Worried about a class I'm taking, where avg grade is C

[paulwece]

I'm Masters student at UIUC and this is my first semester. In addition to a 500 level course in my field, I'm also taking a 400 level statistics course as elective. I'm told that "B" is a poor grade in grad school because most people get As and Bs in grad classes. Well, this stat course is NOT graded that way, it is graded like a conventional college/high school class where the average grade is a C, and to get an A requires a 90% or above, B (80% to 90%), etc... The professor told us on the first day that there will be no curve and everyone is graded on the scale (so this means everyone can get As). 

I'm a smart guy and I'm going to work hard, but there is always a risk of a screw up/brain freeze during exams that might get me a B. And I would hate to get anything less than a 4.0 in my first semester. Should I drop that class and take another one? Should I talk to my professor about my concern? Most ppl in that class are undergrad. Do you think the prof will grade graduate student differently since anything lower than 3.0 means probation in grad college? thanks

[eeee1923]

First off relax. If you're just starting the class then at least get a feel for it before you go dropping it. Sometimes having a positive attitude can be helpful in getting you to learn the material and thus achieve the 'A' you want. Will the course be helpful to your learning and/or research project? If so, it may be worth sticking out with it. Talk to your professor (or advisor) and get their thoughts. Classes that are undergrad heavy will tend to be more 'work' than the typical grad course but if you don't have that heavy of a course load, you should be able to devote more time to the material than a typical undergrad and thus be able to score an above average grade. Hopefully my rambling made some sort of sense and good luck with your grad school studies. 

[shadowclaw]

I agree that you should relax! Just because the class is difficult doesn't mean you're automatically going to get a poor grade. Statistics courses are worth the effort, too... it is a difficult subject that can be really helpful to your career!

At the schools I've attended, a 400 level course is graded like an undergraduate course regardless of your status as a graduate student - in other words there are no special expectations of you to do any extra work or a higher level of work than an undergraduate. So it's unlikely that a professor will adjust your grade to reflect that anything less than a B is considered unacceptable (effectively compressing the scale from A - F to A - C). However, at the school I did my masters program (I haven't looked into it at my current school), the requirement that you must get a minimum of a B in all coursework only applied to graduate-level courses (i.e. 500+ level), which reflected the differences between undergraduate and graduate coursework. So you may want to look closely at your program's policies.

Something else to consider - the concept that a B is a terrible grade depends entirely on your field and possibly also your school. Humanities tend to follow this pattern, while STEM fields tend to be less so. Granted, consistent B's are not very good no matter what your field is, but STEM fields don't seem to look down on occasional B's. I personally feel no shame in getting a B in a difficult biology course that I didn't have the prerequisites for - and nobody seems to have cared that I got that B, either.

The best thing you can do, though, is have a chat with your professor. Maybe he/she will consider grading you differently because you're a graduate student or maybe he/she can at least ease your fears and let you know what to expect over the semester so you can judge if you have the time to devote to the course.

[PoliticalOrder]

If you are so nervous about grades - which you seem to be taking WAY too seriously here - why don't you just take it pass/fail?

[paulwece]

I decided to stick with the stat class. It's very useful and I need to be confident in my abilities. The class also doesn't seem as hard as I thought.

On the other hand, I really want to impress the professor in that 500 level of mine. What's the best way of doing that? (aside from doing well in the class obviously).

[Eigen]

In my experience, grad classes aren't graded differently (more easily) than undergrad classes. Generally, they're graded more harshly. 

The understanding that everyone will get an A or B is because everyone is expected to be doing "above average" work. 

You don't say what discipline you're in, but in my field (and a lot of experimental sciences), you don't "impress" faculty in classes. You impress them outside of classes and in your research work. 

Do well in the class, but remember that grad school isn't really about doing well in classes.It's an expected baseline, but amazing class performance doesn't usually have the impressive weight in grad school that it might in undergrad.

[sackofcrap]

One B in grad school is not going to hurt you all that much. You just need to make sure that it doesn't become a pattern. That is the key. Do not stress yourself out over one B.