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 1800 possible HW points for the 
entire semester.  However, we will figure the final HW percentage out of 
only 1600 points.  You can't get more than 100% though, so once you have 
1600 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 you a percentage of possible
MP homework points.  Multiply this fraction times the number of MP 
homework points possible, then 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 79% of all possible MP points (lets assume there are
1650), and 104 points on the written problems (lets assume there are 150
possible).  Your total HW points for the semester would then be:

              0.79*1650 + 104 = 1408 total HW points

(There ended up being 1645 MP points and 180 written points; but the
HW percentage will still be taken out of 1600.  GBA)

With 1408 HW points for the semester your HW percentage would be:

                      1408/1600  = 88.0%

HW is worth 8 points overall, so you would have earned 7.04 HW points
(i.e. 88.0% of 8)

   600 HOMEWORK POINTS ARE REQUIRED FOR A PASSING GRADE IN THE COURSE.
             LESS THAN 600 HOMEWORK POINTS IS AN AUTOMATIC E.

     Now figure your PRS grade.  There will be about 40 PRS questions
for the semester, so a total of 120 PRS points are possible.  However,
we will figure the final PRS percentage out of only 108 points (or about
90% of all possible PRS points should the number of possible PRS points
change).  Once again, you can't get more than 100%.  Say you have earned 
90 PRS points for the semester.  Your PRS percentage would be 

                        90/108 = 83.3%.  

PRS is worth 5 points overall, so your PRS points for the semester are 
4.17 (83.3% 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.  Each test is worth a maximum of 125 
points.  Take your best 3 tests and average them and multiply THE 
RESULTING PERCENTAGE by 0.6.  For example, say your test grades are 100, 
104, 90, and 114.  Your test average is then

     (100+104+114)/3 = 106  or 106/125 = 84.80%

We now multiply by .6 since the Tests are worth 60 points overall.

     84.80 times 0.6 = 50.88

     OK, now you have your pre-exam total.

                 HW      7.04
                 PRS     4.17
                 QUIZ    5.74
                 TEST   50.88

                total   67.83

The pre-exam maximum is 80 points, so your pre-exam percentage is

           67.83/80 = 84.79%

     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 

                131 Fall 2002 web page , or
                131 Spring 2002 web page , or
                131 Fall 2001 web page , or
                131 Fall 1999 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.

     To see a previous scale with +- grades go to
                121 Fall 2004 web page 

     Let's get back to our example.  You have 67.83 points going in
to the exam.  The exam is worth 20 so the best you can do is 87.83,
not enough to get an A if the class average is 75 or higher.  On
the other hand, you need at least 12.17 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 (12.17/20)*40 right, or 25 out of 40, to
insure yourself of a B.