Asking professor for grade change?

[hiyaman]

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Im a big believer in letting go. Ive never asked for a grade to be changed because whats done is done. However in the OP it sounds like the poster has one of the highest grades in the course, I think the profesor would use some common sense and give the op an A and adjust everyones graDe.accordingly. Cant imagine a professor failing an entire class.

 

[Camy99]

What would you do in this situation?

A student is doing very well in a course - one of the highest grades with consistent 95+ scores on assignments and exams. On the final exam, though, he/she does uncharacteristically poorly - score in the mid 60s. Going into the final he/she had a high A, but now the student is going to get a B/B+. What would you do as the student? Go ask for a higher grade on the grounds that the final was a fluke? What would you do as the professor?

This was my EXACT situation in my last OChem class. I didn't ask for anything, I still regret it but I took the grade I got because I couldn't blame anyone for failing the final. I just use it as a lesson to not assume I'll ace the class because I'm doing well "so far". End of story.

 

[druggeek]

I find it funny how anyone can tell the OP to not ask for an increase.... I'm 2 for 2 when asking for mark raises and believe me... it helps. We're in the tightest of competitions, any tiny mark can make a difference.

OP, you have nothing to lose by asking.

 

[zma21]

🙁

What were your test scores like? Also, is either course curved to limit the number of A's? (though that would be to only one A I assume in organic...)

Neither classes curve at all.

In both classes, I had three low A's, and a low (80,82) B on exams.

The lone wolf that pulled off the A in orgo was a freak. 98%. With the professor I have, that just shouldn't happen.

Such is life. I'm still in shock.

 

[NickNaylor]

I find it funny how anyone can tell the OP to not ask for an increase.... I'm 2 for 2 when asking for mark raises and believe me... it helps. We're in the tightest of competitions, any tiny mark can make a difference.

OP, you have nothing to lose by asking.

Except perhaps your pride. But I guess in today's day and age pride in your work is less important than the ultimate result.

 

[akszp4]

Except perhaps your pride. But I guess in today's day and age pride in your work is less important than the ultimate result.

I agree with NickNaylor. You didn't get a A so you don't deserve a A. If putting forward effort mean getting a automatic A then everyone would have perfect MCAT scores.

I hate it when people say that they "deserved" a higher grade... you deserve what you earned. Would I be PO if I got a 89.9? Yes. Would I expect my professor to round it up to a A? No. Get out of your feelings and use logic. The fault lies with what you earned on those tests--- regardless of how poorly the class did in comparison with you!

 

[johnisles2011]

What do you have to lose by trying?

 

[zma21]

Except perhaps your pride. But I guess in today's day and age pride in your work is less important than the ultimate result.

My school doesn't have +'s or -'s, so the difference between an 89 and a 90 is HUGE.

I'm not condoning begging for an undeserved grade, but if you're that close it's worth a second look. When I took organic 1, I noticed I had an 89 B on our official postings. My professor didn't count up my points right on my final and left out a page. Those 7 points on my final actually pushed me to a 91 A. If I hadn't double checked on this I would have never figured that out.

I don't see what pride has to do with this. I earned that A one way or another, whether the professor can simply count correctly or not.

 

[NoNotYouLionel]

Why didn't you attend all the classes so you could get the full attendance grade?

 

[pooker]

Why didn't you attend all the classes so you could get the full attendance grade?

Doctors appointment. I have ulcerative proctitis, and my Gastroentologist is in my home town. (160 miles away). On the other one, I had scheduled meetings in advance with some professors in a different university.

I made an A in this , btw. I guess he decided not to fail the majority of the class. Some of you guys are really emotional when you post, kind of ironic given your sentiments.

Cheers towards an interesting read though, and good luck on everyone in their spring 2012 classes. I know i'm going to need it!

 

[NoNotYouLionel]

Doctors appointment. I have ulcerative proctitis, and my Gastroentologist is in my home town. (160 miles away). On the other one, I had scheduled meetings in advance with some professors in a different university.

I made an A in this , btw. I guess he decided not to fail the majority of the class. Some of you guys are really emotional when you post, kind of ironic given your sentiments.

Cheers towards an interesting read though, and good luck on everyone in their spring 2012 classes. I know i'm going to need it!

Would he not accept a doctor's note? My professors were pretty flexible when I was dealing with health problems.

 

[gettheleadout]

Doctors appointment. I have ulcerative proctitis, and my Gastroentologist is in my home town. (160 miles away). On the other one, I had scheduled meetings in advance with some professors in a different university.

I made an A in this , btw. I guess he decided not to fail the majority of the class. Some of you guys are really emotional when you post, kind of ironic given your sentiments.

Cheers towards an interesting read though, and good luck on everyone in their spring 2012 classes. I know i'm going to need it!

Congrats! I bet that's a load off hah.

 

[SoonerFromTexas]

No harm in asking. A few favorable/lucky questions and possible grading discrepancies could result in a +/- 1 point for anyone. I don't think anyone's pride would make them ask for a lower grade if they guessed correctly on a question. Good luck

Edit: Saw you got the A, you didn't need my luck after all. Congrats.

 

[luke587]

I was 6 points off from an A out of 1000, i went in and got points back on my final paper and ended up getting an A-, I simply just said I've worked really hard all semester and attended every class (as you can see in attendance sheet) and she ended up giving it to me since it wasn't a curved class and i wouldn't be stealing anyones A by being bumped up

 

[Doctor246853]

So let me get this straight:

1) The professor defined an A as a 90%+.
2) Despite doing well, you didn't meet the standard that was provided to you at the beginning of the course.
3) You want the professor to ignore that standard and give you a grade you didn't earn.

Sorry, I have little sympathy for people that grade grub. You might make the argument that it's "only" 0.7 points, but then again, it's ONLY 0.7 points and you could've earned that difference easily. If the professor decides to give you an A, then kudos. If he/she doesn't, I wouldn't try and beg for a better grade.

I usually agree with you but come on... There is nothing like working your butt off and getting a 89.4 and receiving the same grade as someone with a 79.5. It hurts brother..it hurts. I say if you are THAT close, yes you deserve an A. It's not like he has a 87 and trying to get an A.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I would not stress until grades are released, pooker. If he/she does give you a B, I think it's legitimate to approach the professor.

 

[MedPR]

I am waiting on my last grade for this semester, but I calculated my final grade for the class and found it to be an 89.3, and was wondering if it would be appropriate to ask for an A, if he did not give me one.

Here are my grades for the semester

Engineering Mechanics - A
Differential Equations - A
Linear Algebra - A
Modeling and Manufacturing - A
Physics with calculus 2 - (calculated it to be an 89.3, but he hasn't released grades yet).

Our attendance counted for 5 percent of our grade, and I was there every counted attendance except for 2. I had an average of almost 100 on all of my tests, while the class average was a 63 for the combined tests. I made a 98.5 in lab, and my attendance was a 93. On my final I made an 85, and the average was a 61.

The "pop" quizzes were my downfall, and they were composed of 15 percent of my grade, and the class average on these quizzes were a 51, and my average was a 66.


As you can see, our cumulative class average is almost an F for physics with calculus 2, thus not abiding by a bell curve. I tried my hardest, and I was ranked top of my class in physics with calculus 1. Would I have any ground to stand on asking for an A, or perhaps asking if there was some project I could do to make me have an A?


This is very important to me, and studying for this class was intense. I feel that my knowledge of this class, and effort was deserving of an A, but I don't want to come off as self-entitled. Opinions?

If your knowledge and effort was deserving of an A, you would've earned an A barring an error made by the teacher. Your knowledge and effort as a physician may be deserving of saving a life, but your patient could still die. You didn't earn an A, suck it up and take the B.

 

[Doctor246853]

If your knowledge and effort was deserving of an A, you would've earned an A barring an error made by the teacher. Your knowledge and effort as a physician may be deserving of saving a life, but your patient could still die. You didn't earn an A, suck it up and take the B.

👎 Get that A if you can.

 

[druggeek]

Except perhaps your pride. But I guess in today's day and age pride in your work is less important than the ultimate result.

What pride lol? I've 3 for 3 when asking for mark raises (same situation as OP, few tenths off). I never once feel that by asking my pride is gone... maybe it's the bodybuilder ego and being 2x the size of all profs that I don't give a crap.

 

[NickNaylor]

What pride lol? I've 3 for 3 when asking for mark raises (same situation as OP, few tenths off). I never once feel that by asking my pride is gone... maybe it's the bodybuilder ego and being 2x the size of all profs that I don't give a crap.

That's exactly point.

 

[lexrageorge]

There is nothing wrong with going to your professor to politely ask what your grade will be. One time I got a low grade in a class; I went to the professor and simply asked him how my grade was calculated. He took a look, and said "yeah, you were right on the borderline; since you took the time to stop by my office, I'll give you the higher grade."

I didn't even ask for the higher grade, but got it anyway. I don't see anything wrong or unethical about visiting your professor in this manner; after all, they do post office hours.

 

[pfaction]

Maybe they should've worked harder and gotten an average that's 0.1 point higher? Everyone always argues "it's only 0.x more points!" but that's EXACTLY THE POINT. You could've gotten that credit yourself with very little work. It's not ridiculous. It's fair. You (as the student) know the rules AT THE BEGINNING OF THE COURSE. Perhaps you should've worked harder so that you didn't get your position in the first place.

I agree that it would be an ******* thing to not give someone with an 89.9 an A. If I were a professor I would round everything from a 89.45 up to a 90 and give out an A. That said, I would have no mercy on anyone with an 89.44 or below, and a professor certainly isn't obligated to give someone with an 89.9 an A; an 89.9 isn't a 90. I don't care what your excuse is. Any other system is unfair and is certifying that you performed at a level that you actually didn't.

That **** isn't cool man. I got an 89.25 on my Neurology Drugs & Diseases. Super pissed at that, but nothing I could do to and I got my A-. Think about that. 89 in Neurology. Class average wasn't even close to a 70. No curving either--tons of students in the summer course. Sucked...

 

[SellerAl]

You have an 89 and change, not 90. An A is 90. That's it.

 

[Ebola4Breakfast]

You have an 89 and change, not 90. An A is 90. That's it.

Are you kidding me? How dare a professor give a student the actual grade he/she earned! That's lunacy. These are pre-med students. They're almost to the point of maybe applying to possibly become doctors. Of course they've earned that grade bump! Who do these professors thing they are, establishing strict criteria for grades and actually adhering to them? It's like they've got... principles

 

[pfaction]

Are you kidding me? How dare a professor give a student the actual grade he/she earned! That's lunacy. These are pre-med students. They're almost to the point of maybe applying to possibly become doctors. Of course they've earned that grade bump! Who do these professors thing they are, establishing strict criteria for grades and actually adhering to them? It's like they've got... principles

🙄

You pre-meds are hilariously out of touch with reality.

 

[Ebola4Breakfast]

🙄

You pre-meds are hilariously out of touch with reality.

hy·per·bo·le

noun \hī-ˈpər-bə-(&#716😉lē\
: extravagant exaggeration (as “mile-high ice-cream cones”)

 

[leeyuhang]

It wouldn't hurt to ask. What can you lose? But I wouldn't let the grade down you too much.
I took a class last quarter where I thought I had an A but the professor changed the grading scale after the class was over even though there was only 15% of the class who would've gotten an A with the previous scale. I ended up with a B even though the difference between my grade and the new A was one point on the final. He wouldn't even give me a + or - haha 🙁
***t happens sometimes, just continue doing your best!

 

[FictiousForce]

How did you get a solid A in Linear Algebra and Differential Equations but an 89 in Physics?

 

[alexrgross]

I am waiting on my last grade for this semester, but I calculated my final grade for the class and found it to be an 89.3, and was wondering if it would be appropriate to ask for an A, if he did not give me one.

In principle, no problem at all. In practice, your reason for asking for a better grade is not acceptable. Your grade is not based on what you think it should be, its based on your work. Subjective/objective grading, partial credit, and curves aside...seems like your final exam is a point where you may have more credit than you got?

My strategy in these cases was to bring my final into the professor, and state that I wanted to understand my errors and discusses them. Sometimes, just b reviewing and talking through the material I would find some extra points and improve my grade. Even if I didnt, I felt happy that I asserted myself concerning my work - aka grade - in the class.

Ideally, if you have time, you should do this with all your tests.

 

[Classof2013PreM]

What school do you go to where:
1) The distribution of grades that that extreme
2) Somebody with a grade 30 points above the mean is not getting an A

I've never heard of anything like this...haha. Most classes I've heard of are graded on a curve, in which case I'm sure you'll be fine for an A

 

[circulus vitios]

Are you kidding me? How dare a professor give a student the actual grade he/she earned! That's lunacy. These are pre-med students. They're almost to the point of maybe applying to possibly become doctors. Of course they've earned that grade bump! Who do these professors thing they are, establishing strict criteria for grades and actually adhering to them? It's like they've got... principles

Don't hate the player, hate the game.

 

[KnuxNole]

That's exactly point.

Most people you'll see in the medical field don't have pride too 😉

 

[Narmerguy]

A lot of people are acting like professors are infallible or that they consider their grading policies absolute. The professor likely could have given tests that are not reasonable, he may not view his grading policies as absolute, or any other variety of things. Just tell the dude your situation and ask if your performance relative to the class will be taken into consideration (along with your performance prior to the final).

All this crap about "an A is an A is an A" is pretty out of touch with the way most universities work with their grading policies. Many professors give students extensions, drop test scores, or give extra credit opportunities. Professors are human, as are their students. It goes both ways.

My goodness the high horses in this thread.