<p>Alright, I took my first hard math class this quarter. I was pretty nervous about it. It's called Real Analysis. Anyways, he just posted the average grades. Before the final, the class average was a 68%. His grading scale works like this: C- 65%, B- 75%, A- 85%. After the final, the class average dropped to 60.3%. So, on average, people are failing the class since a C (68ish) is just barely passing to go on. Right at the beginning of this quarter, he basically told us in his opinion that this was the hardest class you'd take in the department, if not the entire school. I feel like if the average of the class is failing, he'd probably adjust his curve. What do you guys think? He definitely seems like the guy who cares deeply about people. He is a harsh grader, but that average is even with a point knocked off the final. I almost gave up as a math major when I was getting really low scores on the homework...I had like a 30% in the class at one point. Actually, before the midterm and the average was like 80 when I was at 30%. I've done okay on the midterm and final (B+/B-), but the class is just doing terrible on them. One kid actually gave up during the final and put his head on the desk for about an hour. He has two sections available for Real Analysis II, but now I doubt he'll be able to fill them since the other class is actually worse off. </p>
<p>Do you think he's just weeding out people? At my school so many people apply to the math major to get in, but then they drop it. I feel like they're having trouble retaining math majors. I can understand the need to separate the talent, but now I wonder exactly what will happen to these people. Some of them have already taken the class and this was their second time around. I did not try as hard as probably any of them unless you count a pack of monster on a weekend and my life in the Real Analysis book. So next quarter I will definitely be trying way harder, but I am just kind of like...wow. Do people just naturally plateau? Is it legitimate to only pass half the class?</p>