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Criminology grading scale so much harder than other Arts scales

edited December 2012 in General
Crim Scale: 
95-100 = A+                                                       
90-94 = A
85-89 = A-
80-84 = B+
75-79 = B
70-74 = B-
65-69 = C+
60-64 = C
55-59 = C-
50-54 = D

Psych Scale:
90+ = A+
85-89 = A
80-84 = A-


As you can see the differences here. I heard Political Science is a bit similar to Crim as well but still slightly easier and more room.

Criminology grading scale is the same for B.C. high school grading scale so I'm used to it, but damn us Crim students got it hard then if other scales are so much easier. Apparently the Crim scale is also the standard for other universities/colleges and in the US. 

My speculation is that maybe when it comes to criminology careers and processes, there is a much smaller margin for error because you're dealing with, well, criminals. And in something like psychology, it's really mostly all theory and not everything works the same for everyone so most of it is just guesswork while applying stuff you read in a textbook and statistics reports. But even then, one fuck up could lead to someone committing suicide. Kind of ranting here... but no wonder soooo  many people are in Psychology especially right after high school because it's so easy! If we used the same grading scale I'd be hitting that A+ every time. 

Comments

  • Actually that crim mark allocation is the same as the default computing mark allocation. Same as a majority of faculties actually. I have even seen education courses where an A+ was 97.

    Also in my experiance this general range is higher than some schools in bc. My sister is at ubc and an A+ for her generally starts at 90. Again though this likely differs across faculties.
  • Maybe your classes are just easier?   For plenty of classes you can get an A with less than 90%, doesn't mean its easier to get an A if it's a more challenging class.
  • CRIM and POL have the exact same grading scale, which is not the same as BC high school. In high school 86-100 is an A and 73-85 is a B. PSYC courses (or at least intro courses) are curved so there is no set marks. 
  • Ryan: Would UBC take this into account for transfers? I was originally accepted in high school then I eventually ended up here and now I might transfer in a year or two. I'd rather have them look at my high school marks because now I have to complete certain amount of credits but hopefully if they take into account the tougher grading scale that would contribute a little bit.

    112233: I could see how that is for science courses where it is so easy to make minor mistakes that result in a costly chunk of your grade. I don't think it's the same with other arts programs though.

    Moore9: You're right, I didn't account for the + and - in high school but only the A range. I guess they add it so they can more effectively weed out and sift through in fine detail really the only top 5-10% especially in such a populated university. It makes it really hard for people basically living on scholarships and awards though because one change in a + or - means a change in GPA and even CGPA that could cost the eligibility for SFU awards. For instance, I'm on the brink right now with an estimated 3.43 CGPA... If my A-'s were simply A's, problem solved. Tense times.
  • Actually, since SFU is on a 4.33 GPA scale students trying to transfer to UBC using their university marks generally get screwed over due to UBC's GPA to Percent conversion.


    In summary, they consider a 4.33 GPA equivalent to 90%.....then it just goes down from there.
  • They use the same scale in the sociology and anthropology department :)
  • That same scale is used in ENSC and CMPT
  • DAMN RYAN. That's bad news. Super helpful though, thanks man.

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