shady Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 I did a 0.5 credit course this summer to satisfy my humanities requirement at U of T, and it was an easy course. But now the department undergrad coordinator emailed us saying the marks are too high and gave us a -7% curve... Today my mark was posted and its 83% ... I had a 90... Should I bother asking for 2 marks to bump it to 85? This is going to be my first summer course that is not 4.0 .. Also, I know med schools don't count summer courses, but they could look at them and decide that its a downward trend therefore not good ? Sorry if this seems out of place ... but I've never had such a massive curve down, and this is going to be the very last course on my transcript (applying this cycle).. This is enraging :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 I did a 0.5 credit course this summer to satisfy my humanities requirement at U of T, and it was an easy course. But now the department undergrad coordinator emailed us saying the marks are too high and gave us a -7% curve... Today my mark was posted and its 83% ... I had a 90... Should I bother asking for 2 marks to bump it to 85? This is going to be my first summer course that is not 4.0 .. Also, I know med schools don't count summer courses, but they could look at them and decide that its a downward trend therefore not good ? Sorry if this seems out of place ... but I've never had such a massive curve down, and this is going to be the very last course on my transcript (applying this cycle).. This is enraging :mad: I don't see the point of asking them for a bump when they clearly thought the marks were too high to begin with. But it won't hurt to try. 85% is still not a 4.0 by OMSAS scale. If the med school says they don't look at summer courses, it means they don't look at summer courses. Plus, it's not like you got a B or C. A- is still pretty good. Just try to balance it out next year by getting more A+s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazzle Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 This downward curvature seems inappropriate. If you gunned for a 90 but not a 99, this hurts you in the end. You were in your rights to gun only for a 90 when you saw the syllabus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerkstore Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 That is such horse****. Pretty much makes it impossible to get an A+ or 4.0 in a course. Great practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 That is such horse****. Pretty much makes it impossible to get an A+ or 4.0 in a course. Great practice. Summer courses often have higher class averages because most people take 1 or 2 courses during summer so they have more time to study. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m30wc0w Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 lmao that's pretty b.s, that's not one but TWO letter grades lol they downgraded you from an A+ to an A-. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charmer08 Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 Just accept it. He was supposed to make the exam hard but he didn't so the undergrad coordinator brought the average down. You would have ended up with the same grade either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshPreMed Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 This is typical. They once downgraded a class average from a B to a C+ (PSL302Y1, 2010-2011) because the average was "too high". You must see the look on those students faces going down to a C+. @Charmer: Not necessarily. Administering a harder exam does not necessarily cause every student with a 90% in an easier exam to score lower; the average student: yes; but not everyone. A top student who studies well enough could still obtain the same mark. Giving a harder exam is a fair way of lowering the class average; arbitrarily subtracting marks from everybody, including the students who found the exam too easy, will not accurately represent their grades. It is a huge assumption to say that everybody's grades will go lower in a harder exam. Some top students get the same mark (depends on topics tested). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shady Posted September 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 This is typical. They once downgraded a class average from a B to a C+ (PSL302Y1, 2010-2011) because the average was "too high". You must see the look on those students faces going down to a C+. @Charmer: Not necessarily. Administering a harder exam does not necessarily cause every student with a 90% in an easier exam to score lower; the average student: yes; but not everyone. A top student who studies well enough could still obtain the same mark. Giving a harder exam is a fair way of lowering the class average; arbitrarily subtracting marks from everybody, including the students who found the exam too easy, will not accurately represent their grades. It is a huge assumption to say that everybody's grades will go lower in a harder exam. Some top students get the same mark (depends on topics tested). Your point is excellent. It's very true, and it's the reason why My marks are generally unaffected by class average - I aim for a 90, and if it's hard I work harder, if it's easy I don't push my self to 100% but rather spend more time on other courses/activities. Anyway I think I will give it a shot and ask for 2 points - what's the worse that could happen? But realistically speaking I don't expect much, and I really hope this isn't looked down upon by med schools. Thanks for your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gametime24 Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 This is typical. They once downgraded a class average from a B to a C+ (PSL302Y1, 2010-2011) because the average was "too high". You must see the look on those students faces going down to a C+. @Charmer: Not necessarily. Administering a harder exam does not necessarily cause every student with a 90% in an easier exam to score lower; the average student: yes; but not everyone. A top student who studies well enough could still obtain the same mark. Giving a harder exam is a fair way of lowering the class average; arbitrarily subtracting marks from everybody, including the students who found the exam too easy, will not accurately represent their grades. It is a huge assumption to say that everybody's grades will go lower in a harder exam. Some top students get the same mark (depends on topics tested). I normally really don't like your comments, but I agree with this. It's easy enough for a very strong student who knew far more than what was tested to slip up here and there and end up with a low 90 on an exam even though you could have made it twice as hard and they would still have gotten 90 something because their only mistakes were simple slips rather than a lack of knowledge. This happened to me on one of my stats midterms last year, good thing the prof allowed you to replace it with your grade on the final Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 ...but they could look at them and decide that its a downward trend therefore not good ? This.Is.Not.A.Down.Ward.Trend. Unfair, but no one is going to say your abilities decreased because of a single A- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 This.Is.Not.A.Down.Ward.Trend. Unfair, but no one is going to say your abilities decreased because of a single A- Almost no would would really care directly if it was a downward trend at most Canadian schools. But again as Leon rightly points out a single A- is not a trend or really that much of a concern. Particular since it is a summer course so very few schools will even consider it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omz222 Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 Can't say undergrads who deliberately took super-easy humanities courses to shirk subjective grading didn't have it coming at them... although to reduce people's marks after they're already posted on ROSI is probably tactless. They should've just marked the final exams insanely hard as the first year GLG courses do, that way no one will bother checking and complain about it... Having gone thru undergrad and worked/interacted with many many TAs in informal settings has really shown me how easy it is to screw over undergrads without any of them having any ability to do anything about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaVen777 Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 Dude that A- has probably ruined your chances of ever getting into a Canadian Medical School. Bummer. Does suck though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blizzah Posted September 5, 2012 Report Share Posted September 5, 2012 Can't say undergrads who deliberately took super-easy humanities courses to shirk subjective grading didn't have it coming at them... although to reduce people's marks after they're already posted on ROSI is probably tactless. They should've just marked the final exams insanely hard as the first year GLG courses do, that way no one will bother checking and complain about it... Having gone thru undergrad and worked/interacted with many many TAs in informal settings has really shown me how easy it is to screw over undergrads without any of them having any ability to do anything about it. lol first year glg. That **** is the best This is further proof that it's best to take the hard courses where you benefit from curves and adjustments. don't worry about it op, it's less than .01 effect on your gpa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shady Posted September 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2012 lol first year glg. That **** is the best This is further proof that it's best to take the hard courses where you benefit from curves and adjustments. don't worry about it op, it's less than .01 effect on your gpa. I agree with the bolded text, although that can sometimes backfire. To be honest, I prefer courses where in the end no curve is used. Also, quick update: I talked to the department today, and they wouldn't give me the 2 marks. Saw that coming, but it was worth a shot And they were cool about it and understanding, so yea.. Good thing the course was in the summer. And thanks again for all your comments =D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.