Grading scales and number of questions on your exams

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Nov 8, 2012

Honestly? I'd worry a lot less about scales and percentages and GPA and what other people do. I'd pay more attention to the work. If you have any concerns at all about whether you are passing or doing acceptable work, run, do not walk, to your faculty. This is why they have office hours.

kht124 · Nov 8, 2012

50 questions with a curve (based on median scores, average scores and standard deviation). Passing is >75%. Although, the ones that are really passing would cry at anything

Stephalump · Nov 8, 2012

We have 50 questions with the typical grading scale. 70 = C, 80= B, 90= A.

ChrisMarie09 · Nov 8, 2012

50-60 questions

95&up A

93-94 A-

91-92 B+

87-90 B

85-86 B-

83-84 C+

79-82 C

We have to have a 79 overall grade at the end of the semester to pass. If it was 79% on all tests I think there would be maybe 4-5 people left in the program. Our school claimed that their reason for switching the scale over 2 years ago was "Every other respectable school has this scale...and it will better prepare you for the NCLEX." (the "respectable" part irritated the crap out of me...maybe because my original school was in the top 15 nursing schools and had a 75% = C = passing scale). The pass rate for our school on the NCLEX has actually gone down, not improved, since implementing the scale. It was supposed to help weed out those that wouldn't be able to pass the boards...clearly its not doing that.

tb0930 · Nov 8, 2012

Honestly? I'd worry a lot less about scales and percentages and GPA and what other people do. I'd pay more attention to the work. If you have any concerns at all about whether you are passing or doing acceptable work, run, do not walk, to your faculty. This is why they have office hours.

This is a program wide issue. I am in my last semester and we have 8+ people failing (8/27). These are people that I have become very close to and spent much of time with over these last few years. I am concerning myself with this. I am simply doing a little research before I talk to the dean. There is no reason that we should have made it this far just to fail out our last semester because the faculty changed the number of questions on our exams. I am advocating for my classmate and myself, something we are taught to do for our patients but rarely do for ourselves.

rubato, ASN, RN · Nov 9, 2012

100 questions, which makes it easy to calculate. 90-100=A, 80-89=B, 77.5-79.5=C, everything else failing.

Julesmama28 · Nov 9, 2012

We get 50 question tests. 93 and up is A, 83 and up is B, and you have to get 76 average on all exams or you flunk. Flunk two classes and you're out.

kaydensmom01 · Nov 9, 2012

30 questions. 75% is a C and anything below is failing. 93% is an A

NICU:) · Nov 9, 2012

50 questions. Average 75% on all tests to pass. Get a 74.9% average on all TESTS (not projects or participation or whatever else) and you fail the program.

metal_m0nk, BSN, RN · Nov 9, 2012

The number of questions on our tests varies widely. In this semester, we have had tests with 45 questions to tests with 75 questions. Although, we have only had one exam with 75 questions. The rest of our exams have been between 45 and 60 questions. They are graded according to the number of questions answered correctly out of the total and there is NO curve grading. Our finals are usually around 70-80 questions.

Our C grade cutoff is 78%. Must have 78% or above overall to successfully complete a course. Our overall grades are weighted - our unit exam scores are worth more than half of our overall grade, our final exams are worth one third of our overall grade, and our assignments are worth a tiny fraction of our overall grade.

So if we have 4 unit exams in a class and we bomb one exam - that single exam is worth 15% of our overall grade. If we bomb one exam and do just okay on another - those two exams are worth 30% or our overall grade. If we bomb one test, do just okay on another and don't do so well on the final - those three tests alone are worth 60% of our overall grade. And because the overall weight of our assignments is so nominal, we have to focus on our exam grades - they ultimately decide our fate. Of course, that doesn't stop the instructors from dishing out mountains of busy work for assignment points that may or may not actively prepare us for exams.

EuroRN · Nov 10, 2012

Believe it or not, you guys are not failing because you have less questions on exams (mathematically, the # of questions do not matter, the percentages however do).

the material in fourth semester is harder. I didn't even go to the best school in the state (NCLEX pass rates I believe determine what a great school it is) and we've had 30% of people fail 4th sem.

the fact that you guys are friends and "you have made it this far" will not be a strong enough reason in front of the Dean.

my school had greater or equal to 75% passing, in 4th we had 60 multiple choice and 30 fill-in just to answer your question.