is this a fair grading scale?

Question

95-100= A
94-79=B
78-63=C
62-50=D
49 below=F

This is college

Answer 1

I went to a college where they have an unofficial grade deflation policy (giving fewer As on purpose) which is all well and fine within the school, but can serious affect students trying to go to grad school someplace else where the students' grades may be lower than others' even though they put in the same amount of work. Ultimately, the grading scale used by a professor or a college is up to them, but it seems particularly unfair to have a system set up to lower grades across the board when those grades will later be looked at out of context by people who are unaware of the school's grading policy.

I guess the short version of my answer is "not really, but whattaya gonna do?" I guess you could talk to the professor or the dean, but I don't have great hopes for change. Best of luck!

Answer 2

Well its not typical but I had that same grading scale in middle school (im in college now) and I was still able to maintain mostly As and a few Bs. Is it a private school? bc I go to a private school and we have the typical grading scale (90-100=A, 80-89=B, etc.) I would suggest talking to your teacher, dean, or the dept. of education and asking why the scale is like that...however you DO have a leeway with Fs because at my school 59 and below is an F and thats typical with most colleges. Although it probably dies work in making students have to work a bit harder I think they should even the playing field bc the rest of us (even those of us in top ranked universities) dont hav to work as hard for an A I dont know if thats a good or bad thing but you ARE right it doesnt seem fair. Unfortuneately thats life...UNFAIR

Answer 3

A professor can use any grading scale he/she wants to and as long as it's on the syllabus and you know about it beforehand, it's fair.

I've taken courses where 100 = pass and 99 and below = fail; try one of those for an example of fair. ☺ Of course, you don't want a Paramedic coming to your house to save you and saying "darn! that's the part I got an 80 on..."

As for grade inflation/deflation - if you always do your work at the 99-100% level, it won't effect you at all.

Answer 4

If you think they should change the scale contact the department of education. They will direct you to the department of post secondary education. Let somebody at that office know what you think. I am sure your not the only one who has this opinion. All the best.

Answer 5

It's up to your teacher. Maybe the class is really easy and they were told they have to stop giving so many A's. As long as they don't try to change it to make it harder later in the semester, it's completely up to them.