<p>Some adjust curves based on tests. I know a freshman seminar on homosexual statistics (?) had a hard homework so the professor curved the homework.</p>
<p>Still others in math curve the grades at the end of the semester.</p>
<p>Lastly, yes in an institution as wired as CMU, you definitely find your grades online. In fact, each professor (usually) uses blackboard dot com and you can check all your classes there from notes, to assignments, to syllabus, to grading, to current grades, to spreadsheets and etc. </p>
<p>Some professors don't update their blackboards as much though since then students don't go to class and merely print out notes.</p>
<p>My son just graduated. There's a main graduation ceremony, plus each individual degree you get has their own separate one. At one of his major's ceremony were about 60 grads and I can honestly say half of them graduated with honors. So don't worry about the grades, they seem to mark fairly, and grades seem to go up in higher level courses. Like Accepted said in the higher classes you often work in teams, so hopefully others pull their weight. Even if they don't when you present the project the prof can tell who did the work so you might get a better grade than people in your own group.</p>
<p>In my son's masters program everything was curved to a B+, so that was your average grade, and there are plusses and minuses in CMU grad school. CMU has some interesting undergrad/grad options for 5 years total spent at the school, and financial aid carries into year 5.</p>
<p>Congratulations for your son! You must be very proud.</p>
<p>Yea definitely don't worry about grades. I really don't do much work and I get by just fine (3.8). But of course freshman year is VERY easy. 80 was an A in my interp class and my other classes like intro to world history TOLD you what was on the final exam so if you wrote a good essay before then, you could rewrite it on the final and guarantee yourself an A. Stat was soo easy and so was math.</p>