Is a 93 an A?

[indorichai]

Hi, I just found out that I will receive a 93 in one of my classes. My professor's syllabus says that an A is a 95-100, but my other professor's syllabus says that an A is from a 94-100, whereas another one says that an A is a 93-100...

I'm confused...

According to my university's grading system, a 93 is an A, but that was meant for undergraduates...

Do professor's have control over what numerical value constitutes an A?

[robot_hamster]

In all my classes, anything 90 or above is technically an A. Is your professor distinguishing between A-, A, and A+?

[BassAZ]

Without knowing specifics, if the profs are being up front about their grading scheme and it's in a syllabus that was given to everyone, I don't see why an arbitrary grading scheme isn't fair.

I know that many schools allow for bell-curve grading schemes where the average grade, regardless of the numerical value, is a B and the top 10% and bottom 10% get A's and C's, respectively. If you're getting less than an A for a 93 average and can logically argue that you deserve the A (going above-and-beyond in the class, engaging the professor frequently, showing interest in the subject matter, etc.) and it's that important to you, most profs will be willing to hear your argument as long as it's logical and not to the detriment of your classmates. That doesn't mean they'll agree with you and you're setting yourself up to be critiqued in that situation, so make sure it's really worth it to you.

My personal feeling is that a 93% average is no joke and that you should be proud of the grade, regardless of the letter grade you're getting, and I would only argue with that grading if it was going to kill a particular cumulative average you have to keep.

[Eigen]

I'd say it's very class dependent... I've had everything from 30+ to 90+ as A ranges in my classes.

But if your professors syllabus says its 95-100 for an A, that's probably the range he'll be sticking with unless he's announced a change at some point.

[runonsentence]

It can vary. My department has established a 93 as an A- in the first-year comp curriculum but the registrar's site lists a 93 as an A.

[emmm]

In my experience, it is professor dependent, and what's printed in the syllabus is generally what stands. I did once have a professor change a class from C-centered to B-centered because our scores were apparently higher than usual overall.

[StrangeLight]

within my department, there is no set agreement on what constitutes an A, A-, B+, etc. there is also no agreement with the other departments in the school, and probably within those departments individual profs' scales vary as well. this can be confusing for students who see numbers on their assignments and expect a certain grade only to see a 93 interpreted as an A- in one class and an A in another.

basically, it's not all that uncommon at schools for there to be no set policy on the number scale. but if a prof tells you on their syllabus that 95-100 is an A and then they tell you that you've received a 93, you should interpret that as an A- even if another prof's scale says 93 is an A. if your transcript shows letter grades rather than numbers, it doesn't really matter if there's discrepancies between profs in their scales. what matters if where that prof puts you in his or her own scale.

i'd encourage you not to dispute the grade on this account. the prof realizes what grade they gave you and most of them see students that argue their grades up as having a problematic sense of entitlement. if you're worried about the A- at all, i'd suggest going to the prof and asking them what you could do to improve in your future courses. that tends to sit with them much better and you'll go from seeming like a nuisance to seeming like a motivated student.

[indorichai]

within my department, there is no set agreement on what constitutes an A, A-, B+, etc. there is also no agreement with the other departments in the school, and probably within those departments individual profs' scales vary as well. this can be confusing for students who see numbers on their assignments and expect a certain grade only to see a 93 interpreted as an A- in one class and an A in another.

basically, it's not all that uncommon at schools for there to be no set policy on the number scale. but if a prof tells you on their syllabus that 95-100 is an A and then they tell you that you've received a 93, you should interpret that as an A- even if another prof's scale says 93 is an A. if your transcript shows letter grades rather than numbers, it doesn't really matter if there's discrepancies between profs in their scales. what matters if where that prof puts you in his or her own scale.

i'd encourage you not to dispute the grade on this account. the prof realizes what grade they gave you and most of them see students that argue their grades up as having a problematic sense of entitlement. if you're worried about the A- at all, i'd suggest going to the prof and asking them what you could do to improve in your future courses. that tends to sit with them much better and you'll go from seeming like a nuisance to seeming like a motivated student.

Thanks, well I got an A-, which I feel kinda iffy about. There was an assignment that she didn't grade fairly on (she took off one point, which is one percentage point) and I caught her mistake. Instead she shrugged her shoulders and said, "it's only one point." If I had gotten a 94, I probably would have pitched a fit, but since it's a 93 (2 points off) and I know that I didn't work that hard on my final project, so I'll just get over it. It's my first semester of grad school, so the different grading scale in each class was unique to me. Ah well, such as life.