how does the grading system work at your college?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hello all,

I just wanted to know if the grading system at my college is "standard" or if they differ from school to school. Grades are based on a 10 point scale, eg. 100-90 is an A, 89-80 is a B, etc. When the professors report the grade to the college to calculate GPA, they only report the letter grade, not the number grade. So the GPA is calculated as 4.0 for A, 3.0 for B, etc. Is this normal? It's kind of frustrating to me because if I get an 89.9 in a class, it will be a 3.0... the same if I had gotten an 80.... so do all schools report this way?

That's pretty standard. My school actually uses a +/- system so an A is a 4.0, an A- is a 3.7, B+ is a 3.3, B is a 3.0, etc. The standard guidelines for the cutoffs are something like 93% and above is an A, 90-92% is an A- but I have found that each professor has their own cut-offs if the even adhere to the +/- system at all. Many of them hate it and when it was originally proposed, the student body voted against it. From what I understand, the +/- system is becoming, if it isn't already, the norm.

When I received my first degree, my school used the same grading system you described. In a situation in which you have a high B, for example, it's nice to have the system that my current school uses because it distinguishes your grade from a low B. I personally hate having such a small window for an A/4.0, especially in difficult science classes!

Specializes in School Nursing.

See- I hate seeing that "-" sign, so I love the standard A, B, C system. Yeah, it sucks when you're at the top end of a letter grade.. but it's nice if you're at the low end.. :)

The community college that I am currently attending uses the 100 point scale, with 60 = D, 70 = C, 80 = B, and 90 = A. I prefer the +/- system, because it is a more accurate depiction of a student's grades.

It does suck to miss the higher grade by .1%. However, there were probably many opportunities to obtain that .1% through receiving an extra point or two on exams, labs, etc.

Mine is the same as yours. I like it because I'm aiming for 4.0s not As.

I do the best I can anyay, but it sure is more comfortable needing 90% than 93% or 95% or whatever.

Specializes in CNA.
It's kind of frustrating to me because if I get an 89.9 in a class, it will be a 3.0... the same if I had gotten an 80.... so do all schools report this way?

Yep, thats the way the ball bounces. Wait until you get into nursing school, where you will dream longingly of the grading scale you currently despise.

That's were 92.9 is a B and 76.9 is a frickin' D - As in Don't pass Go, Don't collect $200 or a Nursing degree.

My current undergrad college (non-nursing) does it by this scale:

A+Excellent4.0

AExcellent4.0

A–Excellent3.7

B+Good3.3

BGood3.0

B–Good2.7

C+Satisfactory2.3

CSatisfactory2.0

C–Satisfactory1.7

D+Passing1.3

DPassing1.0

FFailure0.0

I'm not sure what our nursing school does though... I should ask someone.

Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

My school is a bit different and the points are A =4.0 A- = 3.66 B+=3.5 B=3.0 B- =2.7 C+=2.5 C=2.0 and so on

100-95 A

94-90 A-

89-87 B+

86-85 B

84-80 B-

79-77 C+

76-75 C

74-70 C-

69-67 D+

66-65 D

64 and lower F

I rather get 4 points for a 90.0 then 3.3 points for an 89.9. I am very glad my school has no +/-, its 3% easier to get a 4.0

Specializes in LTC, Med-surg.

Rutgers University's grading scale

A (90-100) = 4.0

B+ = 3.5

B = 3.0

C+ = 2.5

C = 2.0

I don't know what the B+ range is..

Specializes in School Nursing.
Rutgers University's grading scale

A (90-100) = 4.0

B+ = 3.5

B = 3.0

C+ = 2.5

C = 2.0

I don't know what the B+ range is..

I like this scale. It seems more 'student' friendly. :)

The university where I did my undergraduate degree and the community college I'm planning to do my associate's in nursing have completely different grading scales.

At my old school, and A was 80-100, B was 70-80, C was 60-70. At my new school A is 90-100, B is 80-90, C is 70-80.

The grading scale seems to make sense, because from what I can tell so far, it's been pretty easy for me to get 95-100% on exams at my community college. At my old school if I studied equally hard I'd probably get an 85-90%. The only annoying thing is with such a small room for error, if I make a couple of mistakes on an exam then I might get a B. I hate when the exams don't have many questions, it makes it so much more stressful because I feel like I have to get every question right to get an A!

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