Why do Universities and Colleges still use letter grades?

[emon87]

Ok that makes sense where is it done?

[SoloAJ]

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SUFan5,
85-90 is an A
90+ is an A+
I thought this was fairly standard.

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Seems pretty standard to me.

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Where are you from? Grade inflation High?

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Yes giving out lower grades then adjusting the letter grades they correspond to sure is grade inflation. Jesus your stupid. About 1-3 kids out of a class of 100 get 90s in most of my classes. The average grade is always between 67-72. An 80 is considered a good mark.


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I'd like to think this is 3rd level, but it is not. You are just a dolt. Congratulations!

Maybe only 1-3% of kids get 90s in your classes because their all like you.


That's how you 3rd level [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[RR]

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As you advance into higher education you will learn that it makes more sence to place people into groups. A lot of grading is subjective and it makde more sence to have 5 groups (a lot of places just 4) than to have 100 different scores to hand out.

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Well unless they switch over to letter grades in Grad school (and they don't) this isn't true. I also really don't see the value in have 4 or 5 groups. I mean their is a huge difference between a 90 and a 97. How do you determine who the very best students are?

SUFan5,
85-90 is an A
90+ is an A+
I thought this was fairly standard.

I understand the value for more subjective questions and papers however I don't see why the prof can't just mimic the letter system (i.e. only give out marks in multiples of 5), all the letter system really does is restrict the profs options.

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I dont' know of any profs that use a "scoring" system to determinw grades in anything but the lowest level classes. The most common way I have seen to do it is take the best scores and give them As. Take the lowest scores and give them Fs (Cs if it is grad school, since a C fails there). Give the group below the best students a B and give any that are left over a C (I don't really know where a D comes in or what it is used for, maybe for one of the low scores that wasn't quite as low).

If people are scoring stuff like 99 the exam isn't dificulat enough. Ideally nobody should be close to a perfect score so there isn't an artificial cap to what someone can score.

[evank15]

For the University of Victoria, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University:

A+ 90-100 9
A 85-89 8
A- 80-84 7
B+ 75-79 6
B 70-74 5
B- 65-69 4
C+ 60-64 3
C 55-59 2
D 50-54 1
F <50 0

Some classes differ from this scheme a bit, but for the most part the standard grade schedule is used. The last number is the GPA value, on the 9.0 scale.

The GPA scale is different in other parts of Canada, but I'm pretty sure the approximate grade numerical interpretations are similar.

[emon87]

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For the University of Victoria, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University:

A+ 90-100 9
A 85-89 8
A- 80-84 7
B+ 75-79 6
B 70-74 5
B- 65-69 4
C+ 60-64 3
C 55-59 2
D 50-54 1
F <50 0

Some classes differ from this scheme a bit, but for the most part the standard grade schedule is used. The last number is the GPA value, on the 9.0 scale.

The GPA scale is different in other parts of Canada, but I'm pretty sure the approximate grade numerical interpretations are similar.

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9.0 gpa wtf lol canada

[NickMPK]

Maybe one reason they give letter grades is because the percentage grading systems in different schools varies widely, and the letter grades are thought to be more comparable. If you tried to apply to American grad schools with a 85% GPA, you would be laughed at, even though that is apparently A-level work in Canada.

[Isura]

Most canadian schools have the system:

A - 80+
B - < 80
C - < 70
D - < 60
F - < 50

Graduating with distinction usually requires a 85-90% average.

[SBR]

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SUFan5,
85-90 is an A
90+ is an A+
I thought this was fairly standard.

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Seems pretty standard to me.

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Where are you from? Grade inflation High?

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Yes giving out lower grades then adjusting the letter grades they correspond to sure is grade inflation. Jesus your stupid. About 1-3 kids out of a class of 100 get 90s in most of my classes. The average grade is always between 67-72. An 80 is considered a good mark.


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I'd like to think this is 3rd level, but it is not. You are just a dolt. Congratulations!

Maybe only 1-3% of kids get 90s in your classes because their all like you.


That's how you 3rd level [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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Yes, I'm an idiot.

Also this is in Ontario (University of Waterloo specifically although I think high school is the same breakdown). I believe an 85% will be a 4.0 if you apply to school in the states.

And in none of my classes (up to 4th year CS so these are not low level classes) is anyone guaranteed an A. I.e. the prof doesn't just give an A to the best students rather it normally works out that the top students are bumped up to around that level (as I said before marks are rounded up so that the average is at least 67) however there is no bell curving of marks. I know I've taken at least one class where no one got above 85.

[Golden_Rhino]

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For the University of Victoria, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University:

A+ 90-100 9
A 85-89 8
A- 80-84 7
B+ 75-79 6
B 70-74 5
B- 65-69 4
C+ 60-64 3
C 55-59 2
D 50-54 1
F <50 0

Some classes differ from this scheme a bit, but for the most part the standard grade schedule is used. The last number is the GPA value, on the 9.0 scale.

The GPA scale is different in other parts of Canada, but I'm pretty sure the approximate grade numerical interpretations are similar.

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Similar to York University in Toronto.

[SoloAJ]

So what I've learned from this thread for sure:

Canada and U.S. grading scales are incomprable for the most part.