GPAs and Grades

[august]

I've been here before and you guys have been a great help. So I'm here again!

I am currently enrolled in a Master's program for English. I'm in my second semester and have been given some conflicting ideas when it comes to grades. Next year I plan to apply for PhD programs in Rhetoric and New Media, especially one that is taught at the school I am currently at, but I am confused and GPAs and the like.

A professor of mine recently sent my class an email saying that a B on a paper or in a class in graduate school (MA) is equivalent to a D in undergrad. It was pretty shocking. While I know As are supposed to be aimed for, and ultimately received for ultimate achievement, I had been under the impression that a B was merely not as great as you can be and if you get a whole litany of Bs on your transcripts than you had better find a new career. Maybe my impression was wrong, but I'm not sure. So I suppose, what I'm asking is: How horrible is it to get a B or two on your graduate transcripts?

[Eigen]

It depends on the school. Here, anything lower than a B- is a "failing grade" for graduate students- you must maintain a 3.0 average with nothing lower than a B- to stay enrolled and in good standing.

So as far as equivalency, that means that a B-/B is the equivalent of a D, the B/B+ range is a C, the B+/A- range is a B, and the A/A+ range is an A.

That said, I was fine with the B+ I got in my second semester- not thrilled, but I doubt it will hold me back to any great degree in the future. Grad school grades don't "really matter" for a terminal program, but I'd worry about them a bit more if you're looking to apply elsewhere.

I wouldn't worry overly much about one or two B's, personally- it's your publications/research/letters that will matter far more.

[starmaker]

This seems to vary a lot by school and field. In my department at my school, a 3.5 average in your graduate courses qualifies you for the field's honor society, and you have to stay at or over 3.0 to stay in good academic standing. So for me a B is in no way equivalent to a D - I took a class last semester where the class average was in the B/B- range.

I have heard, though, of programs/fields where anything out of the A range is considered a red flag.

The idea that As are somehow "ultimate achievement" seems off to me. True achievement, in any field, is making important contributions as a practitioner (and in scholarly fields, you can even work on this as a lowly student, as you'll already be doing research and/or doing implementation projects). Doing well in class is successfully jumping through a hoop.

[Poppet]

I've always heard the same as what the OP's professor said - but that anything under an A- was actually a bad mark in grad school, and not merely an average one. My understanding is that you are expected to stay at an A/A- level throughout your grad studies and if you dip below, something's wrong.

Clearly this appears to vary by institution or field though, so I'd say that it weren't a big deal - except that your professor specifically told your class that it was. So I'm going to presume that in English, or at least at your particular school, you are expected to maintain much higher marks as a grad student. I would take his comments seriously if I were you, and beware of those B's. If you have actually received any there's nothing you can do but charge forward and try to get some A's to compensate for them. But as we all know, reference letters and POS's count for a lot in applications, right? So hopefully those can help mitigate a B or two on a graduate transcript if they occur.

[yetanotherapplicant]

I got a B+ in a seminar in my PhD program last spring. I'd never received anything below an A in my field before then, and seriously considered completely dropping out of the program because I'd never heard of another student in the program getting a course grade lower than an A-. This year, I consulted with a professor I trust about it, and he told me first that he received a B+ in a seminar his first year of graduate school, and then that B grades here were far more common than I thought (that at least 5 or so of them were given each quarter amongst the 20-ish students taking courses in the department).

To offer further confirmation that a B in a graduate course isn't a mark of doom, I sent out transfer applications to other universities this year, and was awarded a university-wide fellowship at a very large R1 university with just a bit under 10,000 masters and doctoral students. You don't want like 10 Bs, but I don't think for a second that 1 or 2 is going to make any difference at all. In fact, having marks below an A might indicate that your program's grades aren't so inflated that they don't mean anything.

[StrangeLight]

i think that, for humanities programs, Bs are generally not good. B/B+ on an assignment is fine as long as you pull an A- in the class. in theory, my own program threatens people with expulsion if you can't maintain a 3.0 average OR you get one C/C+ OR you get "too many" Bs. that said, i've known students whose transcripts were covered in B+s and only occasionally A-s, no As. no one sat down with these people to tell them they were in jeopardy, but they both dropped out of the combined MA/PhD program just after getting their MAs completed. i'd imagine that, if they had planned to stick around for the PhD, then that conversation might have come up.

one or two Bs won't end you. more than that, in a humanities program, and you may not get "the talk" but your grades will hurt your chances at fellowships, your ability to apply to other programs, and possibly your relationship with the faculty. this isn't a hard science discipline. there will be plenty of people in your class pulling A- and A, and the more Bs you rack up, the fewer professors you have to turn to for LORs, etc. Bs aren't failing grades but they aren't signs of confidence either.

[Matilda_Tone]

Not to be depressing, but a friend of mine last year was accepted into a PhD program while finishing up his MA- then, when the final MA marks were given out, he was contacted by the PhD programme and told that he was no longer qualified due to the one B he received on his MA transcript.

But, on the brighter side, I think that the other posters are right- this is different in various universities and disciplines. I can only speak for this particular humanities programme at one Canadian university.

(On the much brighter side, I have heard that at most high ranking British universities, marks in the low 70s (i.e. a B- in most Canadian schools) is considered a fantastic mark)

[Poppet]

(On the much brighter side, I have heard that at most high ranking British universities, marks in the low 70s (i.e. a B- in most Canadian schools) is considered a fantastic mark)

Wait, there might be some confusion here -- It's true that in the UK marks in the 70's are great marks, but they are not the equivalent of Canadian marks in the 70's. It's a completely different system. In Canada if you get 71% on something it is not considered a positive thing (and at the MA level, possibly a very bad one.) In the UK, however, anything over 70% is a very high standard on par with A-/A. I'm not an expert on the subject, but generally 60-70% is considered to be somewhere around the B-range, 50%-60% is C, 40-50% is a D, and under 40% is a fail. (Don't quote me on the exact translation of these percentages, it may vary slightly.) But this basically means that even though we might all be using the same numbers, the numbers were use do not all have the same significance. Any Canadian university would see a British 71% and convert it to an A, not a B-. So, something to be wary of when converting grades between systems.

[UNCguy]

In my program, B's don't make a difference. People just want to know you got your PhD. That's about it. Just do enough to make the teacher like you but don't do anything over that. Spend time on research. Of course, this applies to psychology PhD students.