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.