<p>Hey Everyone,</p>
<p>Like many first-year students, I am bouncing back from one very rough first semester of college. I have decided to keep working until I get things right. Now to the question... What does it take to get a 100% in college courses? I am in science, and I am talking of REALLY brutal grading measures. Since it's early in the semester, I was thinking now would be the best time to ask this question... What does it REALLY take?</p>
<p>Thank You. :)</p>
<p>this is a stupid question for the audience you’re asking. Way too much variability among professors, courses, and colleges for anyone here to provide a meaningful answer.</p>
<p>I don’t know if it’s ‘stupid’ to ask, but as a teacher myself, I do not think I have ever given someone 100% across the board of an entire semester. It’s true as i<em>wanna</em>be_Brown says that it will vary among professors, classes, colleges, etcetera. What I would encourage is that you study each syllabus carefully, stay on top of all assignments, form study groups, find out if there is a tutoring center around on campus, and visit your teachers during office hours when you have questions so that you can get as close as possible to that ‘perfection’ you are searching for… good luck! :)</p>
<p>You may not even have to get 100% to get a perfect grade. At least at my university, 98% is the cut off for a 4.0.</p>
<p>As for actually achieving that… It’ll vary. You DEFINITELY have to go above and beyond your professor’s expectations. I had my first day of one of my 300-level writing courses this afternoon, and when I asked her what the percentage was to get a 4.0 (she just assigns numbers from a 0-4.0 scale), she paused and said “well, I don’t like percentages, but it has to be extraordinarily good.” So, I’ll be working my butt off this semester by doing the readings extremely thoroughly, taking meticulous notes, triple-checking my papers, and going to her office hours to make sure I’m understanding everything perfectly. I estimate this to take a definite 3 hours for every credit hour, but if perfection of the 4.0 is what you want, then you’ve gotta do what you gotta do. </p>
<p>But with this, IS it worth it to bust your chops to get “perfection”? Could I better use my neurotic studying time hanging out with friends and creating a social network? That’s part of the intricate balance of college, and you have to figure out what YOU want.</p>
<p>I’m scratching my head at OP’s mention of 100%. I don’t think I’ve taken any science or math class where anything near a 90% was required for an A. Scores just a bit above 80% on many tests will merit an A. In fact, in a math course I took recently, a 23% on one of the early tests was the cutoff for a B!
As this post indicates and as i<em>wanna</em>be_Brown mentioned, the variation between colleges and professors is such that no one can tell you what you’ll need to do to get high A’s, and the general sort of advice people can give you (go to office hours, do practice tests, complete the reading in good time for all your lectures) is all stuff that you already know. Ask upperclassmen at your own school if you want meaningful suggestions!</p>
<p>This may not be a stupid question but it certaintly is a foolish, misplaced one. Don’t ask us. Ask your professors. Look at your syllabus. WE can’t tell YOU what do in a class that we have NO knowledge in. </p>
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If that were one of my honor’s teachers class, she would’ve docked you down half a letter grade of your final grade for asking a question like that. Too many students focus on the number. The 100. The 4.0. In reality, they should be focusing on the quality of their work and presenting themselves in a way that demonstrates that they have grasped the material.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your comments and taking the time to read my post. Contrary to the image some of you may be getting about who I am as a student, I really value gaining a very high level of mastery of course material. So far, the grades I have been getting in college courses are very reflective of how much material I have learnt. As such, I did not think there would be anything wrong in aiming high and working toward gaining exceptional mastery of course material. When I posted this question on CC, I was aware that CC is a very knowledgable community and in fact I was expecting a wide range of perspectives on things that generally work.
@lawrencemom, I really thank you for your advice. This is the first time someone has told me to read the syllabus very carefully. You would imagine it is obvious, but the advice you get on campuses is sometimes too generic.
Why did I not ask my instructor this question? For reasons very similar to what Niquii hinted at, I am very careful about the image my instructors get of me as a student. If anything validates my thoughts, it would be the mixed nature of responses I got on this thread. The whole concept of people thinking that you care only about numbers and not the mastery of course material…</p>
<p>If the grade didn’t matter there wouldn’t be grades. Professors realize the grade matters and usually aren’t offended if you ask about grades.</p>
<p>In my experience, as a general rule, prerequisite classes (classes taken by many different majors, like Calc 1 or intro Econ) are usually curved to a B-, major classes (classes taken by everyone in a major) are usually curved to a B, and electives (classes taken by only some people in a major) are usually curved to a B+. So find out what the average is and compare your grade to the average.</p>
<p>I would approach it on an assignment by assignment basis. A professor who may have issues with a student asking how they can get a 4.0 shouldn’t have any with a student who scored an 85 on an exam/project/paper who asks how that piece of work could be improved. One of my nieces was struggling with a college class and debated dropping it because she thought she was going to fail. She ended up discussing it with her professor and, over the course of the semester, scheduled apointments to review exams and papers. She ended up making a “B” and felt the professor was generous giving her more than a “C.” What seemed to make a difference was not the desire to earn a better grade, but a real desire to understand the material he was teaching.</p>
<p>staymotivated: thanks for responding to all the posts and to me. You will do well because you are good at asking questions. I learned long ago from my favorite boss every that no question was ever ‘wrong’ or bad to ask. Keep asking. I, too, like some of the ideas people have given you. True, some teachers will give an icy reception, but not always. One loses nothing for asking, and hopefully gains a lot of knowledge.</p>
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<p>Exactly, that’s why I said
The question of what it takes to get 100% in a given course being asked to the professor teaching the course or the student who recently took the course is a fine question (although it should be phrased as "what does it take to succeed/do well since throwing the number in there makes it sound like that is the priority, not learning the material). Asking a bunch of internet strangers without specifying which professor of which class at which school is not a good question.</p>
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There was not be a “wrong” or “bad” question, but there certainly is a “wrong” or “bad” way to ask a question where your intentions and focus can be I’ll percieved. </p>
<p>Rather than asking what you need to do to get a certain grade in the class, ask what you candl to succeed in the class or how to improve your work in the class. This can easily be applied to the work world. You wouldn’t go to your boss and ask what you need to do to get a raise, you would ask them how to improve your work or how to contribute more to the company.</p>
<p>I don’t mean any disrespect, but what world do you live in? Because in my 4 years of university experience, I have never gotten a 100% in a class not do I know anyone who has gotten a 100% in a class. If you major in the sciences, you probably have a heavy math/science course load and I am telling you right now that you should get used to not having 100%s in everything.</p>
<p>In the most general sense, you should attend every class, go to office hours, study at least two weeks before an exam,etc. if you want to do well. Developing a good work ethic pays off.</p>
<p>Well, when you don’t have any standards to go by, it’s hard to know how “well” you need to do in a course. In my case, I didn’t have any numbers to go off, so I asked. Naturally, you start at the top.</p>
<p>I also asked about a 3.0 and a 2.0. I felt it was very valid to ask “So, what are your distinctions between a 4.0 and a 3.0” since it wasn’t elaborated on in her syllabus. I just mentioned the 4.0 since that’s what we were talking about. She also said a 3.0 meets her expectations, a 2.0 does the bare minimum to get by, a 1.0 does at least something, etc. </p>
<p>I too think it’s not always best to just admit that you’re chasing a grade. However, I do think we all deserve to know how we earn various grades, especially since the world is full of varying types of inflation or a lack of it. And if we aren’t given that information, we should be proactive to find out. </p>
<p>I once had a class where I got a 9/10 on our first little paper. After class, I walked into my professor’s office hours and asked “how do I make my 9 a 10?” She seemed to love this attitude and gave me some advice but really just assured that I would get there. IME, even though you’re searching for “perfection” or merely chasing a grade, this attitude can also spread to help you really learn and show how devoted and persistent you can be. Though it may seem superficial, wanting to be “the best” can show some serious commitment, and I don’t think this is always a bad thing. </p>
<p>But it definitely depends on how you handle it. If you just burst out “So how do I get an A” with a sort of cocky, entitled air about you, that’s a lot different than asking with a look of pure determination and ambition on your face.</p>
<p>Thank you so much everyone. I certainly have a clearer perspective on how to pose my questions to my professors. I will be meeting most if not all of my professors next week through office hours, and I will definitely be using all of your suggestions. I will keep asking questions lawrencemom. I have also learnt from many of the responses I got on this thread that carefully posing questions is the best way to get effective feedback.</p>
<p>Thank you once again, I really appreciate it.</p>