<p>Curving is something that varies among colleges and among courses at colleges. UIUC as an example, a number of math, science, and engineering profs don't curve except to do something like count an 89 or 88 as the lowest A- rather than a 90. Some have been heard to say that they won't curve until everyone in the class scores a 90 or better on the test so then they can curve to make sure most of them get Cs. However, a number will curve particularly as you get to the higher levels although it is usually not that much and it seems less needed then. Nevertheless, in some of your weed-out courses (like the calculus based beginning 200 level physics courses) they generally expect to give out 25% or more D's and F's. In most courses, there is homework and quizzes which count toward you final grade and you can make that B in the course if you actually do all the homework and do well on the quizzes (which tend to be easier than the tests) even though you might test at the high C+ range.</p>
<p>My most recent E&M Test had an average of 27 for the class, with the max score being a 58. Of course my 29 got me a low B. We'll see how tomorrow's test is...</p>
<p>Advice: In classes like these just stay around the average.</p>
<p>How far below the average would put you at below a C?</p>
<p>I've failed a class, but I think professors usually do the best they can to not fail you. Even in the intro classes that are supposed to be weeder, I think only 5-7% actually fail. Very few people fail in the upper level engineering classes, (especially graduate classes), you could get nasty C minuses tho.</p>
<p>That's very true that 5-7% actually fail in the intro classes; in some cases, about 7% get a D or F. Practically most people get Cs in the physics classes.</p>
<p>And, there are those weeding course deliberately taught in a way to failed certain amount of students....</p>
<p>"i see...so basically its based on how others do compared to u..."</p>
<p>For the most part. I went to Georgia Tech and this is absolutely how it worked. I had an emag class where the average for a test was 25, which was a C. It wasn't that the students didn't study, it's that they studied hard but the exam was just so crazy.</p>
<p>average about 50% sounds about right. It sometimes get up to the 60s% but that's it. You will rarely see 70% average in engineering. If you are slightly above average, that would be a B.</p>
<p>I'm at RU ECE. Avg for Linear Systems exam was 30%. The professor dont curve and 90% is considered A. Convolution is weird as hell. Typically Asian professors will be very hhhhard. I dont know what they teach those guys over there lol.</p>
<p>I have an extremely generous curve in the E&M course I teach.</p>
<p>Do professors purposely offer problem sets that don't prepare you appropriately for the test? I don't understand how a test can come off as "just so crazy" when students have (presumably) studied hard.</p>
<p>Do people normally do that bad in classical mechanics too? I did a bunch of the mechanics stuff in high school, but it was never this hard, and i've just been getting owned on the homework. The exam I got around the class average.</p>
<p>Class averages were exactly the same for both mechanics and e&m for us.</p>
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Do professors purposely offer problem sets that don't prepare you appropriately for the test? I don't understand how a test can come off as "just so crazy" when students have (presumably) studied hard.
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<p>There are tiers of difficulty for homework problems. It's often possible to find out during a test that there's a whole set of problems more difficult than you ever anticipated while you were studying. I remember my complex analysis class. Probably the hardest math class I've ever taken. The homeworks would kill me, but I could study them and understand what was going on and why we were doing each step. Then the midterm it. We were given three hours; I could have used twenty.</p>
<p>Yes some professors will give u exams completely out of phase with the homework. It's like the exam is in another dimension, lol. I dont think its wise to compare high school material with college. It's 100000x harder. Also, another problem is that there is less time in the exam.</p>
<p>"Do professors purposely offer problem sets that don't prepare you appropriately for the test? I don't understand how a test can come off as "just so crazy" when students have (presumably) studied hard."</p>
<p>We'll the tests aren't like the homework assignments they give you. They don't just give you the same questions with different numbers on the exam. Rather they expect you to know what they have taught you thus far and when you get to the exam they make you apply it. So you're prepared to some degree to answer the questions on the exam but they really want to test your "out of the box" thinking abilities...that's the real discouraging part. You can study your butt off, know everything really well, and come out of the exam with an avg or below avg grade...again this also goes back to competing for grades.</p>
<p>I completely agree with vblick. As college students, most of us are very very good at studying. Therefore, it serves no real purpose to simply test you on things just as they were taught to you. This will result in very high averages and make it difficult to measure the real aptitude of the class as a whole.</p>
<p>Many professors could care less about how well you learned something. They want to know how well you can apply it. For example, in programming, anyone can write a function, or a loop, or an if-else, or whatever else, and each of these can be independently taught and learned with little to no difficulty. The hard part though is synthesizing all of this to be able to write a program, or harder yet, a well-written and optimized program. That is what they will test you on.</p>
<p>And this is why nearly all tests in engineering are curved. On an absolute scale, most people would not pass... so essentially, to answer your question, grading is usually done relative to the other colleagues in your class. And this can suck because these tests actually measure how "smart" you are and not how "hard-working" you are. I've studied my butt off for some tests and done average, while a few others aced them with minimal studying.</p>
<p>My worst one so far was a test that had an average of about 30 points out of over 250 total points! This was a 3 hour final I rode the curve and managed to pass the class relatively unscathed.</p>
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Do professors purposely offer problem sets that don't prepare you appropriately for the test? I don't understand how a test can come off as "just so crazy" when students have (presumably) studied hard.
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<p>Some people are better prepared for college than others. Their preparation could literally be college - they may have taken some college classes, gone to college workshops, etc. Others may have taken AP classes in HS taught at colleges, or taught by professors.</p>
<p>This is why I think it's unfortunate that there isn't more discussion about how some of the very talented and prepared (who are not geniuses) are able to do well, so others can follow their example. Instead, people talk about trying to find easier majors, etc.</p>
<p>
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And this is why nearly all tests in engineering are curved. On an absolute scale, most people would not pass... so essentially, to answer your question, grading is usually done relative to the other colleagues in your class. And this can suck because these tests actually measure how "smart" you are and not how "hard-working" you are. I've studied my butt off for some tests and done average, while a few others aced them with minimal studying.
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<p>But the ones who aced the tests were probably well-prepared. They most likely had backgrounds that gave them the tools to excel in a highly competitive and challenging environment. The "hard work" has been taking place over their entire lives.</p>
<p>thats where engineering is different from other majors. Although, hard working is very important still you will most likely not pass the exam on a absolute basis. In other majors if you work your ass off you will do fine, but in engineering doesnt matter what you do it will still be hard to get good grades on absolute basis.</p>