<p>How do curves work for the Final Grade?</p>
<p>I heard the Final Grade is usually not entirely dependent on pre-lim/final exam grades (after individual pre-lim curves were considered).</p>
<p>For example, due to the curve,
for prelim 1, 82 was an A.
for prelim 2, 90 was an A.
for prelim 3, 85 was an A.
for final exam, 83 was an A.</p>
<p>but is the final grade curved once more?</p>
<p>Those are pretty generous curves - seems unlikely</p>
<p>Actually, individual tests are usually not assigned a grade. You know approximately what grade you got on the test because you know what the average score and the std. dev is for the test to but formally, you just receive a number score and not a grade. Instead, the raw scores are averaged at the end of the semester (a weighted average based on how much the final and each prelim is worth) and then it’s the final raw score that’s curved.</p>
<p>I don’t know what ilr2013 meant by generous curves but it’s not unusual for 75-80 to be curved to an A at the end for science classes.</p>
<p>I’ve been in classes where the mean was as low as a 40 or 60 so no those curves aren’t unheard (maybe in ilr) of but norcalguy is right, most classes that are officially curved aren’t curved until it’s time to assign final grades.</p>