<p>hows the grading curve at CMU?
is there any grade inflation?
would you say that CMU would be a bad choice for an engineering major
who is planning to go to med school?</p>
<p>I'd like to know this as well. I plan on going to med school. I know grading can be harsh in engineering and computer science, but what's it like for a psychology or biology major?</p>
<p>(I don't mean to hijack your thread. I just don't want to flood the forum with repetitive topics)</p>
<p>The professors I've had have only curved upwards, if need be. No such thing as "inflation"or "deflation." The professor's never say "30% of you will get A's." or anything like that. </p>
<p>Med Schools take into the account the fact that you majored in Engineering, they know it's harder than, say, biology.</p>
<p>Engineering is definitely not a bad choice for a major at CMU. In fact its what we are known for! </p>
<p>There are no grade deflation, just upward curves like Walden said. Things are all relative here as some ace bio courses while others ace comp sci courses.</p>
<p>Is the question whether the grades at CMU tend to be lower, particularly in engineering, than they might be at other schools? I assume from your question you might be worrying about getting grades that would be competitive when you apply to med school. If Bs are the norm, no matter how much you learn, you might be at a disadvantage against applicants from other schools.</p>
<p>If that is the case, note that what's being said here is that grades are normally curved up. That is, grades start low and profs compensate to get them up to normal levels. At that, there are alway some curve busters around.</p>
<p>The only other point I can offer is that from what I understand there are very, very, very few 4.0s graduating from the School of Computer Science. I assume the same in engineering. You have to decide for yourself how that factors into a med school application.</p>
<p>From my experience at CMU (granted I'm only a freshman), it can be difficult getting As, as we have an A,B,C,etc. system, as in no +/-. This can be good, since you get the same B for (let's say) and 80% as you do for 89, but teachers are then less likely to bump you up and it works the other way too; if you had scores relatively high in your grade range, that won't be reflected in your GPA, which can be rather frusterating. The interesting thing is that students continually vote for this system, it comes up every two years and hasn't been changed yet.</p>
<p>" but teachers are then less likely to bump you up"</p>
<p>I've found that my professors are very lenient in bumping people up, letting people go from 89.1's to 90's. </p>
<p>Students vote for this system because it allows you to try hard courses and get a B and likewise get an A at easy classes. This allows you to relocate time and resources to get a good GPA without spending MASSIVE time at hard classes stressing whether you get a B or a B- or a B+.</p>
<p>so no intermediates as well? A, AB, B, BC, etc?</p>
<p>Nope. I prefer this formula since I can still have free time even with super hard classes and getting a B in them (80) while still getting A's in easy classes (90).</p>
<p>are any of the classes graded on a bell curve or just have fixed cutoffs at 90, 80 and w/e.?</p>
<p>and by the way, intermediate grades suck!</p>
<p>Some have fixed cutoffs but most professors are willing to curve bad averages and medians to allow 88 for A's and etc.</p>
<p>does it result in better grades than with intermediates?</p>
<p>If you are smart and manage your resource (time) like I do, then yes. I had Econ with Klepper which was one of the hardest freshmen classes and I pulled off a B without too much work. If there were intermediates, I would've gotten the B-.</p>
<p>However the bad thing is that some people do not manage their time and think that they can hit 80 without going under. Then they take the final and get like 78 or something and get super ****ed because their C+ is just a C, same as another person's 70.</p>
<p>i'm assuming that professors, if they are going to curve it, will aim for C+/- class average. (?)</p>
<p>B avg. ...</p>
<p>Are the competitions brutal? or more of a cooperation--whatever that means to you.</p>
<p>Cooperation definitely. For upper level classes, you are even put into groups and encouraged to work together.</p>
<p>Many people work together and even share homeworks. I only got a friendly smile when I asked a complete stranger down on third floor if he would let me see what he got for a certain question on a homework that was due the next day.</p>
<p>ok. hmm interesting. does that translate into "cheating/sharing" allowed?</p>
<p>If you work on a homework together most professors prefer you put "worked with ..." on it so they don't have to worry when they come across two identical homeworks.</p>
<p>However if you do this a lot the professor may ask you to work individually on the next homework. This is the policy for 2 of my classes and the other 8 classes I've taken just allow open collaboration.</p>
<p>-do they constantly adjust the grade curve? or wait till the end of finals?
-do you get to find out your grades online?</p>