I plan to major in a major that consists heavily of physics, but now I am having a lot of anxiety over my final exam. Even though I finished the semester with an A, I got a 67% on my final exam. And I actually studied hard for it. Am I going to run in to trouble when I get into college? Can I still succeed in my major? (I am a straight A student; however this exam was really hard for me.)
You might need to manage your expectations for college. My intro physics courses routinely had exams where the media was in the 50-60 range. Thank God for curves.
Yeah skieurope is spot on. Was the 67% factored into the final grade score. If so, I assume there was a big “curve” or adjustment. I really wish more schools would move away from using % correct because then instructors have to try to design tests with the idea that those who know the material well will score between a , say 90 and 100. That means dummy-down tests to avoid any really hard ones that most A students wouldn’t be able to answer–except exceptional students. But wouldn’t it be nice if exceptional students had the opportunity to distance themselves from those who are less so in that particular topic? That’s possible on tests with the class average that is at a 50-60 range. There may be some students who nail the really hard ones. That is very instructive to the instructor. And the instructor can still keep the other students from paying a price by adjusting all the scores. Students don’t like it even if they end up with a great grade. Some feel it harms their “self esteem” and confidence. yet that is true only because they are used to grades being out of 100%. in and of itself, getting 67% correct on a test tells you nothing. If the test is very difficulty, a 67% might indicate you did very well. The grade must be viewed in context. If you ended up with an A, and calculations that resulted in the A included the test grade, then you probably did very well on the test relative to others. And I commend your teacher and you.
The median percentage for the final in my kid’s first weeder CS class at Berkeley was 56%. But 25% or so do get As and another 35% or so get Bs.
There is something wrong if the average was 56%.
No there is nothing wrong if the average is 56%. From a psychometric standpoint the average makes no difference.
I got a 45 on my very first college exam, in physics. I went on to graduate with high honors in civil engineering. It’s a tough class.
I can remember several university exams where the class average was around 50% or lower. One daughter recently reported taking an exam with a similar class average.
I think that there are three lessons here.
First of all don’t worry about it. There will be exams when you get to university that are much more difficult than what you are used to. Your AP Physics class now might just be a hint of this. Usually they are graded on a curve. There definitely will be some cases where a 67 would be an A (I recall one exam in graduate school where a 67 would have been the third highest grade in a class of over 100 students).
Don’t panic when (not if) you do find yourself in a really tough exam. Just do the best that you can, stay calm and focused, and be aware that professors sometimes do this for a variety of reasons.
Also, when you get to university, take every class seriously. Do not jump ahead or skip prerequisites.
No single exam in life will “screw” you. You might not be satisfied if you end up with a B, but no one’s head ever blew off because they earned a B. Life is not so all or nothing like that. You’ll do fine.
And correct me if I’m wrong, but to get a 5 on the AP Physics C test, the minimum raw score percentage is close to 67% anyways, so you are doing fine in the overall scheme of things.
College is a different animal when it comes to tests in STEM classes. A lot of schools will normalize grades to the point where that 67% might end up being a strong B.
In the son’s General Chemistry class as a college freshman, 75% put you in the B+/A- range.
Or higher.
Sadly, the 67 was actually the curved score, which I am worried about (I am in high school by the way).
We all know that. No college offers AP Physics.
Another adjustment for college - although there are exceptions I’m sure, in almost all cases, where there is a curve, it’s on the final grade, not on individual tests. Anyway, you got an A for the semester, so obviously it had no impact.One bad grade won;t kill you.
Also don’t neglect the difference between a 75 percentile and a 75%, with the percentile usually indicating that 25% of the class scored higher and a 75% usually suggesting that the student answered 25% of the test incorrectly.
Again, don’t sweat it. I got a C one semester in college physics and a B the other, and still ended up with a 3.8+ GPA in college. Before that, I had made exactly one grade lower than an A my whole life, in 5th grade (and yes, I was one of those “A” students who wasn’t too imaginative, ha - see other thread).
I agree with the others…take the 67% as a point of information.
Will the grade be curved? See what final grade you get in the class.
If it is not and others do much better, then try to figure out why you didn’t do well.
Did you not ever see that material?
Did you see it but forget it?
Was it a type of problem you haven’t done before? Maybe you need to do extra problems
Was it a dumb math mistake you made?