<p>Curving is something that varies among colleges and among courses at colleges. UIUC as an example, a number of math, science, and engineering profs don’t curve except to do something like count an 89 or 88 as the lowest A- rather than a 90. Some have been heard to say that they won’t curve until everyone in the class scores a 90 or better on the test so then they can curve to make sure most of them get Cs. However, a number will curve particularly as you get to the higher levels although it is usually not that much and it seems less needed then. Nevertheless, in some of your weed-out courses (like the calculus based beginning 200 level physics courses) they generally expect to give out 25% or more D’s and F’s. In most courses, there is homework and quizzes which count toward you final grade and you can make that B in the course if you actually do all the homework and do well on the quizzes (which tend to be easier than the tests) even though you might test at the high C+ range.</p>