Is this average class score in Patho normal?

Hello,

I am not in nursing school but have a few friends that are...and this sounds about right....

We needed an 83 and were told there was an 85% fail rate. 50% dropped out to get a different instructor. Those of us who made it were surprised at our grades. Turned out that if we did all weekly papers, research papers, asked questions, he was grading us on our overall participation, effort and grades. I got a B+ and as far as I know didn't pass a test unless he dropped questions. Figure that out????

That is about right. In our Patho class, it is an average of 75% on ALL your tests. In our class, we don't get anything to help our grades at all. No papers to write, nothing. We do have pre-class quizes that are worth 5 points, but they only factor into your grade if your average tests combined are 75% or higher. So, if you had a 74% combined average, the quizes don't help you and you fail. We had our first Patho test last week, luckily I ended up with an 82%, but there was some who didnt pass. Not to mention the test are only 50 questions and worth 50 points. Not alot of room for error.

What I am finding with Patho is that it is paying attention to the manifestiations of the diseases to determine the right answer. Also, a lot of critical thinking and plain common sense.