[Revolutionary]

My college graded on a curve. Sounds good, but since everyone had to be really smart just to get in, the competition was fierce. Lots of people had to get Ds and Fs that were real smart. The bottom were culled each year. Only 50% of the entering class graduated. And two to three normal courses were crammed into one. You definitely learned a lot.

[Gritty]

It sounds like you attended one of the Military Academies back many years ago.

[Svartalfiar]

My college graded on a curve. Sounds good, but since everyone had to be really smart just to get in, the competition was fierce. Lots of people had to get Ds and Fs that were real smart. The bottom were culled each year. Only 50% of the entering class graduated. And two to three normal courses were crammed into one. You definitely learned a lot.

Yea, the problem with that is the consistency of the product (the students) will vary greatly. A bunch of dumb kids will get boosted so idiots pass, while next year a bunch of smart kids might get kicked down some.

And for classes that need a curve in general, then there's something wrong. If you have to put a curve in place to ensure enough students pass, that means either the material is too difficult at the level it's taught, or the professor is failing to teach it. And curving the whole class just means students are moving on without a proper knowledge of the more basic material, meaning they'll have that much harder of a time when they take more advanced classes later.