<p>So my question is that do you ever wind up with a lower grade than you earned because of curving and the competition in your classes? I was told today by a professor at my CC that this is illegal and that if you earn an A (90-100) or whatever the grade scale may be, grades can’t be curved so you end up with a B. But I have also heard that this happens and I would be appalled if it happened to me. Any comments are appreciated!</p>
<p>This does happen in a few courses… for example. Professor Siverson (Political Science department) likes to do bell curves. That is, a set amount of people get As, Bs, and so forth. The lower the grade, the more people that can have that grade. I think he usually sets it so the top 20% of the class gets As. So if you fall short of that 20%… tough luck :(</p>
<p>Also, some departments such as Economics sets their curve to be at a median of 2.4 (C). Very seldom will you find a professor thats easy enough to need to curve down, but I’ve heard of it happening.</p>
<p>Hmm seems a little unfair to me if you earned an A average and get a B because 20% scored slightly above you…maybe thats just me though.</p>
<p>Most often, professors will curve downwards. Meaning your grade will always rise with the curve, never fall. I haven’t met a single professor yet who curves his or her grades up. </p>
<p>But then again, you shouldn’t be worrying about the curves at all. Just focus on your studies and take good notes, then it shouldn’t matter whether there is a curve or not.</p>
<p>well, i don’t think anyone grades up (meaning, if you get a 90%, you should get at least an A-!) BUT there are professors @ UCD with hella stingy curves.</p>
<p>for example, one of my friends was in a physics class (9D, i wanna say?) and his professor only gave out 3 As. yeah.</p>
<p>bell curves – if you study, they really aren’t a problem. my first quarter at UCD, i took a professor with a bell curve. ended up with an A+ in the class~ ^^</p>
<p>^that would most likely be bc there was NO curve lol. they earned those A’s with no help.</p>
<p>most classes (for an engineer anyways) are curved to a B-, and always improve your grade
sometimes a class has a curve that doesnt need it
sometimes a class has no curve and NEEDS it >_<
totally depends on your professor</p>
<p>I remember taking a class and getting 89% as my final grade. However, after the curve I got a normal A! Hard professor, but knows his class is hard and was very kind with the curve. :)</p>