Is Berkeley too big?

[sakky]

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Being big has its advantages, too. According to the law of large numbers, the more people in a class, the more stable the average score on a test. So, at Berkeley you’re less likely to be affected by outliers

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<p>Yeah, well, that’s simply making a virtue out of necessity. Yes, a large sample size creates a more stable curve. But, frankly, the reason why a curve is used in the first place is because the class is so large. If you as a prof are teaching a class of, say, just 10-20 people, you’re probably not going to rely on a curve because you have enough information to provide individualized grades to every student. Curves tend to be used when classes become so large that you can’t possibly know every single student.</p>