<p>I don’t know if this question has already been asked before. Obviously, grades depend on how hard you work and what you are majoring in. Besides that though, in general, there are certain colleges that are stingier with their A’s. How is UVA in comparison with other schools? I saw a list where UC Berkley ranked schools by how hard it is to receive A’s. The hardest was Swarthmore. UVA was 18 on the list. Schools like Colgate, JHU, Wesleyan, and Bates came before it. Amherst and Reed came directly after UVA. Is this list accurate?</p>
<p>check <a href=“http://www.thecourseforum.com%5B/url%5D”>www.thecourseforum.com</a> They have pie charts of grade distributions for a lot of classes from previous years. But to access the information, you need a UVa e-mail. (meaning @virginia.edu)</p>
<p>@ kit12134</p>
<p>can u post a link to that list? i’m kinda intersted in it</p>
<p>It really depends on what classes you’re taking… but I would say you have to work your butt off to get A’s.</p>
<p>I agree with barboza, A’s are not easy to come by and it’s very possible to work your butt off and still not get an A. Some of the larger pre-med sorts of classes can be downright treacherous.</p>
<p>“I would say you have to work your butt off to get A’s”</p>
<p>You also have to be among the smartest in the class.</p>
<p>Even if you’re good at math and sciences don’t underestimate how good your classmates are also in pre-med classes… I was the best student in regular physics and AP Calc BC for that year in my school and I could barely pull an A- on PHYS201 and a B- on MATH351, but I admitted that I didn’t know what I was doing in my first year.</p>
<p>Really, like the curve in UVA isn’t generous and you’re competing with students who were at the top of their hs. I’d say if you stay on top on every hw, test, quiz and participation, then you should pull off no lower than a B.</p>
<p>A’s at UVA— Let me just tell you that my ego was soo badly bruised by that school during my first semester. I received no A’s-- all B’s. So in short, it is totally possible to work your butt off and still pull a B. It happens to the best of us. Sometimes I think that school is purposely out to get everyone. It is all politics of course. The lower the A’s the better the school looks. But that only applies if people are not failing or receiving C’s. B is average. If you have a B consider yourself in the middle of your class. The majority of my classmates received B’s. And my friends who always received A’s knew a few tricks aside from working their butts off:</p>
<p>1- if your class holds a discussion section- attend regularly and get in good with your TA- they will grade all your papers, tests…etc That almost always helps. </p>
<p>2- Always find time to go to office hours for either your Prof or TA…that could be the difference between a B+ and an A-. I am not saying to go every week but if they know who you are then it makes a world of difference. </p>
<p>3- you need to know how to weed through the COD…aka the “sis” in order to find the easy A’s. They do exist. Soc and anthropology are typically easier A’s. Most of the jocks choose either Soc or Anthro as their majors.</p>
<p>If I were you I would make friends with some of the guys in the Frats. They are fairly reliable sources for the easy A’s. Also, the course forum is good but be cautious of that site as the professors have access to it.</p>
<p>A’s are possible at UVA-- they are just not handed out like candy.</p>
<p>That about sums it up. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Yes and it’s true that the frat boys/sorority girls do have access to old material.</p>
<p>one secret: Take small classes.</p>
<p>Most of the jocks choose either Soc or Anthro as their majors</p>
<p>Really? Anthropology classes take a certain level of intellect, try Mentore in the Anthropology Dept and get back to me. </p>
<p>Since when did politics become “hard”?</p>
<p>Many things require a certain level of intellect. It is widely known that the test’s for sociology and anthropology are a bit easier for most as they are typically multiple choice, short answer etc. I am sorry if you had a rough experience in Anthro, it’s not the same for everyone. </p>
<p>And yes, many jocks choose Anthro as their major as well as Soc.</p>
<p>Well as a Soc and Government double major, I can attest to the fact that my Soc. GPA was considerably higher than my Gov’t/Politics GPA.</p>
<p>From my experience, the politics courses tended to be larger (with the exception of 400 and 500 level seminars) with more discussion sections/TA grading. I never felt as confident about the material in the larger classes. Most of my sociology courses, even at the 300 level were comparatively smaller, and much more room for in-class discussion. Still did a lot of writing though…with the exception of my Law and Society class, most of my exams were some kind of essay.</p>
<p>Each department had its “easy A” classes though.</p>
<p>I do remember during summer session 2007 taking a bunch of the sociology pre-reqs so that I could declare the major and a bunch of my classmates were members of the football team. I wasn’t quite sure why they were all so interested in sociology, but it did kind of annoy me with how laissez-faire they behaved towards the class. One guy spent most of the class period on his Sidekick and would up and leave during the middle of class and then not come back.</p>
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<p>As a math major, I might have to disagree with you there. 
Some classes are EASIER than others, but that doesn’t matter if you can’t get past the hard ones. I know a lot of drop out math majors. :(</p>
<p>OTOH, the ed school is crazy easy. Everyone I know has a 4.0 in Curry classes.</p>
<p>But I don’t know how UVA compares to other colleges as asked by the OP.</p>
<p>Well, I was referring to Politics v. Sociology…</p>
<p>But I know some of the horror stories from the math department. A friend of mine told me some of the problems he had with tests and problem sets. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t say it’s “easy” to get an A in the e-school either.</p>
<p>I think I remember there being some statistics running around awhile back stating that the average GPA in CLAS was somewhere around 3.2-3.3, and the E-school was lower than that. I don’t remember about the other schools though.</p>
<p>Large classes at UVA do have multiple choice tests. I never once had a multiple choice test in either Sociology or Anthropology, mostly papers. I don’t understand those people who try to say one department is harder than another especially in CLAS. I had a friend who would always try to argue that foreign affairs was THE hardest major in CLAS, while majors like history and anthropology were easy. All of these disciplines in CLAS (for the exception of math, the sciences and to a certain extent economics) are about how well you BS your papers and no single major, IMO, can be said to be “extremely” hard or “extremely easy” They’re all seeing as arts and crafts outside UVA. I seriously used to LOL when people in my class use to complain and whine about how hard they had it as Religious Studies and English majors. I respect A-schoolers and E-schoolers, they actually have to know their material, while many in CLAS barely do the readings for their classes.</p>
<p>PS: I was neither a sociology or anthrolopogy major. I was a history DMP, pretty LOLz in the professional world.</p>
<p>wahoogrl08, you’re from PA? I’m from Philly. :)</p>
<p>Now, I don’t want people reading this thread to think math is impossible. I have gotten an A or A- in every math class I’ve taken except for 2 of them. But you have to work your butt off. None of those were “easy A’s” or “gut” classes, and I didn’t get any of my solid A’s before this past year (when I finished my math major – aka had the best grasp on what teachers wanted from me).</p>
<p>I think it’s fair to say that if you WANT to get A’s, and are willing to actually work (not just slack off and expect an A because you’re a smart UVA student) and study, then you have a good shot at getting it in most classes. I think it’s also fair to say that certain classes (some pre-med… some eschool) are near impossible to walk away with an A, even working really hard. I would like to think those classes are the exception, though, to the non-pre-med CLAS student.</p>
<p>Pointed out earlier: everyone got A’s in high school; not everyone can walk away with the A here. Also pointed out earlier: your first year is usually your worst (my two non-A math classes were taken my first year).</p>
<p>It would be interesting to know where Chicago is on the OP’s list. I’ve heard the B is the new A there.</p>
<p>should be easy bc its a state school and from what ive heard from friends that transferred to wharton from UVA. They said UVA was a joke compared to wharton and their curve.</p>
<p>From which school at UVA did those friends transfer from? Penn overall is probably academically more competitive than UVA, but UVA is still a fantastic school, and the last I checked McIntire was considered a better overall undergrad business program than Wharton.</p>
<p>Like many have said, you can work your butt off in a class and not get an A. I feel like grades overall are somewhat relative to the course, the professor teaching it and the students in the class.</p>
<p>And on a side note: Hi Hazelorb 
Yep, near life long resident of PA, I live in the “beautiful” Pocono Mts…otherwise known as Little NY and NJ.</p>