<p>I am worried about the grading system.....I hear from friends at other colleges that everyone grades on a curve. Berkeley sounds really cut throat with grades. I am entering engineering and would like to get an idea what I'm getting into. How do the USC profs grade?</p>
<p>Depends on the professor/major/school, I think. None of the classes I was in graded on a curve, but I heard Marshall does...</p>
<p>Grading will probably be different in every engineering class you plan on taking. I'll give you an example from one of my classes this past fall semester.</p>
<p>I was in PHYS-152: Electricity and Magnetism and the course had 2 midterms and a final. On the first midterm, the class average was about 31/67, a 46.3%. On the second midterm, the class average was 28/66, a 42.4%. We were never told what the class average was on the final, but I guarantee you it was below 50%. I got 38/67 on the first midterm, 24/66 on the second midterm, and probably failed the final the same way every else did, but ended up with a B+ in the class.</p>
<p>As for Math classes at USC, the class average on midterms is usually set to a B-. Hope that helped.</p>
<p>To 2+2=5:</p>
<p>For your last statement, is that true for ALL math classes? In particular, I'm wondering if MATH-118 also follows the trend of the class average on midterms usually being set to a B-?</p>
<p>I have no idea about Math-118, but that's business calc and most people would consider it a joke. If you've had any experience with calculus, it shouldn't be a problem. I've taken Calculus 2,3 and differential equations, so I can only speak for those.</p>
<p>There isn't a fixed curve a la the business school, but being honest, grading can be tough at times. True, some of the core classes run about a B-minus average, but it can be flexible at times - my calc 3 prof increased the avg grade in my class from B-minus to B. Many profs will even say that if everyone earns it, the whole class would get an A (usually doesn't happen :))</p>
<p>Therefore, it's not really cut-throat at all, you're more competing against the material and the class. On the whole people are pretty helpful+nice to each other and not feel like we're competing against each other for grades...</p>
<p>Also some perspective is helpful... since everyone else is in the same boat, the concept of a "good" or "high" gpa changes...for example, up until a year or two ago, having a 3.2 GPA in engineering automatically made you eligible for the 4+1 program (the "fast track" master's degree in engineering), and unless you're premed or such, it's not necessary at all to get "straight A's" (if you do, you'd probably end up being the engineering valedictorian)</p>
<p>So the lesson is: I don't know about your background or abilities, but if you go into classes aiming for A's, enjoy the material, work hard, go to lecture/office hours/discussion/lab, you'll probably end up with a solid GPA you can be happy about.</p>
<p>Regarding Math 118, can one take the course during the summer before freshmen year (i.e. after high school graduation) at a community college and transfer those credits to USC (to my understanding classes not taken at USC do not count toward gpa). The reason I am concerned about this is that I do not plan on taking calculus during HS (taking AP stats instead) and I would not have a grasp of the material and consequently would earn a bad grade in the class.</p>
<p>It's the only Math class besides Applied Statistics in Marshall's core classes, I believe, and hopefully my Stats class senior year would give me some knowledge in the Stats area. Now all my concerns are in Calculus...</p>