[944] Grading policy amendment

[Gautam Iyer]

Hi All,

Since I received a few requests about this, I am willing to amend the
grading policy to allow students who got *lower* than a B- on the
midterm to potentially increase their midterm grade to a B-.

Explicitly if F = final grade, M = midterm grade, I currently calculate
your exam grade E as (3M + 5F)/8. I'm willing to instead compute

    E = (3M' + 5F)/8

where

    M' = max( M, min(M+1, 2.67, F) )

That is, I increase your midterm grade by at most one full letter,
capped at the lower of a B- and your final exam grade. (This formula has
traditionally been used in MSCF for the make up exam, and I'm willing to
extend it to discount the midterm performance.)

Please note that this does not affect anyone who got a B- or higher on
the midterm. Moreover for students who are affected, the most the
midterm grade can increase to is a "B-", so they will never have an
adjusted midterm score higher than anyone who already has a "B-" or
higher on the midterm.

If there are any concerns let me know. (I'm not willing to use alternate
formulae to compute the final grade -- but if anyone feels that the
above amendment is unfair, I would consider staying with the policy
currently on the website).

Best,

Gautam

-- 
A)bort, R)etry, I)nfluence with large hammer.