You have probably heard that most of your classes will be graded on a bell curve. By the nature of such a curve, you are competing against the other people in the class since only a certain number of people can get an A, B, C, etc. While you will definitely have a couple of classes like this, from my experience, it is not the norm. Instead, most professors will announce on day one the breakdown of grades. They will tell you what percentage of your final grade will come from homework, tests, the final exam, etc. They will then record your grade on each of these assignments as a point value rather than a letter. At the end of the semester, they will tally everything up to get your final letter grade. It is at this point that the professor might make adjustments. Keep in mind, each professor can make their own policies on how to handle grades, so pay attention to your syllabus. Since most classes aren’t graded on bell curves, one of the best aspects of UIUC is that students don’t compete with each other, they work together. Find a group of people who have a similar work ethic, and try to tackle assignments together (because in the “real world” you almost surely won’t be alone at work). Also, don’t stress a ton about grades. The academic goal of college is to learn what you need to know for the rest of your life, not to attain a grade, and especially in CS, grades are often not considered (no company has ever asked me for my GPA). Focus on the material, and you’ll do well enough in the classes (don’t memorize code, learn to solve problems). A couple cool links (don’t be scared if GPAs seem lower than expected): [https://courses.engr.illinois.edu/cs199205/sp2016/discovery/gpa_of_every_course_at_illinois/?a=fbw] (https://courses.engr.illinois.edu/cs199205/sp2016/discovery/gpa_of_every_course_at_illinois/?a=fbw)