Professor promised me an A I didn't earn, but my final grade is a B.

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TheBatman

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Just finished a tough semester and I'm quite satisfied with my performance for the most part. The grade in question is in a prerequisite class so i'm very disappointed. My final percentage grade was a 89.2225%. I visited the professor before the grades were put in the computer permanently and plead my case. I was sick for two weeks and i'm a non science major attempting to get into medical school so this grade is very critical (it's a 5 credit class). He's a nice guy so he told me verbally that he'd bump it up to which I thanked him a million times. A week later the final grades are put in and I have a B. Should I just bite the bullet and move forward or should I email him? I reckon he can't change the grade himself without administrative assistance.

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He might have just forgot. If he promised you the A then yes, just email him reminding him of the conversation and you should be able to get it changed.


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Just finished a tough semester and I'm quite satisfied with my performance for the most part. The grade in question is in a prerequisite class so i'm very disappointed. My final percentage grade was a 89.2225%. I visited the professor before the grades were put in the computer permanently and plead my case. I was sick for two weeks and i'm a non science major attempting to get into medical school so this grade is very critical (it's a 5 credit class). He's a nice guy so he told me verbally that he'd bump it up to which I thanked him a million times. A week later the final grades are put in and I have a B. Should I just bite the bullet and move forward or should I email him? I reckon he can't change the grade himself without administrative assistance.
If he said he'd bump it up, email him ONCE. If he doesn't respond, next semester visit him ONCE. If he doesn't want to do you the favor anymore, he doesn't have to, and you should let it go.
 
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I would not create a record of emails asking to bump up a grade. Moreover it's not easy to change a grade once it was recorded on your transcript. Just take the earned grade.
 
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I would not create a record of emails asking to bump up a grade. Moreover it's not easy to change a grade once it was recorded on your transcript. Just take the earned grade.

I'll add the caveat that I wouldn't leave a paper trail, but I'd stop in to ask the professor or email to see if you can call them and discuss the matter further.

Professors often have a little leeway if you earn it and things can be changed in a certain 'protest' period if the professors are willing to do the work.
 
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I would go to his office and ask him in person.
 
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Considering the amount of energy you're going to expend upon trying to get that 89 turned into a 90, if you had just spent that same amount of time in your studies, you'd have the 90.

You're lucky the professor is even considered making the change, because an 89 is a B, period.


Just finished a tough semester and I'm quite satisfied with my performance for the most part. The grade in question is in a prerequisite class so i'm very disappointed. My final percentage grade was a 89.2225%. I visited the professor before the grades were put in the computer permanently and plead my case. I was sick for two weeks and i'm a non science major attempting to get into medical school so this grade is very critical (it's a 5 credit class). He's a nice guy so he told me verbally that he'd bump it up to which I thanked him a million times. A week later the final grades are put in and I have a B. Should I just bite the bullet and move forward or should I email him? I reckon he can't change the grade himself without administrative assistance.
 
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I'll add the caveat that I wouldn't leave a paper trail, but I'd stop in to ask the professor or email to see if you can call them and discuss the matter further.

Professors often have a little leeway if you earn it and things can be changed in a certain 'protest' period if the professors are willing to do the work.

I was thinking the same. It's a very traumatizing moment when you've become super excited that he'll bump up the grade and then to see a B. It's a huge Science GPA swing. I'll just let it be I don't want to jeopardize his job.
 
He probably forgot or he might have changed the grade for the wrong person. If he wanted to give you a B, he would have said so when you asked.
 
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Considering the amount of energy you're going to expend upon trying to get that 89 turned into a 90, if you had just spent that same amount of time in your studies, you'd have the 90.

You're lucky the professor is even considered making the change, because an 89 is a B, period.

I understand your sentiment which is why I clearly stated in my title, "An A I DIDN'T earn". I shook his hand firmly before I left in a great deal of excitement. Oh well it is what it is.
 
It's a very traumatizing moment when you're become super excited that he'd bump up the grade in such a critical class and then to see a B.

Very traumatizing??? No, dude.
 
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I would not create a record of emails asking to bump up a grade. Moreover it's not easy to change a grade once it was recorded on your transcript. Just take the earned grade.

The professor could chalk it up to a calculation mistake and fix it readily after the fact. Anyone who tells you differently is just trying to avoid you.
 
OP, aren't you the poster that notoriously makes posts about professors hitting on you or inappropriately touching you, etc.? If so, is it possible that you simply did something to annoy or anger the professor?
 
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Too bad your professor wasn't a female...
 
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I was thinking the same. It's a very traumatizing moment when you've become super excited that he'll bump up the grade and then to see a B. It's a huge Science GPA swing. I'll just let it be I don't want to jeopardize his job.

Dude, just send him a polite email reminding him of your agreement. He probably just forgot.

It's one thing if you're asking for a grade bump out of the blue (which I think is tacky), but it's another thing if he has already agreed to bump you.

You won't jeopardize his job. Teachers bump grades all the time. My professors often point out that they get the final say in the letter grade, regardless of a student's numerical score in class.
 
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I would definitely send a polite email reminding him about the conversation. I swear, sometimes y'all are so paranoid. "Leaving a paper trail," really?
 
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Another vote for one very polite and non-pushy email. Can't emphasize enough how much tone is important here. You also have to be willing to let this go if the prof doesn't respond. You get one nice email, and that's it. (Also, it's completely normal for profs to change grades after the class is finished, so that shouldn't be a concern at all.)

It's too bad your school doesn't have pluses and minuses. There's a heck of a difference between your performance and the performance of a 79.5%er. It's also very odd to see a pre-req science class with 90/80/70 cutoffs--I've literally never seen that before in my life, and I've been to quite a few different schools.

Sorry about your situation. It stinks, but somebody has to be the highest scoring B student in the class. Attack it next semester and show 'em what you're made of!
 
Another vote for one very polite and non-pushy email. Can't emphasize enough how much tone is important here. You also have to be willing to let this go if the prof doesn't respond. You get one nice email, and that's it. (Also, it's completely normal for profs to change grades after the class is finished, so that shouldn't be a concern at all.)

It's too bad your school doesn't have pluses and minuses. There's a heck of a difference between your performance and the performance of a 79.5%er. It's also very odd to see a pre-req science class with 90/80/70 cutoffs--I've literally never seen that before in my life, and I've been to quite a few different schools.

Sorry about your situation. It stinks, but somebody has to be the highest scoring B student in the class. Attack it next semester and show 'em what you're made of!
Wait, what other grading cutoffs have you seen? I've never NOT seen 90/80 cutoffs for A/B in a science course in college.
 
Wait, what other grading cutoffs have you seen? I've never NOT seen 90/80 cutoffs for A/B in a science course in college.

At a lot of universities, grades are curved. For example, if the class average was 60/100, 60 would be set to a B minus, and an A minus would be one standard deviation above 60. It's up to the professor what to set the average to, and where the grade cutoffs are.
 
I received an A in a course with a mid-50s average because the average score in the class was a 40ish. Everything is on a curve. I haven't taken pre-req science courses at small liberal arts colleges, but at two Ivies and a large state school it was all based on the curve. The class is curved to a set grade, usually a B-, and how you do in the class depends on how many standard deviations above or below the curve you are.

Anyway, I don't want to derail the thread for the OP, so maybe we should start a separate thread if we want to talk grading schemes!
 
At a lot of universities, grades are curved. For example, if the class average was 60/100, 60 would be set to a B minus, and an A minus would be one standard deviation above 60. It's up to the professor what to set the average to, and where the grade cutoffs are.
Lol, that'd be nice. I guess our classes were too small to curve. We graded like highschool - meet the cutoff, get the grade. Occasionally there'd be a few point curve if an exam was particularly brutal.


I've gotten As in courses with a mid-50s average before because the average score in the class was a 40ish. Everything is on a curve. I haven't taken pre-req science courses at small liberal arts colleges, but at two Ivies and a large state school it was all based on the curve. The class is curved to a set grade, usually a B-, and how you do in the class depends on how many standard deviations above or below the curve you are.

Anyway, I don't want to derail the thread for the OP, so maybe we should start a separate thread if we want to talk grading schemes!
Ah, well, there you go...now you've got small libarts college grading knowledge to add to your repertoire! :laugh:
 
If I was explicitly told it would be bumped up, I would definitely ask. Don't pester though, and be prepared for the possible "sorry, I couldn't do it" response. Otherwise, I don't see the harm. good luck
 
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Well, a lot of people in the curved classes think the cutoff style would be nice. In a curved class, you're in competition with everyone else in the class, because the goal, when it comes down to it, is to beat your classmates by as much as you can. When 90% of the class is composed of pre-meds who are going for the A and studying really hard to make that happen, it gets stressful, and sometimes nasty. It would be nice to have a system where students are judged on their performance and not just by how they do in comparison to others.

Plusses and minuses to both, I suppose.
 
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Well, a lot of people in the curved classes think the cutoff style would be nice. In a curved class, you're in competition with everyone else in the class, because the goal, when it comes down to it, is to beat your classmates by as much as you can. When 90% of the class is composed of pre-meds who are going for the A and studying really hard to make that happen, it gets stressful, and sometimes nasty. It would be nice to have a system where students are judged on their performance and not just by how they do in comparison to others.

Plusses and minuses to both, I suppose.
Yeah I agree to an extent. However, the nice thing about curved classes with low averages is that you can often get a nice distribution of grades. In prerequisite classes this is nice because it separates the good from the exceptional and allows the best students to stand out, which becomes important for optioning LORs for example. That being said, I think that model breaks down in medical school because all the students are already highly academically qualified and thus this type of system just breeds distrust at a time when we need to encourage team work.


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You have nothing to lose by asking him politely once or twice. At worst, you will just keep the B....and life is not all about grades...
 
You have nothing to lose by asking him politely once or twice. At worst, you will just keep the B....and life is not all about grades...
Agreed, but I can sympathize, the life a premed sure feels like it's all about grades sometimes. Whether it's the truth or not, it's at least something you can control (for the most part)




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Agreed, but I can sympathize, the life a premed sure feels like it's all about grades sometimes. Whether it's the truth or not, it's at least something you can control (for the most part)




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This feeling is impossible to shakeoff. I have a 92.9 in a class this semester and it's an A-. I, personally, don't give a **** because I know that material as well as anyone who got an A and if they really care about maintaining their no rounding policy when the grades they give doesnt really affect them then whatever, that's their perogative. However, there is a tiny little gremlin inside of me. He has rat teeth. He is blind. He is always starving but he doesnt remember he's hungry because he's busy scampering in circles in my gut. Every once in a while **** like this happens and he devours my soul.
 
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This feeling is impossible to shakeoff. I have a 92.9 in a class this semester and it's an A-. I, personally, don't give a **** because I know that material as well as anyone who got an A and if they really care about maintaining their no rounding policy when the grades they give doesnt really affect them then whatever, that's their perogative. However, there is a tiny little gremlin inside of me. He has rat teeth. He is blind. He is always starving but he doesnt remember he's hungry because he's busy scampering in circles in my gut. Every once in a while **** like this happens and he devours my soul.
You and I need to go running to destress

or just to 6th street ahaha
 
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also i hate all of you who know yalls grades. I'm up here checking blackboard 30 times a day
 
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There's no harm to be had in asking the professor. It's not a guarantee, though.
 
This feeling is impossible to shakeoff. I have a 92.9 in a class this semester and it's an A-. I, personally, don't give a **** because I know that material as well as anyone who got an A and if they really care about maintaining their no rounding policy when the grades they give doesnt really affect them then whatever, that's their perogative. However, there is a tiny little gremlin inside of me. He has rat teeth. He is blind. He is always starving but he doesnt remember he's hungry because he's busy scampering in circles in my gut. Every once in a while **** like this happens and he devours my soul.

This is perfect.
 
See him in person once and remind him. If nothing happens from that let it go.
 
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Just finished a tough semester and I'm quite satisfied with my performance for the most part. The grade in question is in a prerequisite class so i'm very disappointed. My final percentage grade was a 89.2225%. I visited the professor before the grades were put in the computer permanently and plead my case. I was sick for two weeks and i'm a non science major attempting to get into medical school so this grade is very critical (it's a 5 credit class). He's a nice guy so he told me verbally that he'd bump it up to which I thanked him a million times. A week later the final grades are put in and I have a B. Should I just bite the bullet and move forward or should I email him? I reckon he can't change the grade himself without administrative assistance.
Honestly, you don't deserve the A to begin with. Furthermore, if he bumps your grade up, he should bump everyone's grade up. It's only fair for everyone that way.

You should only confront your professor about grade changes if there was an error with the grading. Other than that, it would be unethical to "massage" a better grade out of your professor.
 
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Considering the amount of energy you're going to expend upon trying to get that 89 turned into a 90, if you had just spent that same amount of time in your studies, you'd have the 90.

You're lucky the professor is even considered making the change, because an 89 is a B, period.
I normally agree with you 100% Goro, but this attitude is a little unfair. It's likely OP studied, thought he/she was prepared, and then happened to come up just short of the cutoff (assuming this is not a case of missing assignments or poor homework grades). If the professor saw that cutoff as arbitrary enough to bump the grade, then it's an A.

It's not possible to see an 89 coming, it just happens, even after students think they studied as hard as they can. I've TA'd classes with students who know exactly what grade they need to get to pull an A. They come into all the office hours, study hard, really know the material before the exam, and then somehow get stuck on 1 or 2 problems only to end up just below that cutoff. Now that student doesn't necessarily deserve an A, they earned the A- or B+ or C+ or whatever grade, but you can't fault them for not putting in the extra hours. You can always put in more hours studying.
 
I normally agree with you 100% Goro, but this attitude is a little unfair. It's likely OP studied, thought he/she was prepared, and then happened to come up just short of the cutoff (assuming this is not a case of missing assignments or poor homework grades). If the professor saw that cutoff as arbitrary enough to bump the grade, then it's an A.

It's not possible to see an 89 coming, it just happens, even after students think they studied as hard as they can. I've TA'd classes with students who know exactly what grade they need to get to pull an A. They come into all the office hours, study hard, really know the material before the exam, and then somehow get stuck on 1 or 2 problems only to end up just below that cutoff. Now that student doesn't necessarily deserve an A, they earned the A- or B+ or C+ or whatever grade, but you can't fault them for not putting in the extra hours. You can always put in more hours studying.

"I took the boards. I needed XXZ to be competitive but I got XXY instead. I came up just a little bit short. They should bump the number. It's an arbitrary cutoff anyway."
 
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I normally agree with you 100% Goro, but this attitude is a little unfair. It's likely OP studied, thought he/she was prepared, and then happened to come up just short of the cutoff (assuming this is not a case of missing assignments or poor homework grades). If the professor saw that cutoff as arbitrary enough to bump the grade, then it's an A.

It's not possible to see an 89 coming, it just happens, even after students think they studied as hard as they can. I've TA'd classes with students who know exactly what grade they need to get to pull an A. They come into all the office hours, study hard, really know the material before the exam, and then somehow get stuck on 1 or 2 problems only to end up just below that cutoff. Now that student doesn't necessarily deserve an A, they earned the A- or B+ or C+ or whatever grade, but you can't fault them for not putting in the extra hours. You can always put in more hours studying.

In the real working world, you are measured by results ... not effort.

Furthermore, you can't grade based off effort in a class size of 100+. There is no way you will know the personal struggles of every student in your class to make a fair judgement.
 
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OP, did you talk to your professor? What happened?
 
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See him in person once and remind him. If nothing happens from that let it go.

Yep, this is probably the best approach. However, there's no need to be worried about a paper trail and things like that. This is a not uncommon discussion that happens in academic institutions and no one is going to be bewildered that the professor discussed bumping your grade.
 
If it's not in writing it didn't happen.
 
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This feeling is impossible to shakeoff. I have a 92.9 in a class this semester and it's an A-. I, personally, don't give a **** because I know that material as well as anyone who got an A and if they really care about maintaining their no rounding policy when the grades they give doesnt really affect them then whatever, that's their perogative. However, there is a tiny little gremlin inside of me. He has rat teeth. He is blind. He is always starving but he doesnt remember he's hungry because he's busy scampering in circles in my gut. Every once in a while **** like this happens and he devours my soul.

Agreed. Yea the schools without +/- grades definitely make life easier...

I think +/- system should be done away with. People who earn the best grades don't necessary know the material better and may forget faster. Much better to use that extra study time on other things.
 
Meh, I kind of disagree. The OP is in the predicament he's in precisely because of the lack of +/- grades. His only options are A (4.0) and B (3.0), and there is a significant difference between those two. If he were talking about a B+ vs. A-, this wouldn't matter so much and I think most of us would just tell him to accept it and move on. There will always be inconsistencies and vagaries with grading because profs are only human and do the best they can, and having +s and -s allows people not to get their GPA zinged because the prof accidentally included an ambiguous question on an exam.
 
Meh, I kind of disagree. The OP is in the predicament he's in precisely because of the lack of +/- grades. His only options are A (4.0) and B (3.0), and there is a significant difference between those two. If he were talking about a B+ vs. A-, this wouldn't matter so much and I think most of us would just tell him to accept it and move on. There will always be inconsistencies and vagaries with grading because profs are only human and do the best they can, and having +s and -s allows people not to get their GPA zinged because the prof accidentally included an ambiguous question on an exam.
My uni also does not incorporate + / -. Nor do they curve.

The first thing some professors tell us while we were discussion the syllabus: "you get what you get. Even if you were borderline, I will not bump it up."

Other professors will go the other direction and say that they will bump the grade if they felt a question on a test seems unfair, but EVERYONE's grade will be bumped up in that instance.

Again, it's personal preference.

But you know what, the OP had an 89.2%. That rounds to 89, not 90. Bumping doesn't involve an increase in a whole percentage.... That's more like a full-speed tackle, lol.
 
And I guess that's one argument for why classes should be curved :) That was my thing with stickler profs. If they want to make 0.3% be the difference between a student receiving a 4.0 and a 3.0 for their class, they had pretty darn well make sure that all of THEIR test questions are accurate and that THEY did not make a potential 0.3% error in teaching the class. That is almost never the case, through no fault of the professor. Nobody can be that accurate.

I actually have very little patience for grade grubbers, but I think fairness goes both ways.
 
And I guess that's one argument for why classes should be curved :) That was my thing with stickler profs. If they want to make 0.3% be the difference between a student receiving a 4.0 and a 3.0 for their class, they had pretty darn well make sure that all of THEIR test questions are accurate and that THEY did not make a potential 0.3% error in teaching the class. That is almost never the case, through no fault of the professor. Nobody can be that accurate.

I actually have very little patience for grade grubbers, but I think fairness goes both ways.
That's why some professors even lower their standards to 88%, 87.5%, or 85% for an A.

Doesn't stop the grade grubbers from arguing about their 87%, 86%, or 84% when it's clearly below 90% still. . .

That one B ( even if it's a 5 unit course) is not lethal anyway. Even non-science majors have to take a ton of science courses for med school prerequisites. Not to mention the additional recommended upper division coursework... There's plenty of opportunities to raise GPA.
 
The +\- system is fine in my opinion, the alternative is much worse it seems. We have to remember that we only view this through our lens as pre-meds where high-stakes test taking is the norm. I've never asked for a grade bump and I intend to keep it that way out of integrity. However, I have been very fortunate in that I've done well in my classes up to this point where I can have the luxury of taking the high ground. If I had a 3.4 or something similarly borderline then I would probably be singing a different tune. High stakes testing is honestly crap but it is what it is. As long as there are people to judge us on these 1% point difference then every % counts and that's the way it has to be. It's a sad, anti-intellectual reality and I can't think of a better way to do things except to make adcoms blind to an applicants gpa as long as a certain gpa cutoff is met and that system isn't perfect either.
 
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