How do you calculate your final grade (like: exams worth 70%, final worth 20%, etc.)?

NewStudent12 · 12-05-2008, 02:58 PM

Don't ask me how I am in college and taking diff equations and I don't know how to do this.... I'm having a brain fart. Thanks!

Chipmoney · 12-05-2008, 03:03 PM

It depends on the class

NewStudent12 · 12-05-2008, 03:09 PM

No, I mean I have the facts: exams worth 70%, final worth 20%, etc. I need to know how I plug in my averages and find my final grade.... LOL

Would you do (for example with the exams):

(exam average) X (percent of final grade) = points earned

and then add up all the points earned to get your final grade out of 100?

b@r!um · 12-05-2008, 03:15 PM

If you already have grades on each individual item, you would just weigh those grades accordingly, e.g.

B, B+ on two midterms, each worth 30% of the final grade
C on final, worth 40% of the final grade

0.3 * 3.0 + 0.3 * 3.3 + 0.4 * 2.0 = 2.69, which would probably round to a 2.7 = B-

If your grades are just on a percentage scale, you would do the same, except that your final result would only be a percentage and it would be up to the professor to decide where the cutoff for each grade is.

80%, 85% on midterms, each worth 30%
70% on final, worth 40%

0.3*80% + 0.3*85% + 0.4 * 70% = .... You do the math

NewStudent12 · 12-05-2008, 03:18 PM

Got it!! I need a 76% or above on my chem final to get a 95% overall (an A). Good, now I'm not stressin'.....

specify · 12-05-2008, 04:16 PM

I don't do it Barium's way so here's an alternative:

Lets say you have 2 exams worth 35% each (exams total worth at 70% like you said). The first exam you got a 70% and the second you got a 82%.

70% of 35 is 24.5 and 82% of 35 is 28.29
So right now you have attained 52.79 instead of the max 70% the exams are worth.

30+70 is 100% of your grade, 30 + 52.79 is 82.79. This means if you got a 100 on the final (the entire 30% it's worth), you would only be able to get an 82.79 in the class.

For example if you want to know what grade you want to keep a B (an 80), it would be a 27.21 (because 27.21 + 52.79 = 80) out of the 30% the final is worth or a "90.7%" on the final.

NewStudent12 · 12-05-2008, 04:21 PM

^ Specify, that is EXACTLY how I ended up doing it!!

Great minds think alike...!

leah377 · 12-05-2008, 04:50 PM

i would average out my test grades and multiply that number by 0.7, multiply my final exam grade by 0.2 and add the two numbers together. that'll give you your percentage (assuming somewhere you account for the missing 10%, the grade for which you'd multiply by 0.1 and add to the total).

i find that simpler than what specify did, but then again i'm a journalism major

NewStudent12 · 12-05-2008, 04:52 PM

leah, your way would tell you what 70% OF YOUR EXAM average is, not that your exam average is worth 70% of your overall grade....

Johnson181 · 12-05-2008, 05:03 PM

NewStudent- Leah did it correctly....

BP-TheGuy88 · 12-05-2008, 06:34 PM

b@r!um and specify did it correctly. what leah377 did works too in this case. though you can't always take totals like that and add multiply by the same percentage if the grades are worth different percentages.

it's all weighted average.

whether your professor converts straight from letter grade to grade points OR from percentages to letter grade or whatever mix, you still end up with the same result.

So for example say a class has the following grading policy:
30% midterm, 30% final, and 40% project

you end up getting an 80 on the midterm, a 90 on the final and a 85 on the project.

(80*.30) + (90*.30) + (85*.40) = 85 avg = B

OR

you end up getting an B- on the midterm, a A- on the final and a B on the project. convert the letter grades into grade points. B- = 2.7; A- = 3.7; B = 3.0.

(2.7*.30) + (3.7*.30) + (3.0*.40) = 3.12 which would fall under B since you have to round off to the closest letter grade. If the professor is nice enough he might give you the B+, but for statistical purposes that's how it's done.

every professor has their style of grading. some are more generous with their grading than you think. others also grade on a curve. so none of this may even apply to you.

augustuscaesar · 12-07-2008, 01:00 PM

Algorithim:

(%)1(weight)+(%)2(weight)+...+(%)n(weight).

numbers and n are subscript. n is the number of "categories". ie. if you have assignments, tests, pop quizzes, finals, and midterms. n=5

Just curious, how come your final is worth only 20%? What are the other "exams" like?

Student-Stressed · 12-16-2008, 07:20 PM

i have i think an 80% or a little bigger, for the sack of this lets just say 80%. my final is 20% of my grade. What would i have to get in order to get a 69.5% overall in my class? i am a horrible math student, and giving me equations isn't helpful so could you please just post the %. Thanks

BP-TheGuy88 · 12-16-2008, 08:10 PM

not sure i follow. your final is 20% of your final grade. you want to know what you need to get on your final in order to get a 69.5% on your final grade?

i don't know if the 80% is the rest of your grade before the final, but assuming that's the case, then basically you're saying you've gotten 80% of the 100% that you can possibly get up to this point which basically means even if you fail the final you'll still pass with an 80%.

again you might want to state the exact scores you have and how much they are equal or weighted.

maea · 12-16-2008, 08:59 PM

Ok, they have an 80% as 80% of their grade. The equation:

.8*80+.2*(final_percent)=69.5

final_percent = 27.5

If you have an 80% in the class thus far and the final is worth 20%, then you only need to get a 27.5% on your final to get a 69.5% in the class.