Are midterms indicative of success on finals? Forum

[PhillyCheesesteak]

How much of a correlation?

[presidentk1]

that torts midterm isn't going to be anything like the real final

[IAFG]

It's a great indicator of who in your class is a fuckwad

[Gamecubesupreme]

Depends if it is graded or not.

[traehekat]

Depends if it is graded or not.

This. Obviously there is a greater correlation if it is graded. If not, then it doesn't mean anything. The people who are actually smart and will end up doing well in the class recognize that there is no point in giving a shit about an ungraded midterm.

[The Duck]

Depends if it is graded or not.

Also depends on how it plays into the grade. In one class, we had several mini-quizzes which collectively made up a decent portion of the final grade (like 25%). Because variation in the final curve was tight, those quizes ended up acting as an anchor and made it very difficult to pull your grade up any higher. You had to really knock it out of the park, or screw up, to change your grade in a meaningful way.

[Icculus]

Depends if it is graded or not.

This. Obviously there is a greater correlation if it is graded. If not, then it doesn't mean anything. The people who are actually smart and will end up doing well in the class recognize that there is no point in giving a shit about an ungraded midterm.

Also...

It's a great indicator of who in your class is a fuckwad

Midterms are not a time to be bragging, and I know several people who butchered a graded midterm but still did exceedingly well in class. I wouldn't put too much stock in most of them.

[09042014]

Depends if it is graded or not.

Also depends on how it plays into the grade. In one class, we had several mini-quizzes which collectively made up a decent portion of the final grade (like 25%). Because variation in the final curve was tight, those quizes ended up acting as an anchor and made it very difficult to pull your grade up any higher. You had to really knock it out of the park, or screw up, to change your grade in a meaningful way.

If this is true your professor is an idiot.

[Icculus]

Depends if it is graded or not.

Also depends on how it plays into the grade. In one class, we had several mini-quizzes which collectively made up a decent portion of the final grade (like 25%). Because variation in the final curve was tight, those quizes ended up acting as an anchor and made it very difficult to pull your grade up any higher. You had to really knock it out of the park, or screw up, to change your grade in a meaningful way.

If this is true your professor is an idiot.

I would venture to guess that every prof who told us the midterm counted ended up not using it, or using it in a limited manner. One flat out said that the most it would be counted fior was as a "tie breaker". the curve just makes midterms too difficulty use in a meaningful way especially when there is most likely a huge discrepency in people's grades from one to the other.

[The Duck]

Depends if it is graded or not.

Also depends on how it plays into the grade. In one class, we had several mini-quizzes which collectively made up a decent portion of the final grade (like 25%). Because variation in the final curve was tight, those quizes ended up acting as an anchor and made it very difficult to pull your grade up any higher. You had to really knock it out of the park, or screw up, to change your grade in a meaningful way.

If this is true your professor is an idiot.

Actually, he's pretty brilliant and well known/liked. It was commercial transactions so the section quizes covered a ton of material in detail. The final was nominally cumulative but had a much broader focus.

[09042014]

Depends if it is graded or not.

Also depends on how it plays into the grade. In one class, we had several mini-quizzes which collectively made up a decent portion of the final grade (like 25%). Because variation in the final curve was tight, those quizes ended up acting as an anchor and made it very difficult to pull your grade up any higher. You had to really knock it out of the park, or screw up, to change your grade in a meaningful way.

If this is true your professor is an idiot.

Actually, he's pretty brilliant and well known/liked. It was commercial transactions so the section quizes covered a ton of material in detail. The final was nominally cumulative but had a much broader focus.

I should have qualified that with "mathematically" and idiot.

If those 25% quizzes "anchored" your grades, then they were worth much more than 25%. You can't just take the raw scores, multiply by .25 and .75 then add, then curve. You need to normalize both sets. Then average.

IF the quizzes had a median of 19 with a variance of 6. And the test had 70 variance of 3. The quizzes would be 66% of your grade, even though the points are only worth 25 out of 100 total.

[The Duck]

I should have qualified that with "mathematically" and idiot.

If those 25% quizzes "anchored" your grades, then they were worth much more than 25%. You can't just take the raw scores, multiply by .25 and .75 then add, then curve. You need to normalize both sets. Then average.

IF the quizzes had a median of 19 with a variance of 6. And the test had 70 variance of 3. The quizzes would be 66% of your grade, even though the points are only worth 25 out of 100 total.

Well, that may be. He's like 80 so who knows how he actually computed it. Math is hard.

[Watermelon Man]

Focus on the final; you can't re-take your midterm, now. One professor gave us a "graded" midterm last year. I did okay on it. Above median, but not by much. Ended up booking the class, though. I honestly don't think the professor took the midterms into account.

[gdane]

Try your hardest on the midterm. Don't focus on what grade you get on it; focus on what you could have done better.

Last year I had a torts midterm that professor said was worthy of no more than a b. I went over it and saw that I only talked about intentional torts and didnt even mention negligence. After this I learned how to use the "forks" approach that Getting to Maybe advocates.

I took what I learned from the midterm and ended up doing well on the final and in the class.

Good luck.

[rayiner]

I should have qualified that with "mathematically" and idiot.

If those 25% quizzes "anchored" your grades, then they were worth much more than 25%. You can't just take the raw scores, multiply by .25 and .75 then add, then curve. You need to normalize both sets. Then average.

IF the quizzes had a median of 19 with a variance of 6. And the test had 70 variance of 3. The quizzes would be 66% of your grade, even though the points are only worth 25 out of 100 total.

Well, that may be. He's like 80 so who knows how he actually computed it. Math is hard.

[NotMyRealName09]

While acing a midterm is great, not acing it and truely taking the time to analyze what you did not understand will be most helpful.

Its one thing to look over a test, see what you got wrong and what the right answer was, say "damnit," and move on. Maybe there is a temptation in poeple to say, "I'm really good at X, so let me study the shit out of X because I don't test as well on Y."

It's harder to take that wrong answer and re-study the material to understand WHY you thought the wrong answer was right. I've learned more from wrong answers on practice exams (never really had a midterm) than I actually learned through normal studying. So take advantage of it and focus on your weakness. Once you've identified your strength, you don't need to focus on that subject matter as much.

[thesealocust]

It's probably a good indicator of whether you're on the right track, but if you do well on a midterm keep in mind basically everyone who didn't will go into over-drive trying to figure out why.

[goaheadualright]

Depends on your classmates, and you. I know some kids who did great on the Contracts midterm and spent the entire rest of their semester tutoring attractive girls, running a contracts hotline, discussing their future job as Contracts TA, etc. while the rest of the kids who scored median and below were really getting their shit together.

If you did great on your midterm, that's great- but remember that those who didn't will be taking it to the next level for the final, and you should continue to work hard instead of picking out all the expensive suits you're going to purchase with your law review scholarship.

[Tom Joad]

I plan on studying for about 2 hours for mine. Hope it works.