So I am in college and I wanna pursue the degree but sometimes grades make me question if this is what I should be doing? I had my midterm and got a 55. Apparently all of class got low grades so professor offered makeup which will then average with 55 and give me the grade for midterm. I am a freshman in 2nd semester and in other categories such as hw classeork annd quizzes i am above 86. let me know how your grades were for your major exams cause they freak me out.
In my data structures class, 40% was a B. You always get a few classes like that.
That’s more or less the norm in the sciences.
It’s not so bad from what I see with your averages.
I did hear from my classmate that there was a fluid mechanics course with a final of median grade of 2%.
And then I heard of O-chem with average grade of 27%.
And then I had a midterm in a math course with the midterm being 17/120 average in which over 90% of the students were graduate students. Ironic part was, the professor was very happy with the grade claiming it was much higher than he expected. I guess he was expecting single digit scores. Oh well~
Don’t fret too much. You will get used to it rather quick.
It’s not that you don’t understand the material. Rather, it’s that the exams are designed to make you more humbled from the start.
Unlike the humanities, the sciences tend to have curved exams. Most professors curve with average in the 70s from my experience but there are always exceptions. Though I might add if the class is getting a median grade of 2% and it is supposed to be an upper level course in which the student body is already self-selected, I really then do question the purpose of the exam itself; is the exam meant to test your knowledge or the ability to get more partial credits per question when the entire student body does not understand a single question just so that you can put an arbitrary curve on the grades?
Cal Berkeley a few years back - Less than 30% on all O-Chem exams. Bell shaped curve below 40. There were 3-4 people in the 60s and as an adult, it is clear to me now that profs were all about identifying those chosen few to target them for future grad school and not about a fair exam that tested taught knowledge. Too many students give up and change majors. These weed out/ identify the future phd students should not be the reason
Should not be the reason you change your dream profession.