Is it normal for 1/3 of a class to fail a midterm. Teachers Help!?

Question

I am taking a very difficult class. The three assigned readings are very dense, and written in a manner that require a dictionary (no matter what your reading level is). I am struggling in this class, I started a study group and we met a couple of times before the exam which I found to be very useful, but still managed to somehow fail my midterm.

I have NEVER failed a class before. I was warned that he is a very hard grader, but I thought that was coming from slacker students. My instructor posted our grades online, and 1/3 of the class failed. 1/3 barely passed with a C- and the other 1/3 is a mix of A—B-. Does this sound about right? It just doesn't seem normal to me that 1/3 of a class will fail.

I thought that usually only 1-5 students fail, but this is a class with 30+ students that means AT LEAST 10 failed.

Is this normal? Can anything be done, or brought up to the attention of the Deans office?

Answer 1

I don't recall ever being in a college class where 1/3 of the class failed. I don't know what you can do but it would be worth speaking with a school counselor, perhaps if you and your fellow student teamed up something can be done. Its much more likely the Deans office will listen to a group rather than one student. Maybe theres a history og this happening

Answer 2

Wow. That sounds pretty crazy. Is your prof going to curve the grades since so many people failed? It's definitely worth asking.

Otherwise, I'd suggest definitely going to the department chair or the dean.

Also, in the future you might want to check out www.ratemyprofessors.com. It lets students rate their professors on scales of how difficult they are, how helpful they are, etc. If a prof gets tons of low ratings, you should consider staying away from his or her classes! :)