Could really use some advice please.

[exilio]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey all,

I just finished my first year of college and I am pleased with how it turned out. I am an older student (30yo) and I was able to finish the year with 50+ quarter units and a 4.0. 🙂

Anyways, heading into this next year I have some questions I was hoping to get some help on...but I am not sure if they should be separate threads or not. Anyways, here goes:

1) I am in California, and here you can apply to UC schools online. However it is a single application for all the schools you wish to apply to. My question is this, how do I make it clear that I am interested in one school more than another? The reason being is that I really want to go to ONE specific UC school but I will still apply to others and I don't want to alienate them. Any thoughts?

2) In my attempt to get ahead for my sophomore year I took some summer classes. One of my professor's decided to half-ass it and as a result the class average were abyssmal. Only 2 A's and 5 B's in a basic philosophy class of 30+ students. The instructor blamed the shortness of the summer session. However, he did not make himself available to the students at all, except after class. I emailed and voicemailed the instructor several time about assignments and never got a response. I did get a B, but I know I deserved an A in the class.

I want to contest the grade and get the class dropped from my transcript and I will just take it again. Does anyone have any experience in how I would go about doing this and what the likelihood of success is?

Thanks in advance for any advice and I hope you all are having a great summer.

 

[IndyZX]

It probably won't change anything.

(We've all had Bs that we thought should be As, or Cs that should be Bs.)

 

[Assembler]

I forgot all about the UC application, but is there a list of choices that you can designate in a specified order? If not, you're out of luck on that one. Just hope for the best.

Getting a class dropped of a transcript is practically impossible, especially now that you have fully completed it and received a grade for it. The most you could do is talk to the Dean or someone else above your professor. It is very unlikely that you will get any resolve on this issue. Be happy you were one of the persons that got a B, instead of a C like the rest of the class. Still, talk to someone though; it never hurts to try.

 

[exilio]

It probably won't change anything.

(We've all had Bs that we thought should be As, or Cs that should be Bs.)

That is true, but there are also many people who have deserved better grades than they received. I am not willing to let a professor slide because they couldn't be bothered to do their job well. I did my job as a student to the best of my ability and I expect the same from an instructor.

 

[exilio]

I forgot all about the UC application, but is there a list of choices that you can designate in a specified order? If not, you're out of luck on that one. Just hope for the best.

Getting a class dropped of a transcript is practically impossible, especially now that you have fully completed it and received a grade for it. The most you could do is talk to the Dean or someone else above your professor. It is very unlikely that you will get any resolve on this issue. Be happy you were one of the persons that got a B, instead of a C like the rest of the class. Still, talk to someone though; it never hurts to try.

Sadly, you can't designate a priority school, but that may also be a good thing as it might alienate the schools low on a transfer students list.

And yes, I figure it is nearly impossible to get the class dropped but I feel I must try just on principal alone.

 

[YzIa]

Question for OP, How do you expect to back up your claim that the prof did not do an adequate job teaching, and that resulted in your inability to get an A or AB?

Couldn't it be or be claimed that effort/ability was not deserving of a better grade, that you did not do enough outside of lecture/lab (ie reading text books) to do better or that you just didnt earn an A?

I agree with other posts that you will most likely have no luck in any action against that grade. And thinking you deserve better and claiming you deserved better are one in the same. You just have to suck it up and use it for motivation.

 

[exilio]

Question for OP, How do you expect to back up your claim that the prof did not do an adequate job teaching, and that resulted in your inability to get an A or AB?

Couldn't it be or be claimed that effort/ability was not deserving of a better grade, that you did not do enough outside of lecture/lab (ie reading text books) to do better?

I agree with other posts that you will most likely have no luck in any action against that grade. And thinking you deserve better and claiming you deserved better are one in the same. You just have to suck it up and use it for motivation.

Wow. You really need to lower the hostility a notch.

Not that it is necessary to explain my rationalization on this forum, but here are a few points:

* instructor never returned several phone calls or emails

* no final offered to students with B?s?only those with D?s and C?s.

* instructor did not properly lay out his timeline for students to prepare for several tests (he basically screwed up and jammed the last few chapters into eachother, this was not necessary at all)

* 20 minutes were spent reviewing the take home exam, not nearly enough (this was a 200 pt exam worth 33% of a students grade; handed out on a Thursday, expected back the following Monday)

* ended class session early the day before the last exam instead of going over the information; he basically glossed over the information because he wanted to get home and grade the large take home exams he waited until the last minute to hand out

* he did not make himself available to students before the take-home exam?his advice was to work in groups with students (nearly impossible with the class dynmaics as they were)?and this was a very complex assignment that required far more effort on his part


And on a personal note Yz...I don't have to suck it up, as you put it. As a student I have a responsbility to prepare for my classes. And as an instructor, they need to be prepared as well...this instructor was not and the class suffered as a result. Our preparation or lack thereof is reflected in our grade, for the most part. However, the instructors should be held accountable for their lack of effort and preparation as well.

I am pretty sure that I will not get the satisfaction I am looking for, but I would feel regret for having not tried. You may be the type of person to take things lying down, but I am not.

 

[YzIa]

I wouldn't say I take things lying down, but I think that I know when to fight and when not to. Just seems to me like your situation stinks, but it happens to most students at least once in the course of undergrad. There are a lot of lousy professors out there and everyone is bound to get one.