<p>Can someone please explain to me the grading system at Penn? I read something about curved grades? I think it differs with each school, so I am particularly interested in the CAS. I plan on majoring in biochemistry, if that is necessary to know.</p>
<p>for introductory sciences, classes are curved to a C+/B-. depending on your professor, class exam averages will range from (in my experience) 50s to 80s. for chemistry dep’ts, that curve will follow you in gen chem, orgo, and from what ive heard the first semester of physical chemistry. biochem also requires the 3 semester series of biological chemistry (CHEM 251, 451, 452). From what I’ve seen, 251 is pretty difficult as well. in general chemistry classes are among the most difficult in CAS, but that depends on your strengths as well. but on the whole, you get back what you put into the course. if you love the stuff and study study study, you’ll find yourself very pleased with the results.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply! It is really helpful and specific, but does that mean that the highest grades tend to be in the 80s (and lowest in the 50s), therefore are “assigned” to an A (and F, respectively)?</p>
<p>the chem department (from my experience again) grades on a bell curve. for exams, youre told the mean, the median, and the standard deviation. to be sure of an A, you’ll have to be above the first standard deviation in most cases, although depending on where the mean falls, that could all change. usually if youre well above the mean, although not necessarily a standard deviation above, you’re in good shape considering the mean will ROUGHLY correspond to a C+/B-. Of course, the professor has the final say, and if somehow he/she knows you’ve been trying and participating and etc, he may give you a little bump. the department isn’t harsh in grading for nothing, but because several of the courses are pre-med courses, it may seem that there is a tendency to grade tougher in order to “weed” less-devoted students out. but typically biochemistry/chemistry majors aren’t pre-med and are more into research/leading to a phd. so for that latter reason, the grading eases up after gen chem/orgo/parts of p chem. but take this with a grain of salt, this is only one person’s experience</p>
<p>what about for Biology in CAS??</p>
<p>any class full of pre-meds won’t be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but like i said, you get back what you put into it. intro to bio (biol 101) is very much based in memorization. so if you take the time, then sure, you could do well. it’s not like nobody gets As/A-s. Based on the professor, about 15-20% (more so 15%) get them. it’s about working as hard as you want to work and comprehensive understanding. that being said, not everybody is naturally gifted in the sciences. hundreds of kids start out thinking theyll be pre-med or major in sciences, but after a few semesters, they either realize that they’re just not that good at it comparatively, OR that they are extremely passionate about something else.
ALSO, bio is much more pre-med friendly than the chem dep’t is, and the classes do get “easier” as you move past the intro sections. but “easier” is a VERY relative term. ignoring all of this, when you get to penn, most people really get over the whole GPA stress thing. some don’t, but id say the majority just dont worry like they did in high school.</p>
<p>^makes sense. any idea what the average gpa is for the Biology major though?</p>