<p>@euve69: You can PM and I’m more than happy to talk to you about UAlbany.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what is so concerning about me asking about a grade curve. I’m not sure how my major has anything to do with that either. Could you maybe explain your concerns? If there is something I should know, please inform me. </p>
<p>I’m in no way saying that the curve is a bad thing. What I am saying is this: even though the class average was a 65% and I scored exactly the class average and I suppose this means I am doing okay, should I NOT be concerned? I mean, REGARDLESS of a grading curve, I still failed the exam. The majority of students failed the exam. The curve will put my grade at a B, but in terms of knowing the material, should I not be worried?</p>
<p>A 65% is a 65%. It is failing. I am wondering (even though it’s the average and I have a B, according to my professor) if maybe I should switch my major. Of course I do not expect to score the grades I did at my CC; I’m in my junior year and it’s supposedly the hardest year for accounting majors. But in terms of knowing the material, grading curve disregarded, how can you say that people who fail the exam, class average or not, are well prepared for that major?</p>
<p>I am not trying to argue, either. I’m just concerned with if this is the right major for me. On one side, I’m the average student; I should be okay. On the other side, I still failed the exam; should I not be worried?</p>
<p>I think this depends on a lot of different things.</p>
<p>Why did you get the grade that you did? You said that there were some ridiculous things that you lost points on. If you throw those out of the test, then what would your score be then? Did you miss points on little mistakes or math errors, or did you miss points because you fundamentally did not understand the material (and still don’t)? If there was something you didn’t understand on the test, do you understand it now? You said that other students thought the test was too long–do you agree? Did you run out of time on the test, making your score lower than what it could have been?</p>
<p>How are you doing in the rest of your classes? Is this a general trend or is it just this class that you’re doing poorly in (by your standards)? Not all classes are made equal. Some classes won’t be very important to your actual job. Some classes are overly difficult because of a poor teacher or bad textbook or a number of other factors. Some concepts will take more than a couple of weeks to learn. That’s okay. Just because you don’t get an A on one test doesn’t mean you have to change your choice of career. If you’re really struggling in all of your classes, then you might want to reconsider.</p>
<p>If you got a 65% because you fundamentally did not understand the material and you still don’t understand the material, then I would call that a warning sign. If you got a 65% because the test was overly difficult (as may be suggested by an average class grade of 65%) or you ran out of time or you made a number of silly errors that added up to a lot of points, then I wouldn’t worry about it. School exams are rarely reflective of the way things work in the real world. And it’s important to remember that just because you didn’t know something when you took the test doesn’t mean you can never know it. Your chance to learn the material doesn’t stop when you take the test. And it won’t stop when you graduate either.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I’ve had professors who wrote tests specifically with the goal of making the average a 50%. Students who not only knew their stuff but could apply it critically to complicated problems got over a 50%. Students who knew the material at an appropriate level got a 50%. Students who didn’t got below a 50%. It didn’t mean that the average student in the class only knew 50% of what they were expected to know at that point. It just meant that the test was written at a level above what they were expected to know.</p>
<p>If you’re really concerned, ask your professor about it. He may tell you that it was a really difficult exam. He may be able to give you advice for future exams or clarify points that you didn’t understand the first time.</p>
<p>A mathematical mind would intuitively grasp why grade curving of a non-standardized test makes sense. Granted that accounting doesn’t require much more than addition and subtraction and the occasional percentage/division/multiplication it still makes me wonder.</p>
<p>@baktrax, thanks for the reply. Being a transfer student from a community college is kind of difficult; adjusting to the way a 4 year university is a lot to take in at first. The part of the exam I struggled with was the multiple choice; the longhand portion was quite easy for me. So yes, there are many factors to take into consideration. Also, the professor is a little misleading. For example, when writing journal entries, we must include notes as to why we are making the entry. I lost points on this on our first exam; our professor never writes notes, they aren’t included in the powerpoint slide examples, etc. Yet I lost 5 points on my overall score for this one simple mistake.</p>
<p>Then on this recent exam we just took, he said we don’t have to include the notes. TOTALLY CONFUSING. Haha, and I like to think I understand accounting well! I am just not good with multiple choice; the longhand portion of accounting tests are cake for me!:)</p>
<p>@keesh17, I am not a statistician. So I am not sure why you think I should intuitively grasp the concept of grading curves. In accounting, we do not talk about bell curves or any of that kind of stuff. Do I understand what professors are doing by curving grades? Yes. Do I understand why? More than I did before I made this post. Really, I wanted to see if others who are in college/have graduated also have/had professors who curve grades. I was also concerned that if a low grade, class average or not, would be a signal for a change in major.</p>
<p>This is very common, and I find a lot of students feel this when they get to college level exams. Multiple choice questions can be tricky or complicated, and it’s much easier to be able to do free response questions where you have the opportunity to work through problems and show all your work or explain your reasoning. And doing poorly on the multiple choice questions really isn’t indicative at how good or poorly you’ll do at the actual job. Besides licensing exams or the GRE or whatever standardized test you may need to take in your future, there aren’t a lot of multiple choice exams in the real world.</p>
<p>My point is: relax. It’s fine. It’s normal. Lots of classes have low averages. Lots of professors curve. Students who get average scores on tests can still have long and successful careers. One exam in one class is not indicative of your entire future, especially since you seem to be right on par with the rest of your classmates.</p>
<p>So according to that a 65 is a D.
The thing that bothers me is when an unbalanced grading scale is used, creating more A’s but the same number of F’s. Give everyone 5% or don’t, but don’t make it harder to pass than get an even better grade.</p>
<p>If you are a new hire fresh from college then your employer does not expect you to know everything. You may or may not get any formal training. What will probably happen is that you will get low level assignment where you will be e learn as you go and then move on to more difficult work.</p>
<p>While a name brand school can open doors, it does not guarantee anything. So many things can factor into a hiring decision. The school name and GPA are one. However for the first job, your course load and the quality of work experience will also play a major role.</p>
<p>Do not lose sight of what your education is costing you. You do not want to be in the position of having to turn down a great job because you can afford to pay the student loans and still make a living. My wife has work for a big 6 accounting firm (now one of the big 4). The money was good but the cost of living in places like NYC and NJ was extremely high. In the beginning that nice salary does not go as far as you think. Also, a lot of your salary can be linked to the year end bonus.</p>
<p>Also working at a the big 4 can be brutal. From what my wife described, many of the positions are the up or out type. Basically at each level there are a set number of slots. If you don’t get promoted then you are out. This is an over simplified view but some of the jobs work that way. Some, like my wife. thrived under the pressure and some like myself would be road kill. </p>
<p>Euve69: Although Honor Colleges are used as a marketing tool, they are not all gimmicks. It all depends on the school. In my daughter’s case, it has made a significant difference in her college experience. I am not talking about the nicer dorms but better access to courses, professors and smaller classes stacked with the brightest kids (and the competition that comes with it) that the school has to offer. Her honor courses were taught in greater depth than the non-honor courses and had higher expectation in terms of work load and the quality of the work expected. Granted some of the aspects of the program were more hype than reality but overall it has made a significant difference. Also, a lot depends on how much the student takes advantage of the opportunities. The honors program can also vary widely depending on the major. For some majors at my daughter’s school, there are few honors courses.</p>
<p>Thanks noname. I think in general the honors program is a good idea for SOME students. You really have to know your child. Some kids get 93’s in high school and are bright, however, they may not be brilliant, or ultra competitive. A big issue for me is the major that the child is in. My son may want accounting. Now that is a hard major. Not like engineering or pre med, but it is up there.</p>
<p>Fast forward to grad school. If you get a 3.25 or a 3.5 in undergrad, you will get into a good grad school assuming everything else is decent. ie, gmat scores etc. Now, if you are in the honors program and you get a few c’s and the average goes to 2.95, or 2.85, what did we accomplish?? Trust me, the grad schools give no credence to these honors colleges. They look strictly at gpa and gmat as well as some extracurricular activities.</p>
<p>Also, can you imagine taking the 300 and 400 level accounting classes and on top of it writing a thesis?? To me, it is too much pressure to put on a child unless, they want it or are extremely bright not just bright.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, all that matters in accounting is getting that cpa, if that is what you want. All the honors mumbo jumbo is great if you do well. If not, it will be a GPA killer.</p>
<p>That said, I think it has alot of merit as well as nice benefits, but you really have to be careful not to get a bite in the butt by triying to bite off more than you can chew.</p>