<p>Ok, so I've heard many different stories about curves and how hard some are, and I was wondering are all classes like that? I know it sort of depends on the prof, right?</p>
<p>Then, what if your class has like 10 people in it? Only 2 people get A's, if their is a curve like that? Or do most small classes not have a curve? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Curves depend on the prof and the distribution of grades. The prof will generally have an idea of the average grade he wants the class to obtain, and he/she may curve it to meet that goal. Sometimes however, the prof won't curve at all no matter what the class average is. So it really depends on the prof.</p>
<p>If you want a horrible example, take my Physics E&M class... average on the 3 tests was anywhere from a 28-55 and the final exam average was a 38. So yes there was a massive curve in that class.</p>
<p>small classes aren't really curved. what they often do is give an exam of comparable difficulty to another year and grade them against that distribution.</p>
<p>I don't know a single professor who enforced a strict curve in a small class. What happens most frequently in small classes is that the professor assigns grades according to his gut feeling. In small classes there is typically a clear top group of students. Those students would get an A. The weaker students might get a C provided they still did satisfactory work. Everyone in between will get a B.</p>
<p>By the way, I have not taken a single class where a professor enforced a strict predetermined curve a la 20% of the class will get an A, 50% will get a B etc. What has happened more frequently in my classes is that the professor either picks cut-offs so that students with similar scores will get the same grade, or they have a certain average in mind and then add 20% to everyone's score to get there. In some cases the latter method might lead to many As and many Cs and Ds, and in other cases it will mean a lot of Bs but few As or Ds.</p>
<p>There's also a system which is pretty much based on percentage, but say a group of students were clustered between 88 and 93. The prof might make the cut off for an A at 88. In a large class, there are often natural breaks in the grade distribution which a prof will use to determine A-B-C-D-F rather than a rigid percentage of students who should get a certain grade.</p>
<p>Simply no. My World Humanities class is not graded on a curve and neither is my Calculus I class. But my Chemistry class is graded on a curve however. I think it depends on the professor.</p>
<p>i've only had two classes at my university that were not curved.</p>
<p>so you could say that almost all classes are graded on a curve... but not all.</p>
<p>I'm at a LAC and haven't had any classes curved.</p>
<p>Technically all classes are curved. There is nothing special about the 100-90 = A, 90-80 = B, etc scale. It's just another curve. Some professors make their exams so that the scores will fit this curve. Other professors pick a curve that fits the format of their exams. Who cares?</p>
<p>I'm with Iolanthe. I've never taken a class that's been graded on a curve at Richmond, but I haven't taken any math/science/business classes, either. I think it's much more common in those sorts of classes.</p>
<p>I think maybe once one midterm I took had a very slight curve. But class I've ever taken at their of the two institutions I've enrolled in have ever had a curve, be they at the 100 level or the 300 level.</p>
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<p>hmmm... so true...</p>
<p>Large lectures in math, science, engineering, and business tend to be graded on curves. Something like the top 25% gets As, 40% Bs, 25% Cs, 10% other. I've had classes curved to any grade between a C+ and B+. For smaller classes it gets harder to have strict curves because how can you maintain strict % As with 5 students. Those classes tend to have grades scaled though. They may not have the traditional high school 90%=A, but they will have something similar. My last math class was a 30 person class and 20% of the kids had bellow a 50%. 20% also had above a 90%. The cutoff off for an A- was around 85%. It was such that 100% of students could have gotten an A, but also 100% of students could have gotten an F.</p>
<h1>1 rule of college: It all depends on your professor.</h1>
<p>I second the sentiment that it varies from professor to professor. I have been in several classes where no students received As because the professor didn't think anyone met those high standards.</p>