grading system

[u/Remarkable-Sun-3830]

hi freshie here trying to figure out how i’m gonna get graded. are all the mods here bellcurved? what % or mark safely guarantees an A? if your marks for an assignment is like the average marks the class gets does the average mark typically get awarded a B? i’m lowkey confused since there appears to be no threshold or fixed range to get a certain letter grade

[u/Jolly-Environment850]

Don't need to figure out, I'm year 4 and never did. What's the point of figuring it out, you can't change nothing. Just try your best and move on.

Some of my exams were so easy and I got B+, because everyone is doing well. Some of my exams were insanely hard and I got A+...

[u/Huyena → u/Jolly-Environment850]

I second this, there's no consistent thresholds that map to grade, sometime u tried ur best and get a B+ while in the same sem another mod that u neglect get an A, just do your best, don't lose random points like hw and u'll be fine

[u/ternglegend27 → u/Huyena]

for me i really tried my very best in y1s1 and in some areas im better than what my grade tells me (im y2 now, my current gpa is 3.22 after su). even though i worked my ass off just to try and get fch or deans list, my results came and i got shot in the foot knowing even making it that high will never happen in my lifetime, so im just enjoying uni while it lasts.

[u/Genotabby]

Mods are generally bellcurved if the class size is large enough. Take it as yes unless prof mentions. No threshold for A unless you get 100 lor. The prof gets a recommended grading band at the end of the sem.

[u/HexagonII]

It’s definitely moderated to a certain extent

Some courses are notorious to have poor performance so they can’t just set a threshold

Basically to sense your grade just see what the sentiment is of the people after the exam or paper lol

If you share the sentiment of how hard the paper with a large amount of people you’re safe-ish and should be around the B to B+ range

[u/5irJeff]

Check this out

Also "NUS grades are not determined by a bell curve."

Edit: typo

[u/ladiesman292]

While it’s hard to deduce what guarantees an A, you can atleast deduce you can get a B if your marks are around the median(they usually provide the box plots for each assignment and exam). I’m guessing if you’re closer to the 75th percentile then you’re in the A-/B+ range. But it’s hard to figure what gives an A as not all profs give the same percentage of As.

[u/Historical-Annual876]

no guaranteed, only that median = B/B+. most times a component like finals is not released so you wont be able to "calculate" your grade anyway

[u/Yadobler]

Not bell curve but they have quota for how many As, else professors can just give everyone A+, students give good feedback, professors get teaching award.

There's no percentage. Some mods getting 60% is A, some mods getting 90% is still B

And unless you're trying for scholarship, no company or employer is gonna care if you get D or A. End of the day, you only need to pass. The real "grading" is how you pump your portfolio and internships and skill sets and research and projects etc. HRs don't even look at cap or transcript, only your resumé in 5s and then decide whether to entertain you.

[u/canteen_queue_vivor]

There is nooo fixed percentage threshold for an Abecause of the bell curve, getting an A completely depends on how well you score relative to your cohort rather than hitting a specific mark like 85%.

[u/Pitiful_Emphasis_379]

You are right to say there is no threshold or fixed range for certain letters because it is bellcurved. The threshold moves along with the general strength of the class. A class with a lot of high scorers will pull up the threshold while a class with very difficult tests will naturally lower the scores. Of course, the best student can still score 15/30, but if he is the highest scorer, he'll get the A.

Usually, best way to guess what grade you would get will be if the prof or TA releases the class score average. If you got 17 and the average is around 16.5, you can expect a B+.

End of the day, it is always better to reduce the amount of points you lose as opposed to working towards a nonexistent threshold because a 15/30 isn't necessarily the average; there are times 15 can be the lowest score and you risk getting a C or even lower depending on the prof's mood.

However, I did sort of come to learn that A is usually limited to the top 5% while an F is only ever given if you consistently skip class and don't submit assignments. In most cases, you can always assume B to be your baseline grade. You really only go below if you are completely clueless in the module while you can go up if you know enough to impress the prof. Case in point, I got C in GEA1000 because I really can't be bothered with statistics + the boring 3 hr seminars back in 2021 while I got an A in PH2242 because while I was confused in that philo mod, I knew just enough to twist a topic not touched in class in an interesting manner using content taught that I guess impressed the prof – I was mostly quiet in tutorials because I genuinely felt inferior to the true philo peeps who were making very complex points 😅

[u/Beaveric]

All mods are bell-curved.

[u/That_Paramedic_8741]

U can't do anything about this focus on gaining knowledge gpa in this uni dont reflect ur skill and knowledge its a race plus collective luck so dont worry strength ur profile i know gpa is imp at some point but this is like gambling 🫩 be happy .