<p>Just study and you'll do fine.</p>
<p>Wait, don't, I like my curves.</p>
<p>random question:</p>
<p>What is the difference between Econ 101 and Econ 103 and Econ 1 and 2?</p>
<p>Half a letter grade, I'd guess</p>
<p>Econ 103 is Statistics for Economics. Econ 001 and 002 are Introductory Micro and Macro Economics, the equivalent of a high school AP level economics course.</p>
<p>Econ 101 and 102 are Intermediate Micro and Macro Economics, and have 001 and 002 as a prerequisite.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Oops... I forgot how inflated Econ 101 and 103 are. I was thinking of econ 1 and 2, which rocked me with their tough curves.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Just for some brief clarification. econ at penn is not grade inflated. in fact, I would argue that the trend is definitely towards grade deflation. </p>
<p>Case in point, at the bottom of each econ syllabus, professors generally post the following message: </p>
<p>Beginning with fall 2006 semester, courses taught in the Department of Economics are covered by a common set of course management policies. The Department has a guideline for the distribution of grades. This guideline will be followed in this course:
00-30% grades: A or A-
40-50% grades: B+, B, B-
20-30% grades: C+ or below</p>
<p>This comes directly from my ECON 103 syllabus, in case anybody is wondering. My professor has made it very clear that a 90 is not likely to be an A, but rather a B+, with the A range beginning at around 92. </p>
<p>As for ECON 101, cut the poor econ majors some slack. To get into that class, there are 2 math pre-requisites (not counting introductory calculus) and 2 econ pre-requisites. The material is easy, provided of course, you are very good at multivariable calculus and critical thinking. It is composed of a highly self-selective group of students and certainly not something I would recommend taking for an easy A. At most 40% of the class got A's. That's being very generous. </p>
<p>Otherwise, humanities are a mixed bag. Some are a guaranteed A, others not so much. But hey, if Penn were all about easy A's, what would our diplomas be worth? :)</p>
<p>so you're basically comparing yourself to others and hoping that the other students dont study as much? are there such things as study groups then?</p>
<p>it's vicious study group on study group combat</p>
<p>Just wondering, do social sciences such as anthropology fall under the title of humanities, or no, humanities is just like, english/lit/philosophy ?</p>
<p>As a group they're known as the Humanities and Social Sciences. They're quite similar.</p>
<p>I'm halfway through Penn and I only have a shaky definition of what the difference is. I like to say that Humanities are only thought-driven, while Social Sciences are empirical research-driven, whether it be statistical analysis or participiant observer analysis.</p>
<p>I'm an Anthro major and I still can't give a good definition of what the difference is between Anthropology and Sociology is, except I can say that Sociology sucks.</p>
<p>
[quote]
As for ECON 101, cut the poor econ majors some slack. To get into that class, there are 2 math pre-requisites (not counting introductory calculus) and 2 econ pre-requisites. The material is easy, provided of course, you are very good at multivariable calculus and critical thinking. It is composed of a highly self-selective group of students and certainly not something I would recommend taking for an easy A.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's pretty ridiculous. Taking Econ1, Econ2, Math104 and Math114 by no means makes a self-selective group of students. Anyone can take those subjects, and there's nothing unusually hard about them. Plus, Econ101 and Econ102 barely, if at all, use multivariable calculus. You don't have to be good at multivariable calculus to get As in Econ101/Econ102.</p>
<p>In general the post about it being very difficult to get A's in English is absolutely true at elite colleges, though it is fairly easy to get a B. A's actually tend to be much more common in the social sciences than the humanities. There are many science and engineering classes though where 80% of students receive B+'s or higher (if they aren't curved). That doesn't mean that the classes don't require a lot of work though.</p>
<p>On lawschoolnumbers.com there are no Ivy League alumni with 4.0's that majored in English. There are students with 4.0's though that majored in Mathematics, Engineering, and the Sciences. The same is true at mdapplicants.com. It is important to remember as well that what students want to major in is irrelevant in admissions decisions. So, the students that choose to major in English, theoretically, should be just as intelligent and driven as students majoring in Engineering or the hard sciences.</p>