Plus/Minus Grading

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

<p>What does Columbia's course grading system look like? Is it plus/minus-grading all the way down (therefore making it at least theoretically possible—if wholly improbable—to graduate with a 4.3) or are there special ramifications, like plus/minus except for A pluses and D/F pluses and minuses?</p>

<p>Also, does anyone have opinions on the plus/minus system as compared to the rounding system? I know some students like plus/minus because it grants them the difference between a 3.3 and a 3.0, whereas others like myself get nervous around it as it also differentiates between high As and low As, making it that much harder to get a 4.0.</p>

<p>I understand that 92% won't cut it in class for me at Columbia the way they have at my community college (for many reasons), but I wonder exactly what system CU goes by, if any at all, or do the professors each have their own scale?</p>

<p>Thank you in advance for helping with this, and I hope it's not a stupid or silly question.</p>

2

<p>It’s a 4.3 system. Wasn’t able to find out much more on my own.</p>

3

<p>which other major university uses 4.3 system instead of 4.0?</p>

4

<p>It’s a 4.33 system as said before. This means that there’s a huge amount of grade inflation in CC and to a lesser extent SEAS, since there’s an incentive to grade in 1/3 letter grade increments. Instead of average at A to B, the average in CC is at B+/A-. A’s aren’t that difficult in the college.</p>

5

<p>A recent write-up in the Spectator:</p>

<p>[The</a> road to a new A+ policy](<a href=“http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2010/10/04/road-new-policy-runs-through-committee-you-ve-never-heard]The”>http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2010/10/04/road-new-policy-runs-through-committee-you-ve-never-heard)</p>