Grading Scale for Math 207 - Dr. Loveless

First, see the syllabus for how your course percentage is computed. Second, read below for information on how percentages will align with grade points at the end of the term.

A few policy notes

• The university grade guidelines for undergraduate courses are here: Sample University Grading Guidelines
• The math department has the following official policy concerning grades for Math 124/5/6: "Math 124/5/6 Grade Policy. Beginning Autumn 2012, the department of mathematics has adopted a grade policy for this course. The final median course grades for each lecture section of Math 124/5/6 taught during the regular academic year will fall within the range of 2.9 +/- 0.2."
• For 300 level courses, there is no set policy like this, but the guideline is that the median should be approximately 3.0. This means that if you are at the median in the class, meaning your course percentage is exactly in the middle of the class compared to your classmates (i.e. you have the 25th best course percentage out of 50 students in the class), then you will get a grade of 3.0.

Grade Scale Comments
Understand that small adjustments to the gradescale will be made based on overall exam performance (i.e. the stats suggest an exam was "harder" or "easier"), but based on grades I have historically seen on my exams for Math 207, I can say the following...

• The 0.0 grade: If you end with a course percentage above 50%, then you definitely will get a grade at or above 0.7.
• The 2.0 grade: If you end with a course percentage above 70%, then you definitely will get a grade at or above 2.0. This is very doable if you do all the homework and follow my advice for how to approach exams.
• The 3.0 grade: This is typically around the 85% course percentage mark.
• The 3.5 grade: This is typically around the 90% course percentage mark.
• The 4.0 grade: This is typically above the 96% course percentage mark.
• If you are concerned about the highest grade marks, I typically tell students that they need to be in the top 1/4th of the class to guarantee a grade above 3.5 (again typically that means a course percentage above 90%). To get a 4.0 you have to be one of the top few students in the class (typically a course percentage above 96%).

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