<p>I've heard that UCLA is notorious for its grading curve and quarter system. Do the horror stories live up to the hype? What are some pros, cons, personal anecdotes you can share?</p>
<p>Personal anecdotes? Physics 1 series with Corbin.</p>
<p>what horror stories? i love grading curves and quarter system.</p>
<p>Whoever told you those rumors probably doesn’t go here. Or they’ve just had a lot of bad experiences.</p>
<p>I got a 90% on my 1st Physics 1A midterm (20% of my grade), 66% on the 2nd (another 20% of my grade), and a 56% on the final (50% of my total grade).
I got a B in the class.</p>
<p>Curves are nice if its a hard class. If I didn’t have a curve, I would be getting D’s and C’s in my classes lol.</p>
<p>how about an 8/60=C grade, 22/60=A? haha
sometimes you wonder what the point of the test was when nobody obviously knew the answers…</p>
<p>curves are great, and i have yet to have a class where they “downcurve” or whatever they call it, so it only helps you</p>
<p>I took a midterm today and I fear a “downcurve.” Too easy that it’s scary.</p>
<p>I’ve had midterms like that where the average was 90 or so, but they never downcurved. They just made either the 2nd midterm or the final way harder.</p>
<p>For general math and physics courses, well administered exam will have an average of about 70% (B- average, 1 letter grade higher for each SD above average).</p>
<p>Depends on the class. I love the curve, because otherwise I would be getting Bs or Cs instead of As. Love the quarter system as well, short enough that the quarter ends before you get a nervous breakdown.</p>
<p>Whew. I’m glad that most people like the grading curve and quarter system. I’ve heard a lot of scary stuff about competition among pre-med students.</p>
<p>there is competitiong among the pre-meds, but most of the people I know are pretty okay… there’s only ONE freak I’ve encountered recently.</p>
<p>Good thing I’m not pre-med. What’s the freak story?</p>
<p>Do the curves in premed hurt you? One of my friends was telling me not to worry. He said that if I am focused, I can do very well since most people screw around. Do UCLA premed students find this statement to be true?</p>
<p>
there’s competition among EVERYONE here, especially in curved classes. who honestly would pay money to attend classes that they intend on failing? if you want to pass the course, you have to study for the course, and therefore contribute to the “competition” within the course. even if the course is not curved, the professor will still pay attention to how everyone does on a midterm and adjust accordingly for the next exam. it’s stupid to think that only premeds “compete”/cares about their grade. </p>
<p>
did you not read the at least 3 posts above you? 99.99% of the time, curves will end up helping you. i have yet to take a course that actually “downcurved”. and fyi there are people who study and still fail</p>
<p>Whoa whoa! No need to get angry. Yes, I understand all students are competitive (how else would they be at UCLA?), but I’m just saying…pre-med students are especially stressed out, since there are so many of them. Thanks for the advice, geewowzers.</p>