Grading Scales

shygoofyone · Apr 6, 2009

Our nusing program scale is different from the rest of the college.

90-100 A

83-89 B

75-82 C

cursedandblessed · Apr 6, 2009

wow i guess we're lucky. (not that i'd be satisfied with a 71)

a=91-100

b=81-91

c=72-80

below a 72 you fail

state funded community college adn program

krltdy · Apr 6, 2009

i haven't started yet, but this is what is says in our school catalog:yeah::

90-100 a 4.0

80-89 b 3.0

70-79 c 2.0

i hope the information is current! :d:d:d

missjennmb · Apr 6, 2009

i haven't started yet, but this is what is says in our school catalog:yeah::
90-100 a 4.0
80-89 b 3.0
70-79 c 2.0
i hope the information is current! :d:d:d

unless your school is just a nursing school, i would not count on this. nursing programs sometimes have their own set of grade guidelines.

in my school its even teacher specific (which i think is totally bs). in a math class i took, it was 70-79 c, 80-89 b, 90-100 a, then in my anatomy class, the lowest c is a 74 (i dont remember the rest of his grades).

in nursing class, ours goes like this:

94-100 a

87-93 b

80-86 c

we have had people fail with a 79.5 as well because they dont round up.

krltdy · Apr 6, 2009

The school I will be attending is just a nursing school. I just emailed a current student to find out whether or not the info is current. I can't believe it's so low. My grading scale in high school wasn't nearly this low.

TheSquire, DNP, APRN, NP · Apr 6, 2009

Unless your school is just a nursing school, I would not count on this. Nursing programs sometimes have their own set of grade guidelines.
In my school its even teacher specific (which I think is totally bs). In a math class I took, it was 70-79 C, 80-89 B, 90-100 A, then in my anatomy class, the lowest C is a 74 (I dont remember the rest of his grades).

It's not really BS. My undergrad (a large public research university) did this as well, and actually it removes some of the BS of imposed grading scales - namely, that whatever the percentages are set at, an instructor knows how to set up exams and grading policies to generate the grade distributions they want. Letting units or individual professors set the grading scale merely acknowledges this to be the case. If/when you ever take organic chemistry, you'll be very, very thankful that orgo is traditionally graded on the curve, and not by set percentages.

missjennmb · Apr 6, 2009

It's not really BS. My undergrad (a large public research university) did this as well, and actually it removes some of the BS of imposed grading scales - namely, that whatever the percentages are set at, an instructor knows how to set up exams and grading policies to generate the grade distributions they want. Letting units or individual professors set the grading scale merely acknowledges this to be the case. If/when you ever take organic chemistry, you'll be very, very thankful that orgo is traditionally graded on the curve, and not by set percentages.

So you think its fine that an 80 can get you a 3.0 in one class and a 2.0 in another? Sorry but when everyone walks away judged on their GPA (I cannot get into my master's program w/out a 3.0 for instance) the grading scales should be the same.

Two teachers teaching the SAME math class from the SAME book, have different grading scales for their classes. You can say whatever you want but its still crap. How do I explain to an admissions counselor that I should be accepted with my 85 C and that it should not count as a C because the next girl trying to get into the program had an 81 and it counted as a B???? Oh wait, your transcripts don't mention number grades.... So the girl with an 81 in a class looks better than the girl with an 85, just because of her undisclosed grading scale. Sure teachers can adjust their lessons to manipulate to a point. I'm not stupid and I have had tough classes before (so pls dont talk down to me with "when you have done what I have done you will know" commentary).

If everyone is accepted somewhere based on the SAME scale, then everyone walking in the door should have been graded with that SAME scale.

krltdy · Apr 6, 2009

:yeah: :yeah: :yeah: :yeah::yeah:woo hoooo! the scale is up to date!!!!! :yeah: :yeah: :yeah: :yeah: :yeah:

TheSquire, DNP, APRN, NP · Apr 6, 2009

So you think its fine that an 80 can get you a 3.0 in one class and a 2.0 in another? Sorry but when everyone walks away judged on their GPA (I cannot get into my master's program w/out a 3.0 for instance) the grading scales should be the same.
Two teachers teaching the SAME math class from the SAME book, have different grading scales for their classes. You can say whatever you want but its still crap. How do I explain to an admissions counselor that I should be accepted with my 85 C and that it should not count as a C because the next girl trying to get into the program had an 81 and it counted as a B???? Oh wait, your transcripts don't mention number grades.... So the girl with an 81 in a class looks better than the girl with an 85, just because of her undisclosed grading scale. Sure teachers can adjust their lessons to manipulate to a point. I'm not stupid and I have had tough classes before (so pls dont talk down to me with "when you have done what I have done you will know" commentary).
If everyone is accepted somewhere based on the SAME scale, then everyone walking in the door should have been graded with that SAME scale.

I spoke as I did because it is increasingly apparent that you have not yet come to terms with the capriciousness of undergraduate education, where it's all a matter of jumping through the professors' hoops to get the grades you want. Grading scales and the methods used to determine grades are (or, at least, are supposed to be everywhere I've been) disclosed at the beginning of term in the course syllabus, so the target grades should be no mystery. In your possibly hypothetical situation, the way you explain it to an admissions counselor is to give/send them copies of both instructors' syllabi along with a polite letter explaining the situation. Whether or not they accept your argument is up to them, but this would be how you would go about it.

As to whether I think it's fine or not, I don't know, I do not know enough particulars about the situation. If the instructors use their own exams and grade them more strictly/leniently than each other as appropriate to their chosen grading scales, then I see no problem in their having different scales. x amount of total work done for one professor may result in y grade, while for another professor it frequently may result in a grade of z, which will scale differently and thus require a different grading scale. It's this one concept that seems to be throwing you for a loop, as you appear to expect a consistent relationship between the amount of work done and the percentage grade received for that work.

Now, if they're using the exact same exams and have the exact same strictness in grading, however rare and unlikely that may be, there may be an issue and you would have two courses of action. You could A) go to the mathematics department chair, again with copies of both syllabi, and explain how unfair the situation is. However, she or he is likely to tell you to B) suck it up and deal with it, since you should have the grading policies for any class given to you at the start of term. This is an especially likely response from a math department chair, as it is a matter of junior high/high school level mathematics to find out what grades you need to get in order to receive the final grade you want. For the majority of us who are not mathematical prodigies, proficiency in mathematics comes only through repetition, and based on the results of your target grade calculation, you should be able to figure out how much more homework and other problem sets you need to reach the level of proficiency needed to get your desired grade.

RN2BE1210 · Apr 6, 2009

:yeah::yeah::yeah:woo hoooo! the scale is up to date!!!!!:yeah::yeah:

i'm transferring to your school! :wink2: jk!

Pack RN · Apr 6, 2009

DarkRainy - that's the main reason I started this thread. It seems that, for example, an 85 would be considered a C in my (your) program, but a B in a good number of other programs...nursing courses only.

How will that be viewed when we're trying to pursue advanced degrees? It certainly doesn't look like a level playing field.

TheSquire, DNP, APRN, NP · Apr 6, 2009

The letter grades given to you by your school are supposedly equivalent to those at other schools as long as all the schools being compared are properly accredited. It's those letter grades that matter, not the percentages that come out. Different exams, different exam types, and different levels of strictness in grading produce different percentage grades, which are by nature not equivalent.

That said, I and many other people at my school grumbled at the classes we took, worked our tails off for, and received grades of A- and B+ for, when for equivalent class at any dinky community college all we would have had to do was walk in, wipe the assignments/exams on our behinds, turn them in, and receive grades of 100 on everything.

The discrepancies in grading that remain after the accrediting agencies come through is the reason that schools pay attention to standardized tests like the GRE - as they are standard for everyone. (If you want to feel better about the grades, go find the threads here and in the Graduate Nursing Student forum on "I have a fantastic GPA but keep bombing the GRE.") Depending on the program you go into, standardized testing scores may be emphasized more or less, though most likely more if you're coming from someplace they've never heard of.