<p>Hi! I just got accepted to USC for Marshall in the fall from an appeal, and I'm trying to decide whether I should attend USC or stay with where I'm currently enrolled at Cal Poly (also in Business Administration.) Marshall is ranked higher and more "prestigious" than Orfalea, but I've heard the grading curve is brutal and can bring down GPAs a lot, which can hurt my chances of continuing on to a grad school of choice. I've also heard that Cal Poly is able to prepare you well for grad school because of the learn-by-doing philosophy. I'm not totally sure that I want to go on to grad school but I'd like to keep my options open and I would love to have more information on the Marshall curve - how difficult is it? Do a lot of students flunk out?</p>
<p>All marshall classes are curved to a B - meaning the class average, whatever it is, is a B. What you get in the class depends on how you do relative to your peers - If the class as a whole scores consistently in the same grade range, the curve will hurt you by making it harder to get an A since you are so close relative to your peers… however, if you are an outlier and do exceptionally well relatively, it’ll be easier to get an A. Because of this curve, even if you get 50% on an exam, that’s all right if the class average is lower than that.</p>
<p>Honestly, as a Marshall student I have been very satisfied with the career opportunities available to USC students - The Trojan Network IS real, and the career center is down to help out with any questions you might have.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that it’s pretty hard to flunk out at Marshall - you’d have to really not care about your grades to let that happen imo.</p>
<p>Are you satisfied overall with your experience at Marshall? How do they teach you in class - do you learn theory, or mostly memorization, or something else?</p>
<p>I’m pretty satisfied so far - it varies from class to class on the teaching method. For classes like Leading Organizations and stuff, it was mainly memorization of theoretical things, but for others like Accounting it was stuff you could actually utilize.</p>
<p>It also varies from professor to professor, so it’s not too hard to find a section that has the teaching method you want.</p>