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Midterms suck. This should come as no surprise to anyone. However, certain grading systems in University of Michigan classes make the situation a hell of a lot worse. I’m writing this under the inspiration of a sociology class’ midterm score with an average of 65%. No curve, no mercy, and a straight scale (90=A- 80=B-, etc.) There were 7 scores out of 205 that exceeded 90, none over 94. This is much like a biology class last year where the first test average was a 62%. At least with biology you know they’re trying to clean out the Pre-med wannabes and have three other exams to let you catch up with, but a sociology class!?
When did “don’t worry, it’s only 25% of your grade” become a phrase of consolation? In both of these classes the teacher claimed that they take all the scores together at the end of the term and if there’s still disparity they may nudge a slight curve. Of course by that point all of the people who failed the test drop the class and the average magically rises, leaving those who stay screwed and curve-less. Graduate schools looking at your transcript can’t see that your B- was actually among the top 10% of your particular class. Is there some universal balance because there may be some classes that give A’s to 60% of students?
The current system at hand has students looking for classes with easy A’s rather than classes in which they might actually learn something. The system is flawed and needs to be changed. Until then, let me know some easy A classes for next year because I’m tired of this bullshit.
Been Screwed by the University Grading System? Yeah, Me too.

Midterms suck. This should come as no surprise to anyone. However, certain grading systems in University of Michigan classes make the situation a hell of a lot worse. I’m writing this under the inspiration of a sociology class’ midterm score with an average of 65%. No curve, no mercy, and a straight scale (90=A- 80=B-, etc.) There were 7 scores out of 205 that exceeded 90, none over 94. This is much like a biology class last year where the first test average was a 62%. At least with biology you know they’re trying to clean out the Pre-med wannabes and have three other exams to let you catch up with, but a sociology class!?
When did “don’t worry, it’s only 25% of your grade” become a phrase of consolation? In both of these classes the teacher claimed that they take all the scores together at the end of the term and if there’s still disparity they may nudge a slight curve. Of course by that point all of the people who failed the test drop the class and the average magically rises, leaving those who stay screwed and curve-less. Graduate schools looking at your transcript can’t see that your B- was actually among the top 10% of your particular class. Is there some universal balance because there may be some classes that give A’s to 60% of students?
The current system at hand has students looking for classes with easy A’s rather than classes in which they might actually learn something. The system is flawed and needs to be changed. Until then, let me know some easy A classes for next year because I’m tired of this bullshit.













Comments
Chapter 1: All classes should be curved.
Chapter 2: Setting the class average at a B- is a 2.7
Chapter 3: The curve should always help you. An 94 is never a B+
Chapter 4: Adopting the B-school grade inflation curve would make all our lives better. Until then, I hate them. Posted 02/21/2008 5:53 PMReply
But that just goes to show you there is little to no uniformity between disciplines which is a problem in it's own right. And you undergrads don't even know the half of it. There's so many subtle ways this school is screwing with your education. Posted 02/21/2008 8:21 PMReply
Sometimes curved grades works against you if you're in a class full of really really smart people. I got 75% which would have been a B or B+ in any class but I ended up getting a C+ cuz the average is insanely high. Posted 02/21/2008 9:11 PMReply
In a nut shell, you can't compare grades across disciplines or in situations like that, because an A in one major could be a C in another. It would be too difficult to make the grading system more equally distributed across disciplines, so we might as well all agree that it sucks and leave it alone. Posted 02/29/2008 10:35 AMReply
My freshman year I literally had one of the honors advisors look at my grades and say "Hey, you're really bright! Why on earth would you do the b-school when you can succeed in honors!" Needless to say I never talked to that advisor again, but its this kind of attitude from the vast majority of LS&A kids (not just the pre-meds or the hardcore science majors, I'm talking English majors and Psych majors) that has me upset with the current perception of the b-school. Posted 03/02/2008 12:06 AMReply
I think most of the hostility toward the b-school kids is due to the massive amount of free stuff and food that you get and the nicer facilities. Compared to the b-school, the MLB and Nat Sci are like prison. But back to the point... At least from my standpoint, I'm well aware of how difficult it is to get into the b-school and of their high standards. A great amount of my friends are in the b-school, too, and they are all incredibly motivated and bright. That being said, LSA kids are smart, too. You're going to find bad apples in both schools who talk smack, and from my experience, the ones who talk the most smack are the ones who really don't have a reason to. Anyway, U of M does a fine job of belittling us as is, so instead of everyone complaining about how easy another major is, we should just drop it because it's getting old. Posted 03/03/2008 3:56 PMReply