Is the grading system very tough and relative at DTU??

The grading system at DTU is somewhat challenging, especially in courses like Economics. I’m currently enrolled in this course, and I’ve noticed that the passing criteria can be tougher compared to other programs like BBA. The exam papers are moderate, but you really have to keep up with the syllabus to secure decent grades. The semester system spans about 4-5 months, with midterms happening after just 2 months, so it can get stressful. Overall, it feels competitive, but it pushes us to stay on our toes.

Your main concern seems to be understanding the relationship between marks and grades at DTU.

First off, it's important to know that DTU follows a relative marking scheme. The specifics of how grades are determined based on marks aren't always clear, but here's a general idea.

For first-year students, the grading system is quite different compared to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years because the first year is common for all students. About 50% of the students share common subjects, which then get swapped in the 2nd semester.

Let’s break it down:

• There are around 2000 students in the first year (in recent batches, there were about 1600 students).
• These 2000 students are split into two groups: Group A and Group B, each with 1000 students.
• If you’re in Group A, you have 6 subjects in common with the other 1000 students in the university.
• These 1000 students are divided into 10 batches (like COE, IT, SE, MCE, etc.), with 100 students in each batch.
• Take MA-101 (which I believe is a Mathematics subject, but I could be mistaken). Assume there are 10 different teachers teaching the same subject.

This setup creates a competitive environment, and the relative grading can make it feel tough, especially in the first year!

Relative grading at DTU is somewhat like the Duckworth-Lewis method in cricket.

Here's how it works:

• From the second year onwards, grading is done department-wise, and for first-year students, it's batch-wise (like A & B).
• The marks of all students are plotted—this could be on an Excel sheet or graphically.
• Based on the difficulty of the question paper or the overall performance of students, a range of marks is selected where only a few students fall.
• Those students are assigned a 10 CGPA.
• For assigning lower CGPAs, a certain percentage (generally 10-15% less than the marks chosen for 10 CGPA) is determined by the department. This continues for 9, 8, 7, 6, and so on.

However, there’s no fixed number of students who will receive 10, 9, etc. It’s entirely at the discretion of the department. They can assign 10 CGPA to 10, 15, 20 students, or even none if they deem no one is eligible, depending on the class's behavior during lectures.

I’d say the grading system at DTU is definitely rigorous. I’m pursuing my course here, and with about 2000 students in the East Campus, competition is real. The semester structure, with midterms after just 2 months, means there’s not much time to slack off. While the question papers are moderate, the grading can be strict, especially in subjects like Economics. You really need to focus and prepare well to pass, let alone aim for higher grades. It can be a bit overwhelming, but it’s all part of the learning curve.

Honestly, the grading at DTU feels quite relative. Since I’m in the East Campus, I see around 2000 students, and we have a mix of permanent and guest faculty. The guest faculty often have solid credentials, like PhDs from JNU, which makes the standards pretty high. For my Economics paper, I find that getting a good grade demands serious effort. The exams can be tricky, and there’s always that pressure to perform better than your peers. So yeah, it’s tough, but it also drives us to improve.