04-28-2004, 10:05 PM
This is what a certain professor I had to take classes did. 1 A, 2 B's, everyone else gets a C regardless of grades. So my 54 out of 60 points overall for the class is identical on the transcript to someone who only got 23 out of 60 points. Regardless of how well I understood the material or the concepts. I have no idea why he did this other than it was easy for him to grade. I prefer how most professors did with the 100-88% for an A, 87-75% range for a B, and 74-60% range for a C (having a professor who didn't round up and getting an 87.6% for the class and ending up with a B+ made me laugh more than be upset like my other "set # of grades" professor). What I REALLY dislike is a professor that gives you his grading scheme and then finds out he made it too easy and then changes everyone's grades to match a normal distribution AFTER all the tests and grades are in (I would have had a solid A by his original standards and the standard that I was working towards and ended up with a B- at the end since too many A's were being given out to non-PhD students). Princeton just sounds like they are trying to do what other professors are already doing. I see nothing wrong with it, but I do wonder why they have to set it in stone. Just tell the professors what they are expected to do.
As far as getting my PhD and going back and doing a better job, if I cared enough I might. As it is I just complain semi-seriously about how artbitrary grades are. I realized within my first year that college is just another game like high school and grade school. Just play the game and jump through the hoops while learning your material and you'll be fine. Companies who hire solely based on GPA always make me wonder why after having seen how arbitrarily they are assigned. Ah well, I'm out of college and school for the first time in 21 years in 2.5 weeks, so I'll just chalk it up as a learning experience and be glad it's behind me.
As far as getting my PhD and going back and doing a better job, if I cared enough I might. As it is I just complain semi-seriously about how artbitrary grades are. I realized within my first year that college is just another game like high school and grade school. Just play the game and jump through the hoops while learning your material and you'll be fine. Companies who hire solely based on GPA always make me wonder why after having seen how arbitrarily they are assigned. Ah well, I'm out of college and school for the first time in 21 years in 2.5 weeks, so I'll just chalk it up as a learning experience and be glad it's behind me.