<p>We recently had a very nice tour of the college and really enjoyed it. The grading system was not discussed but later a friend of ours, who had done a tour a while back, mentioned the grading system for classes. She explained it something like this:</p>
<p>If the class takes a multiple choice test with 100 questions and 1 student doesn't miss any questions--they get an A. If the next 3 students each miss, say, 1 question, they all get the B. Say the next 3 kids miss 2 questions, they get the C....even though they would have scored a 97%. You could have kids who missed 6 questions ended with an F.</p>
<p>Is this true or did our friend misunderstand?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure your friend misunderstood. I’ve never seen any classes graded that way, and I can’t imagine any circumstance where that kind of grading would ever be acceptable. The average for most courses is designed fit the bell curve (within a reasonable margin) either pre-curve or post-curve. What one individual gets on a test is not dependent on what another individual gets, but rather, the curve (if there is one) is based on the pre-curve grades of everyone.</p>
<p>This is typical, in my experience. You get the pre-curve grade you deserve based on a ten-point grading scale (with a few +/- thrown in there), and then your grade may or may not be adjusted with a curve, depending on the pre-curve average. If the pre-curve average is, say, a B, then there probably won’t be a curve. If the pre-curve average is an F, there probably will be.</p>
<p>I assure you that W&M is not handing out F’s for students that score 95% on exams…</p>
<p>While I was at W&M, I was aware (and experienced) a few exams that were curved down, but those were pretty rare.</p>
<p>That said, the only exams I took that had multiple choice questions were low level psych and chem classes (and maybe econ). Most of my exams were essays.</p>
<p>No truth in that at all. There is no “grading system” if you mean an overarching system of grading for all classes. Each professor grades as she/he sees fit.</p>