<p>Is it right to assume that people are failing their semester grades at Wash U if the average on tests is a 65!</p>
<p>Not necessarily. They aim to have an average of 65, then they assign grades accordingly. For example, a friend of mine got an 81 and he will end up with an A, for sure.</p>
<p>It might be worth noting that Intro to BME is much, much more difficult than Gen Chem. Someone legitimately got a 6 on the first exam. The highest grade was a 60.</p>
<p>Don’t treat college grades like high school grades. In high school, they spoil you with like 90+ for everything, especially if you are at the top of your class. If you weren’t, you probably wouldn’t be reading this thread anyhow. In college, it’s different. You are surrounded by people of more or less the same intelligence as you. All scores are relative - a 75+ in Gen Chem, for example, is an A (well technically A-; A is slightly higher), while a 90+ in Physics is considered in the A range. A lot of people come here and become shocked at their scores because they are not used to getting such low percentages on on their tests. Once again, it’s all relative. Getting a low score doesn’t mean you are dumb; it just means you didn’t study as hard or did not get the concepts as well as the rest of the smart people around you.</p>
<p>Agreed. It’s fair to say that most students at Wash U were in the top 10% of their high school class. That means that when you first get here, 90% of your freshman class will rank lower than it did in high school. That’s quite a reality check.</p>
<p>For gen chem, the grading scale is: 75+ is an A. 55-75 is a B. 55 or lower is a C or lower.</p>