you think the quality of teaching play a role? I will send this link for him to read.</p>
<p>Just a heads up, I’m currently finishing A207 and Prof. Sprinkle changed the layout of the course for this semester. The only grades are two exams (worth 25% and 30%, respectively), a final exam (35%), and participation (10%). There is weekly homework, but it is not graded. Also, none of the exams are cumulative, including the final. Professor Sprinkle has been by far my favorite professor this year and I would highly recommend A207, he’s a great guy that genuinely cares about his students.</p>