"Normal" Grad School Grades

sbk

I'm just finished my first semester of graduate school and I had a question about grades. I did ok this semester, not as good as I'd like but above 3.0. However, I'm a little confused about grades in grad school. As a an undergraduate I had around 3.8, but didn't worry about the grade as long as I learned the material well. I have the same mindset in grad school.

But I guess I'm kind of confused about what the average grade is. Most programs seem like they don't give credit for anything below a B, however in one class I scored at or above the median on all exams and still got a B+. I'm fine with that grade, but I've had friends tell me that anything below an A is bad. I can't believe this is true (from my limited experience). I was just curious what the average grade is in grad school (is a B really equal to a C?). I'm in an applied math program btw.

eri

Some professors give everyone an A unless you do very poorly, some give out F's (yes, actual F's). My GPA at my first grad school was a 3.2; after transferring, my GPA at the second grad school (same rank) was 3.9 when I graduated. Every school has their own way of doing things. From what I've seen, the basic classes you take when you arrive are 'A is great, B is good, C is a problem' and seminar or more specialized courses are 'most people get an A, B isn't great, C means you didn't show up'.

johng23

I think it's best to look at the guidelines for your particular grad program. For mine, there is a certain minimum GPA to be able to take the qualifying exams, and after that there may also be some requirements for continuing in the program. But once you are doing research, that's what really counts, and as long as you are fulfilling the requirements, as far as I can tell focusing on the research at the expense of grades is OK.

Vanadium 50

It certainly depends on the program. When I was a student, A was roughly the top half of the course, B was the bottom half, and C was failing.

Jack21222

I was talking to one of the candidates for the tenure-track professor position open at my school about his experience at grad school, and one thing he said was grades really don't matter in grad school. As long as you learn the material and get at least a B, nobody really cares if you got an A or a B.

clope023

No one else but me finds a contradiction in this post? Really?

Chaostamer

It's not necessarily a contradiction. The implication could be, "Nobody cares whether you get an 'A' or a 'B' (so long as you have at least a 'B')."

Anonymous217

Anyone know about Berkeley math grad school's general policy? I'm going to be taking quite a few courses there so I'm pretty curious if the curves are more lenient than what they are in undergrad courses.

Jack21222

There is no contradiction in my post. As long as you meet the absolute minimum grade (which is a B,) nobody cares what you get. B, B+, A-, A... doesn't really matter according to the gentleman I spoke to.

hadsed

You must be very proud of yourself to be taking classes at Berkeley. May I suggest asking someone actually involved in the department?

Anonymous217

Well, if I'm asking a faculty member, they'd most probably give a very broad and general answer. After all, saying "most people get As as long as they work hard" is something no person in a department would guarantee unless they actually teach the class. I'd imagine something more like, "you'd have to be more specific and ask the professor related to the course as each course depends". And yes, I'm quite proud. It's one of the main reasons why Berkeley was the school I picked over the others: to take math grad classes there.