5 ms·

It was scary how much this article made me think of myself. Probably, no coincidence then that my favorite class at school was my first CS class, taught in Sch

It was scary how much this article made me think of myself. Probably, no coincidence then that my favorite class at school was my first CS class, taught in Scheme, from SICP, and that my GPA was quite low.

arethuza 16y ago
Are GPAs in the US based on averaging all of the marks from all of the classes in a course? If so I'd have don't rather badly rather than getting a First - the UK system generally puts the emphasis on performance in the final year (or it least it did in ye olden tymes).
- kerben 16y ago
  GPA calculation varies from school to school, and even from department to department within a school. Classes might be weighted differently across a variety of factors such as difficulty, hours, and course work, thus, a straight average, although common in many scenarios, is not always the hard and fast rule in the US.
- jordan0day 16y ago
  Are GPAs in the US based on averaging all of the marks from all of the classes in a course? Generally, yes. There are some ostensibly harder courses you can take that are weighted slightly higher (the highest grade in an honors course may be a 5, while the highest in a normal course is a 4, so it contributes more to your overall GPA). That said, I haven't ever really heard too many complaints about this system. In my experience the level of effort required from year to year is similar, it's the type of effort that changes. For example, in a first-year math course, you might struggle because you just don't know what you're doing. By a fourth-year math course, you may know what you're doing, you just have to do a lot more, and do it better.
  - yummyfajitas 16y ago
    That said, I haven't ever really heard too many complaints about this system. One obvious complaint is that an engineering student might have 50% of their GPA attributable to non-engineering grades.
    - jordan0day 16y ago
      That's true, and it is a specific complaint I've heard that I did overlook in my statement. That said, I think it's common to specifically point out your discipline-specific GPA (especially) if it is substantially better than your general GPA, whenever given the opportunity (like on a resume).
    - arethuza 16y ago
      What kind of non-engineering classes might there be in a engineering degree? In the UK courses are (or at least used to be - some have gone all "modular") rather narrow in focus - in the 4 year CS course I did in the 80s only one elective class was included that wasn't specifically related to maths, engineering or CS (and that was a rather enjoyable "History of Science" course).
      - yummyfajitas 16y ago
        The specific nature of non-engineering classes varies, but most science/engineering degrees in the US will require about 16 1-semester classes spread across {history, sociology, literature, etc}. This is reduced a bit if you go to an engineering school. I only had to take 9 non-science classes (+ 4 gym classes).
- williamdix 16y ago
  At my university, all classes weighted equally on a four point scale. My GPAs in my majors, CS and Linguistics, were slightly higher, but the heavy systems component of my department's curriculum kept it low.
- JimboOmega 16y ago
  I've never seen a US-based system that weights classes later in the curriculum higher than the beginning ones (which is too bad, since like many, mine rose towards the end).
  - MaysonL 16y ago
    Swarthmore has a system (the Honors program) where the degree granted (graduation, with Honors, with High Honors, or with Highest Honors) is based on the judgement of external examiners on the quality of examinations (written and oral) taken at the end of the senior year.
- lmkg 16y ago
  At my (US) college, the first semester of freshman-level classes were taken pass-fail, so they didn't contribute to GPA. But that's quite a ways away, and still generally the exception. We will also sometimes report "In-Major GPA," which tends to represent later years more. I would argue the in-major GPA is more relevant than either total average or last-year average (as much as GPAs are relevant at all). This would be especially true at my college--people would finish all their major requirements early so their last semester was a nice relaxing victory lap of mostly electives.
happy4crazy 16y ago
Likewise. When I first read this, I honestly felt a shiver go down my spine--it was eerie. I was basically the physics major equivalent in college, and now love playing around with Lisp/Haskell/etc.
- oscilloscope 16y ago
  Whoa, same here. Got disillusioned with academic physics in college (though astronomers are cool). Been working through Haskell's Write Yourself a Scheme in 48 Hours tutorial. There must be a few dozen of us.
  - gtech 16y ago
    One more here. I don't think we're extremely common but we're also not alone. I'm coasting in community college while my parents pay for room and board and I try to get some revenue off of projects. I've realised that the only way for me to survive is to create something of my own or find an environment where I have enough intellectual freedom to stay engaged.
- realitygrill 16y ago
  Heh. Just getting started with SICP. This reminded me even before college..
deleted 16y ago
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arethuza 16y ago

Are GPAs in the US based on averaging all of the marks from all of the classes in a course? If so I'd have don't rather badly rather than getting a First - the UK system generally puts the emphasis on performance in the final year (or it least it did in ye olden tymes).

kerben 16y ago
GPA calculation varies from school to school, and even from department to department within a school. Classes might be weighted differently across a variety of factors such as difficulty, hours, and course work, thus, a straight average, although common in many scenarios, is not always the hard and fast rule in the US.
jordan0day 16y ago
Are GPAs in the US based on averaging all of the marks from all of the classes in a course? Generally, yes. There are some ostensibly harder courses you can take that are weighted slightly higher (the highest grade in an honors course may be a 5, while the highest in a normal course is a 4, so it contributes more to your overall GPA). That said, I haven't ever really heard too many complaints about this system. In my experience the level of effort required from year to year is similar, it's the type of effort that changes. For example, in a first-year math course, you might struggle because you just don't know what you're doing. By a fourth-year math course, you may know what you're doing, you just have to do a lot more, and do it better.
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  That said, I haven't ever really heard too many complaints about this system. One obvious complaint is that an engineering student might have 50% of their GPA attributable to non-engineering grades.
  - jordan0day 16y ago
    That's true, and it is a specific complaint I've heard that I did overlook in my statement. That said, I think it's common to specifically point out your discipline-specific GPA (especially) if it is substantially better than your general GPA, whenever given the opportunity (like on a resume).
  - arethuza 16y ago
    What kind of non-engineering classes might there be in a engineering degree? In the UK courses are (or at least used to be - some have gone all "modular") rather narrow in focus - in the 4 year CS course I did in the 80s only one elective class was included that wasn't specifically related to maths, engineering or CS (and that was a rather enjoyable "History of Science" course).
    - yummyfajitas 16y ago
      The specific nature of non-engineering classes varies, but most science/engineering degrees in the US will require about 16 1-semester classes spread across {history, sociology, literature, etc}. This is reduced a bit if you go to an engineering school. I only had to take 9 non-science classes (+ 4 gym classes).
williamdix 16y ago
At my university, all classes weighted equally on a four point scale. My GPAs in my majors, CS and Linguistics, were slightly higher, but the heavy systems component of my department's curriculum kept it low.
JimboOmega 16y ago
I've never seen a US-based system that weights classes later in the curriculum higher than the beginning ones (which is too bad, since like many, mine rose towards the end).
- MaysonL 16y ago
  Swarthmore has a system (the Honors program) where the degree granted (graduation, with Honors, with High Honors, or with Highest Honors) is based on the judgement of external examiners on the quality of examinations (written and oral) taken at the end of the senior year.
lmkg 16y ago
At my (US) college, the first semester of freshman-level classes were taken pass-fail, so they didn't contribute to GPA. But that's quite a ways away, and still generally the exception. We will also sometimes report "In-Major GPA," which tends to represent later years more. I would argue the in-major GPA is more relevant than either total average or last-year average (as much as GPAs are relevant at all). This would be especially true at my college--people would finish all their major requirements early so their last semester was a nice relaxing victory lap of mostly electives.

happy4crazy 16y ago

Likewise. When I first read this, I honestly felt a shiver go down my spine--it was eerie. I was basically the physics major equivalent in college, and now love playing around with Lisp/Haskell/etc.

oscilloscope 16y ago
Whoa, same here. Got disillusioned with academic physics in college (though astronomers are cool). Been working through Haskell's Write Yourself a Scheme in 48 Hours tutorial. There must be a few dozen of us.
- gtech 16y ago
  One more here. I don't think we're extremely common but we're also not alone. I'm coasting in community college while my parents pay for room and board and I try to get some revenue off of projects. I've realised that the only way for me to survive is to create something of my own or find an environment where I have enough intellectual freedom to stay engaged.
realitygrill 16y ago
Heh. Just getting started with SICP. This reminded me even before college..

deleted 16y ago

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