Grading at Pitt

[lawisfun2010]

Hey guys I am going to Pitt in the fall and was looking at the website the other day and it didn't seem like Pittsburgh gave a very strict rank of its students nor did it use much of a forced curve.  Am I wrong in this?  From the charts on their website it seemed that quite a few students got A's and am trying to figure out the grading method they use there.  Thanks for the help.

[mudcat]

From the charts on their website it seemed that quite a few students got A's and am trying to figure out the grading method they use there.  Thanks for the help.

Wtf are you talking about?  look at the chart again - for 2008, about 10-15% average an A-. 

http://www.law.pitt.edu/career/ChartGradeDistribution2008.pdf

[lawisfun2010]

Can you explain how to read that chart to me.  I couldn't understand it that is why I asked.

[mudcat]

Can you explain how to read that chart to me.

OK, what the chart means is that out of 250 people in the class, 35 people received an A- average, 90 people received a B+ average, 50 people received a B average, 50 people received a B- average, 15 people received a C+ average, and five people received a C average, after first year.  So its a ~3.1 curve.  Another way to understand the curve is that out of 250 people, about 40 people get A's, 40 people get C's, and the rest get B's.  Its kind of sad that I just had to explain that to you

[lawisfun2010]

Well thanks for explaining that to me I didn't realize it was individuals in the class and I was thinking percentiles.    Sorry if it was so hard to explain that.

[Nickledime85]

Can you explain how to read that chart to me.

OK, what the chart means is that out of 250 people in the class, 35 people received an A- average, 90 people received a B+ average, 50 people received a B average, 50 people received a B- average, 15 people received a C+ average, and five people received a C average, after first year.  So its a ~3.1 curve.  Another way to understand the curve is that out of 250 people, about 40 people get A's, 40 people get C's, and the rest get B's.  Its kind of sad that I just had to explain that to you

No, it's really not. A lot of people in college don't have grading curves, myself included, and it's a bit confusing if you've never dealt with it before.

[mudcat]

Dooder, that chart couldnt be any easier to read. The horizontal axis is the letter grade, and the vertical axis is the number of students who averaged that grade.