A few people have asked "What was my grade on Exam 1?". I know I mentioned some estimated letter grade ranges in class, but you really have to be a little careful about thinking in letters. Think about your grade in numbers and the total points you have accumulated. I do not determine your final course grade by looking at the letters you may have earned on exams, I look at the numbers. Why is this an important distinction? Here are a couple examples. Let's say you are taking a class where your grade is determined by your score on 4 exams, and to make the math a little easier, let's say that each exam is worth 100 points and the class is using a typical 90/80/70 percent scale for A/B/C and there are no "+/-" grades.
Example 1: Your exam scores are 90, 91, 82, 92. If we assign letters to those individual exams, you got A, A, B, A. Three "A" grades sounds pretty good! What grade would you get for this course? You've earned 355 points out of 400 possible points, that's just under 89%. Look's like a B.
Example 2: Your exam scores are 78, 87, 79, 78. If we assign letters to those individual exams, you got C, B, C, C. Hmm, looks like a "C" is in your future. But wait! You've earned 322 points out of a possible 400 points, that's 80.5%. The result is a "B" and everyone cheers with delight!
This is why I'm always a little hesitant to assign grades to individual exams or assignments, it can lead to incorrect expectations.
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