Graduate Courses

While overall grading strategies and models will vary from course to course, based on type and number of assignments, area, approach, methodology, and so on, the academic paper is a common assignment.  In general, graduate essays are expected to be well situated in terms of research on the topic(s) of the essay, are, of course, fully and properly documented according to an accepted bibliographic style (in most cases, MLA or Chicago citation styles are used), and will be free of typographic and writing errors.

Some general definitions of essay grades are offered below.  Of course, you should check with your specific instructors about their methods of grading and weighting in their courses.

A+            Papers that earn the highest grade are usually somewhat rare; they are original and innovative, and add to the scholarly discussion on the topic(s) at hand.  They also show considerable command of critical and other secondary material.  Depending on the type of assignment, these papers could, with no or minor revisions, be considered publishable in academic journals specific to the field.

A               These essays constitute excellent graduate work.  They are original and strongly written, and show considerable command of critical and other secondary material, but would need significant revision before being considered publishable.

A-             These essays are very good graduate level work, and are well written and researched, offering a good understanding of the primary material and the scholarly discussion thereof.

B+             Essays in the B+ range may be considered good graduate work, but show weaknesses in terms of research, argumentation or writing.

B               These essays are satisfactory graduate work, but with substantial flaws in one or more areas of research, argumentation or writing.  They may indicate difficulty in moving beyond undergraduate-level work.

B-              Essays in this range are minimally passable graduate work, showing considerable weaknesses or errors in research, argumentation, and writing.  These essays demonstrate difficulty in moving beyond undergraduate-level work.