<p>I read this on a thread about Pre-Med at Emory:</p>
<p>"In short, Emory will not inflate your grades. NONE of my classes have curves; you get what you get. This can be good and bad."</p>
<p>So.. The classes don't have curves? Isn't that like really bad? Because if everyone in your class does badly then... Doesn't the grade boundary drop?</p>
<p>Can someone please expand on college grading and the grading at Emory?</p>
<p>Curves wont be in intro science courses because they’re designed to weed out people. In other classes, they’ll help. For GPA,
A=4
A-=3.7
B+=3.3
B=3
B-=2.7
C+=3.3
etc</p>
<p>I’m a freshman. I never took AP Biology. But I’m hovering at about a 92 (93 is an A). So, the classes are definitely doable. My Econ class has a curve but the others don’t. You’re graded on what they goes over in class. Nothing more. So, it’s not possible for everyone to do badly. If you have a borderline grade, like a 92.5, you’ll probably get an A. So there’s no curve, but they’ll probably bump your grade if you’re close.</p>
<p>Typo aluminum- C-2.3.<br>
Any weed out classes past intro. sciences (and perhaps some sections in intro, like Eisen, whose grades are lower than the other sections) are graded on a pretty easy grading curve or adjusted scale, where the average is ends up being between C+ and B- (thus 2.5ish) or exactly at B-. Emory, like all colleges have many classes that grade on curves. However, Emory, and most top private schools, will have easier grading curves than many similar caliber public schools. </p>
<p>And no, not grading on a curve could be somewhat good. It depends on how it works and where the average sits (the B- in private schools is probably a bit too high and encourages mediocrity) It’s probably better for harder classes (not intro. chem and bio who easily get 2.5-2.9 w/o any curve) to have adjusted scales, because curving up can also screw up grades and badly compress them. For example, why should someone with a 67 get a B-, while a person with 77 get a B (this is typical in classes like orgo,NBB 301, etc.). A person that was 3 levels higher is now only one. Curves can be bad in this matter, because, in this case it basically makes the person with the 77 look comparable to the people who scored 10 points below. This is lame if you’re in say Weinshenck’s class where it actually is quite an attainment to get about 77-80 average. If the average were sent to say a minimum C or C+ on a regular scale, and every other grade was curved the same amount (8 points in this case), that would probably be better. The person with the 77 still gets a B and the people with the 67 get a C with a 6 point curve for everyone. Or if a C+, 67 turns to 77 on 10 point curve and person with 77 gets 87, thus B+. Basically, I’m saying that everyone’s grade should get the same inflation, the amount shouldn’t be variable b/c the only goal is to achieve an overall 2.X for the class. The way our curves are designed is so that hardly no one gets an F (in harder classes, there will be some C-grades though). Stereotypical private school lol. And if some profs. of harder courses don’t feel like putting time into the course, they simply water the course material down (and usually it’s not enough b/c they still end up curving at the end). </p>
<p>There is also the motivation factor. If I come in knowing that I can do D+/C- work on a normal scale and get a B-/B for it and feel disinterested/discourages in the course after say the first exam, I won’t work that much harder, especially if I am pre-med (I’m not, but this is the mentality of many pre-meds I know) and know that Weinshenck’s class will probably be the hardest class I take (as many thereafter will dodge difficult sections and classes, even if they have solid profs.). Set the average at C/C+ and this will scare the crap out of pre-meds, and I bet they’ll produce better work or study harder b/c a B-/B is no longer an average grade, it’s a good grade and you must seriously work to get it.</p>
<p>Read Prof. Patrick Allitt’s book on teaching</p>
<p>Is this an Emory prof.? I forget, b/c I know there was a prof. here that supposedly wrote a book on such a topic. They were known as one of the more rigorous profs. in the social sciences here.</p>
<p>yeah, he’s a history prof.</p>