Determining your current grade involves only computing weighted percentages.

Suppose we've had six homework assignments so far, and you've turned in five. We've had three quizzes and a midterm. Suppose your scores are as follows:

Here's how I would compute your current grade:

First I convert each score to a percentage:

Then I take the average in each category. In Math 75, the two lowest homework scores and the two lowest quiz scores are dropped from the final grade. I compute the current grade both with and without the drops, for illustration purposes:

In Math 75, homework, quizzes and midterms each count for 18% of the final grade. In other words, they are weighted equally. Thus your grade so far would be the average of the three percentages:

With two lowest homework scores and two lowest quiz scores dropped:
(96.1 + 100 + 88) / 3	=	94.7%
With no dropped scores:
(78.0 + 94 + 88) / 3	=	86.7%

You can see how much difference the drops make, especially at the beginning of the term. But beware: the more assignments we accumulate, the less difference the drops will make. So use your drops wisely!

Here's an example of what happens at the end of the term. Recall that the lowest of the 5 overall grades for Homework, Quiz, Midterm 1, Midterm 2, and Midterm 3 is dropped. Suppose your overall grades are as follows:

You can see how the grade for Midterm 1, being the lowest of the first 5 grades, is dropped. Please note that by Mathematics Department policy, your final exam grade must be counted, even if it is lower than the rest of the grades.

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Last updated 8/22/2005