First figure your homework grade. Your HW percentage is your total number of HW points divided by the number of HW points which are possible. If I have counted correctly, there are 1905 possible HW points for the entire semester. However, we will figure the final HW percentage out of only 1700 points (or about 90% of all possible points should the total points possible change). You can't get more than 100% though, so once you have 1700 points you don't need to submit any more HW (although hopefully you will find the process of submission and feedback to be good practice for the tests). Your MP gradebook ("My Scores") gives your total MP homework points. Add your scores on the written problems to this number; what results is your total number of HW points. As an example, say you have earned 1403 MP points, and 93 out of 130 possible points on the written problems. Your total HW points for the semester would then be: 1403 + 93 = 1496 total HW points With 1496 HW points for the semester your HW percentage would be: 1496/1700 = 88.0% HW is worth 8 points overall, so you would have earned 7.04 HW points (i.e. 88.0% of 8) 650 HOMEWORK POINTS ARE REQUIRED FOR A PASSING GRADE IN THE COURSE. LESS THAN 650 HOMEWORK POINTS IS AN AUTOMATIC E. Now figure your PRS grade. There will be about 55 PRS questions for the semester, so a total of about 165 PRS points are possible. However, we will figure the final PRS percentage out of only 150 points (or about 90% of all possible PRS points should the number of possible PRS points change). There ended up being 60 PRS questions, so 180 PRS points were possible and we figured the final PRS percentage out of 155 points. Once again, you can't get more than 100%. Say you have earned 130 PRS points for the semester. Your PRS percentage would be 130/150 = 83.9%. PRS is worth 5 points overall, so your PRS points for the semester are 4.19 (83.9% of 5). OK, now figure your quiz grade. We grade quizzes out of 10 points and we take your best 10 of 13 quizzes. Say your best 10 quizzes total up to 82 points. Quizzes are worth 7 points overall so your quiz points for the semester are 5.74 (82% of 7). Now figure your test total. Take your best 4 tests and average them and multiply by 0.6. For example, say your test grades are 79, 85, 83, 72, and 91. Your test average is then (79+85+83+91)/4 = 84.50 We now multiply by .6 since the Tests are worth 60 points overall. 84.5 times 0.6 = 50.70 OK, now you have your pre-exam total. HW 7.04 PRS 4.19 QUIZ 5.74 TEST 50.70 total 67.67 The pre-exam maximum is 80 points, so your pre-exam percentage is 67.67/80 = 84.59% Will you be able to get an A? That depends on what the final grade scale is. I start with no curve. That is 90 and above A 80-90 B 70-80 C 60-70 D below 60 E If the class average is 75 or higher, there is no change. If the class average falls below 75, I feel obliged to relax this scale somewhat. Look at 121 Fall 2005 web page , or 121 Fall 2004 web page , or 121 Spring 2003 web page , or 121 Spring 2001 web page , or 121 Spring 2000 web page , or 121 Spring 1997 web page , or 121 Spring 1996 web page to get an idea for what this year's scale might be. I will make a guess at the final grade scale during the week before the exam, but the true final grade scale ultimately depends on overall class exam performance. Let's get back to our example. You have 67.68 points going in to the exam. The exam is worth 20 so the best you can do is 87.68, not enough to get an A if the class average is 75 or higher. On the other hand, you need at least 12.32 points from the exam to insure yourself of a B. The exam consists of 40 multiple choice questions, so you need to get at least (12.32/20)*40 right, or 25 out of 40, to insure yourself of a B.