<p>hi, i was talking to my aunt yesterday, her daughter used to go to penn. she did premed there, but switched majors from biology to something else cause she said the classes at penn grade the students based on a bell curve. which means that in a class, theres got to be someone who got a F, D, C, B, and A, with most people getting C's since thats the average on the bell curve. So if you put it that way, if you're put into a class of really smart premeds--say in organic chem--you may end up being the one who get the F since they compare your grade to everyone else's grades in the class. You can get a 86 and be considered a "D" because a majority of the smart class got 96, which would be equal to a "C". Can someone confirm this grading system at the college of arts and sciences, i'm planning to major in biochemstry for premed. Thanks.</p>
<p>also, my aunt said since Penn doesn't have a core curriculum requirement, people who go out of their field of major--let say if i'm premed and have been taking all science and math classes, then suddenly when im a sophomore i decide to take a business class at Wharton, then I would get a D or F in the class because my exam grade would be compared to students who's more expereinced in the business classes and who do a lot better. Or, if someone from the business major decide to take a chemistry class during her second semester, she would most likely fail and have it bring down her GPA because shes competing against a bunch of students who has taken loads of science classes. My aunt says this discourages students from taking classes not in their field of major. ANd if you decide to switch majors in your second year, your GPA would plummet because you've missed out on a whole year of experience in those classes and lag behind the other students...anyway, i'm scared of this grading system.</p>
<p>First of all, calm down. I can just see you there frantically typing in a constant stream of conscience.</p>
<p>I'm not to sure about the bell curve grading. I asked a similar question a while ago because I heard that only 30% of students are allowed to get As at Penn's classes.</p>
<p>You don't have to worry about the situation you described above (86 and getting a D) because there is almost never a downward curve. And the mean on a test is NOT considered to be the C (like you said above) it is considered to be a A or B.</p>
<p>Read "phillySASer08's response in this thread: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/469353-grading-policy.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/469353-grading-policy.html</a></p>
<p>It is very helpful.</p>
<p>And regarding your second post. Penn 100% most absolutely has a core curriculum. In fact, it is the very reason that you will graduate with a BA in Biochemistry and NOT a BS in Biochemistry. In Biochemistry you are required to fulfill 18 credits for the major. Of the other 18 required to graduate about 10 come from the different sectors in the core curriculum.</p>
<p>Take a look at this: Curriculum</a> 2010 and Later</p>
<p>It gives you the Sector requirements required for all Penn undergrads to graduate.</p>
<p>And as for taking classes among the colleges. I have no experience as I was accepted ED in December, but Penn promotes its "one university" concept. I've read MANY posts on line with people taking classes among the different colleges - it's one of the things that makes Penn so great.</p>
<p>You can most certainly take business classes, engineering classes, or whatever else without having to worry about fail. Yes, you will most likely have to work hard because others on the business track/engineering track might have more experience than you, but you're not going to fail if you work at it.</p>
<p>Plus, that classes that you'll be taking will most likely be on the 100 level. There are not many courses below the 100 level that would give business/engineering majors a leg up on you. It's not like you'll be taking 300 level courses where the other students will have had the 100 and 200 level prerequisites and have a huge advantage. I'm guessing you might want to take some 100 level courses in different majors because they interest you and you want to expand you scope of knowledge. This is precisely what Penn wants you to do. You'll have great opportunities to take many different classes - and you will not have to worry about failing them. It's only once you get up to the higher level courses that you would need a solid background from lower level courses. Plus, you wouldn't even be able to take these because you would have the prerequisites. So like I said, calm down. </p>
<p>I'm not trying to discredit your aunt but how long ago did her daughter go to Penn. A lot of things could have changed. She might be able to provide you with a great deal of valuable information, but don't take everything as if it were written in stone.</p>
<p>don't worry about grades. a similar curve system is in place at just about all schools of similar caliber that do not practice active grade inflation or deflation.</p>
<p>averages are set to a b or b- so that one standard deviation above is an a, while one below is a c.</p>
<p>i would have to ask why a liberal arts student would want to take random engineering classes for fun, but with respect to the one university concept, people take classes in all of the undergraduate schools without penalty for going outside their major.</p>
<p>for example i'm an engineer, but i've done well in wharton and liberal arts classes.</p>
<p>please read the current students' posts in the grading policy thread from before, including mine and phillysaser08's, for more detail.</p>
<p>hi, I heard that the classes at U Penn grade the students based on a bell curve. which means that in a class, there must be someone to get an F, D, C, B, and A, with most students getting the average B or C. I think curve is helpful when the test or class is too hard it will help to bring up the grade. Theoretically there can be another case, all the students are doing well, e.g., if the average is 95. Then is it possible to have student who get above 85 to get an C, or even a D? Or is there any case that a student who gets over 90 and still get a C or B???
Just curious on this grading policy. Thanks.</p>
<p>Ok, you all need to CALM DOWN. First, let me remind you that the grading differs greatly from class to class, professor to professor. My biology class gives ~5% D’s and ~5% A’s and the average is curved to somewhere between C and B, for example. My CIS class on the other hand curves median to B and curves to a skewed distribution so the class fails least amount of people possible. So it really depends on the class. It’s not something you can generalize.</p>
<p>Hey guys, geekorathletic is right. I think some of you are confused with what a “bell curve” or normalized distribution actually means… it does NOT mean that someone has to get an F,D,C,B, or A. Professors will normalize grades so that it’s easier to assign a score to a specific quantile (percentile)… how the grading scale breaks down is completely up to the professors.</p>
<p>That said, the Wharton curve is usually 30/50/20 (A/B/C) with an occasional fail if you don’t put any effort into the class. </p>
<p>Intro and intermediate science classes are usually like 25% A’s (not too sure how the rest of the grades B,C,D, or F breaks down).</p>
<p>A lot of classes are not graded on a curve tho; for example, healthcare management is graded on a percentage scale like most highschools (>96% = A+, >93%=A, etc.).</p>
<p>*geekorathletic, there is no biol class/class at Penn that only gives 5% A’s. I think your professor meant 5% A+s. </p>
<p>Intro biol classes are generally 20-25% A’s (something like 3% A+, 12% A, 5-10% A-)</p>
<p>Not necessarily true. It varies from year to year, class to class, etc. I could have been told the wrong number, I suppose, but my TA did say ~5% (maybe up to 10% if people did really well) A’s for our class.</p>
<p>Yea it varies from class to class… as in 20% As for a weak class and 25% As for a strong class… my source? A Professor, not a TA. </p>
<p>I can guarantee all of you that there is no class at Penn that gives only 5% A’s. </p>
<p>Plus, TA’s don’t assign grades; professors do.</p>
<p>Again, not necessarily true. </p>
<p>Hmm, let’s see. Words of my head TA who’s been teaching this course for years vs yours? I’ll take my TA’s words any day for this particular course. Funny thing is that this semester happens to be an anomaly, so perhaps that has something to do with it.</p>
<p>Plus, TA’s are the ones that grade exams most of the time, not professors. They are the ones that are going to be most familiar with the general curve of the class.</p>
<p>Okay. So how difficult is it to get good grades?</p>
<p>geek, I said that the professors “assign” the grades (A,B,C,D, etc). there’s a difference between “assigning” and “grading”. TAs do the grunt work (grading), and professors decide what the % break down is. THIS IS FACT. </p>
<p>plus, if you read my post, it is not “my word”; it is the word of my chem professor who has been teaching at Penn since 1971. All premed/intro science classes have the same grading policies.</p>
<p>why would the school put the power of deciding grade breakdowns in the hands of a TA that doesn’t even fully understand the material? the power is in the prof’s hands because they teach the same course every single year, whereas TAs usually only TA for a year or two… i don’t even know why I am arguing a non-argument. lol. </p>
<p>safetosay, if you get one standard deviation above the mean in any class at penn (~83 percentile) you are guaranteed an A</p>
<p>This worries me. I plan to apply Wharton ED, and if I do get in (don’t worry, I’m not deluding myself into thinking I’ll definitely get in; in fact, I know it’s extremely difficult!) I don’t want to suddenly start getting B’s and C’s. How hard is it to maintain all (or a majority of) A’s?</p>
<p>Unless Penn has changed something drastic in the last 7 years, the average graduating GPA is greater than 3.4. Don’t complain.</p>
<p>[University</a> of Pennsylvania](<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com/penn.html]University”>http://www.gradeinflation.com/penn.html)</p>
<p>It really depends on the major. Some majors (I think Communications is an example) seem to have higher GPAs. Within the college, the lower averages I think tend to be in more quantitative fields. However the average GPA of the engineering school is 2.7. I think the average for Wharton is probably slightly lower than in the college. I don’t know about nursing.
I am under the impression that premed classes give around 20-30% As. I have some friends taking orgo right now, and apparently that seems to be a pretty strict policy. However, if you think less about grades and more about mastering the material in the proper manner and enjoying the material, the grades will come. When I say “proper manner” I mean studying in an efficient way. This varies drastically from person to person so you can’t really completely know what will work until you get here. </p>
<p>Many classes are not curved though or are curved in a different way. Last semester, in math 114, the percentage of As in the class was determined by the percentage of As of the final. Everyone had been scoring really highly on the midterms, so when it came to the final, 60% of my section got As, so 60% of the class got As (Usually it’s only about 30% though)</p>
<p>Did you even read what I said? First of all, I never even said intro class. Hell, I’m not pre-med either. The courses I was referring to have nothing to do with those two discipline. </p>
<p>In other words, yes, your professor’s words might be true for those specific classes. But are they true for all classes? No, and that’s a fact. And even that 1 standard deviation above rule isn’t necessarily true either.</p>
<p>
That link says specifically CAS. Engineering’s average GPA hovers around 2.3 - 2.8. Wharton is no place to get super high GPA either.</p>
<p>The GreekNet site says All Undergrad Average: 3.422</p>