<p>The grading system at UCLA, at least according to my empirical evidence, is pretty much random. While there is a clear “guideline” that sort of stipulates that 10-15% of students get As, 20% get Bs, and the next 40% get Cs, this is not a rule.</p>
<p>For instance, I had two upper division econ classes in which the materials covered were apparently deemed too difficult for undergraduate students to grasp fully, the professors basically graded us based on the “graduate school” curve (30% gets A and the next 50% gets B).</p>
<p>The only class I had in which the grading system was based on the “absolute” numerical system (e.g. 90+ is A, 80-89 B, etc) was the introduction to stats class.</p>