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paranym

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  1. hi! this is my first forum post so i hope i do everything ok. my question has to do with what is considered normal and abnormal in English grad programs (for what it's worth, I'm doing an MA in canada. classes are generally split proportionately between ma and phd students). at orientation i seem to remember the grad director saying that they expect A-level grades and papers, and that if you're consistently getting lower than that (A- or below) it's a sign to "reconsider." at the time, this did strike me as intimidating and potentially quite harsh. however, i was used to getting As pretty reliably in undergrad, so i told myself not to worry too much...sure enough, i really find "a" tends to be the standard grade in grad school. i got one a- on a short assignment that i really did poorly (was up late, it had typos....definitely justified an a-). but sometimes i wonder if profs simply assume grad papers are a-level automatically and only offer constructive feedback, unless a paper has glaring issues. this also raises the question -- if "a" is the default, how common is an a+? i got a couple A+s on my transcript from a prof who others have warned "is a tough marker." however, i don't really like to ask my peers how they've done on assignments -- especially with online school where i don't know some of them well at all, it just seems a little rude -- so i have no real gauge for what constitutes "tough" grading, or "easy" grading for that matter. my transcripts don't know an average or median grade either. surely, grad schools can't be graduating all MAs and PHDs with straight-A averages. how big is the spectrum of grades, especially at the MA level? can i expect an A+ or two on a transcript to set me apart, if it came down to it? (other info -- my program requires MAs take a total of 6 courses, so within that i have 2 A+s)
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