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I took a class with graduate students as an undergraduate student. The grading was on a curve and combined(as in graduate students were graded along with undergraduate students).

Is this normal in US universities as well? Won't the undergraduate students have a disadvantage competing against graduate students(pursuing 2nd year of Masters/Phd) for a good grade.

What ended up was:

1 A Grade

12 B Grades(7 of which went to Graduate Students and 5 to undergraduate students)

20 C Grades

10 D Grades

3 E Grades

For a class of 25 Graduate students and 21 Undergraduate students.

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I was graded in a common pool that included both graduate and undergraduate students several times including some cases where I was on both side of the line. It happens. – dmckee Dec 1 '12 at 5:44
Won't the undergraduate students have a disadvantage competing against graduate students — Given the grade distribution you describe, apparently not! – JeffE Dec 1 '12 at 18:47
I do know one thing: the one guy with the A grade is a jerk. Would it have killed him to get a couple wrong for the good of everyone else's GPA? – corsiKa Dec 1 '12 at 19:47
On a more serious note, what year were the undergrads? Most fourth year students I knew when I was in my fourth year were significantly more able than the masters students. Not to stereotype, but many of the masters students simply weren't able to get a job upon graduation, so continued schooling to avoid paying student loans. The difference between 4 and 6 years of schooling is significantly less than the difference between, say, 0 and 2 or 1 and 3. 2 years is not just 2 years. – corsiKa Dec 1 '12 at 19:50
The undergrads were in their fourth year first semester. The Masters students were in their 2nd year first semester. The masters students were coming from industry sponsored programs for further education. They had absolutely no problems going back to their jobs. Their industrial experience in my perspective gave them a significant advantage because they had applied all the concepts in that course except adaptive filtering even before they entered their masters program. – Naresh Dec 2 '12 at 2:39
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3 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

In the past, I've graded the pool together, and have also graded grads and undergrads separately. Ultimately this is a decision made by the instructor, who probably spelt this out in their syllabus before the class started.

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Professor: Why would you grade undergraduate students with obviously 'lesser' background with graduate students? Won't this be skewing their grades negatively? Hope this does not come off as offensive... – Naresh Dec 1 '12 at 7:04
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why "lesser" ? advanced undergraduates and entering grads are closer than you think, and it's not uncommon for the UGs to be better. – Suresh Dec 1 '12 at 10:00
I don't quite know about the US scenario, however, in India, most Masters students who enter university come with a year or two of Industrial experience in a relevant field. At least, that was the case in my class. – Naresh Dec 1 '12 at 10:45
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That really depends on the department. There are departments where advanced undergrad classes are harder than grad classes, because the advanced undergraduates are stronger than the graduate students. Also, depending on the class in question, "a year or two of industrial experience" may be a serious disadvantage. – JeffE Dec 1 '12 at 18:45
up vote 5 down vote

There is no uniform set of regulations; every college (and perhaps even every department within a college, or even every instructor) might have its own regulations.

However, the existence of classes open to both undergraduates and graduate students is in fact quite common, and I know I certainly took several graduate classes as an undergraduate.

In general, the difference comes in when the class is really a graduate-level class that is also open to advanced undergraduates, or when the course is truly designed to be open to both undergraduates and graduates. When the class is really a graduate-level class, undergraduates are generally not treated with "kid gloves," and are expected to compete head-to-head with the graduate students. For a truly mixed class, the options are more varied.

With respect to the specific distribution of grades, I can't really comment on that, as those choices are specific to your course.

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up vote 1 down vote

In the US, unless a class is strictly made as a ungragrad/graduate mix class, graduate classes are made mostly for graduate students. Some universities require the instructor consent to enroll and you won't be able to enroll independently on-line, other will only let you enroll if there are seats left after graduate enrollment. Since in these cases it is up to the instructor or student discretion to take a course, then there is really no special treatment.

In my opinion seniors are more or less on the same level as master's students when starting a class, as usually both wouldn't not have any advanced knowledge of graduate level content. So the gap is not as wide as it might seem.

As far as the grading, that is highly subjective, and can change a lot. I know some instructors even have separate assignments.

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seniors are more or less on the same level as master's students — Again, this really depends on the department. – JeffE Dec 1 '12 at 18:46
@JeffE Agreed. In my field, that's likely not at all true, and seniors, even promising seniors, would be at a staggering disadvantage. – EpiGrad Dec 3 '12 at 23:44
What is the difference between a senior at his last semester and a first year master student? – user4050 Dec 3 '12 at 23:49
The Masters student might have worked on and finished a Bachelor's thesis in a relevant subject. Or could have formally worked in an industrial job in that field. It all depends on how the Masters student utilized the time between his senior year and entering a Masters Program. – Naresh Dec 4 '12 at 11:02
@user4050 Most undergrads are neither interested in nor qualified for graduate school, and so do not become first year master's students. The undergrads that do become first year master's students tend to be more interested in the material, academically stronger, more intellectually mature, etc. At least, I think that's true in general; the distinction varies significantly among departments. – JeffE Dec 4 '12 at 18:26
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