So, one of my maths professors said that around 77+ on the first midterm is an A, and 40 would be around the low end for a C (only on that particular test - 90+ is an A for the class). Is this a standard/normal curve for a maths class? Also, is there a standard method for (positively) adjusting high outliers?
It depends entirely on the exam, and the person writing the exam. Some professors write very exams that it would be difficult if not effectively impossible to get a perfect score on, in part to prevent ceiling effects on exam scores. (I fall into this camp, myself.) Others write exams with the express purpose that any student should, if they’ve worked reasonably hard and have the aptitude for it, ace the test. Others build exams somewhere in between.
Generally speaking, those of us who write “harder” (in the sense that the average scores are lower) exams apply some sort of curve. There is wide variation in the style of curving that is applied, however.
There is no better or worse approach, really, and I’d say that none of these could even be called “usual”—they’re just different ways of dealing with assessing student achievement.
@dfbdfb The test was by no means impossible (I earned all available points on it without the curve) although in my opinion it was much too long. Sadly I don’t know anything of the style of curving (ha, I’m majoring in stats) which was why I asked. Thanks!
Got it—totally misunderstood the question. (Normal is a horribly ambiguous word, you know?) Anyway, there are so many different ways to curve a score, that to answer these questions about that specific exam, you’d have to ask the professor what method they used.
@dfbdfb Well, I asked it badly. I was wondering if it is standard to use a bell curve and if so, if the mean should be a C, or a B, or a D (I’m guessing C). Also I’m unsure if professors tend to merely add so-and-so many points to all grades or have some nonlinear formula applied to grades. Thanks! I get that it varies 
Yeah, it’s pretty standard to use a normal curve (“bell curve”) as a grading curve. Lots of professors want the distribution of grades in their class to reflect normality. Whether the mean should be a B or a C is up to the professor, although I tend to think it shouldn’t be a D and should probably be closer to a B. It’s typically not a fixed number of points; it’s usually some regression equation that’s used to find the correct grade.