Grade grubbing: Anyone been succesful at getting grade changed?

[funshine]

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I just got grades back (we take finals after winter break) and find that I have a B+ in my pharmaceutical class. Not that a B+ is bad (I've gotten more than my share of them) but I only took 2 classes for a grade last semester, and so it looks bad to not have all As. Also, I'm a senior so it'd be nice to finish strong.

Anyway, I was shocked at my grade because the final paper was simply a revision of our midterm, and on my midterm paper he wrote "Superb response...No changes needed to final except keep on top of major developments"--which I did. There was also a presentation (which I think I did great on) so where this B+ is coming from, I don't know. Note that he explicitly told the class that "no one would get below a B+" so the fact that I am considered to be a lower-tier student really pissed me off.

I wrote a polite email to him expressing my concern over the grade. I'll give him a few more days to respond but after that, should I call his secretary to schedule an appointment w/ him? E-mail the TA in charge of the class and ask him to deliver my message to the professor?

I know I'm being really petty, but I think this grade was undeserved and his comments on my midterm were MISLEADING. I'm not asking him for any recommendations (in fact, I loathe him) so I don't care what he thinks of me after this. I guess I need to make him like me if I want to get my grade changed though. Another part of me just wants to wring his neck though --he was such an irresponsible and POMPOUS professor...having one of those qualities is annoying, having both makes him despicable from my POV.

ANyway, I've been getting really mixed input from friends--some totally support me, others think I'm doing this in vain. So I wanted to ask you all for some advice. What is the best way to deal with pompous-assed professors when you want to exhort a grade change from them??

I know that for highly subjective, self-loving professors (like this one) a lot depends on the mannor in which you ask--whether you're able to get on their good side. For ex, my dad always gets out of traffic tickets becuse for some odd reason, police officers love the way he treats them (he kisses their a$$es probably). On the other hand, my mom is genuinely upset whenever she's pulled over and somehow her anger makes police officers delight in giving her tickets. Not that getting out of traffic tickets is the same as getting a grade changed to an A, but I do believe that it takes the same sort of talent/personality, something I need to learn

Anyone care to give their advice?

Thanks =)

 

[funshine]

oh yeah, i forgot to ask my major question:

is it even worth getting this grade changed? It doesn't really affect my GPA.
Honestly, I just want to go over to his office and tell him what a horrible teacher he was. Should I do this? Or would this just cause myself more grief. Does anyone have similar experiences?

The funny (well, sad) thing is, if I had gotten an A, I would still think he was a nice funny old man. But he's NOT. I was clearly just being naive.

 

[Haybrant]

long post so didnt get through reading it all but it kinda depends what institution you go to; if you go to a private where you pay through the a$$ ive heard the profs can be more lenient. Ive had friends that knew their profs well at a private and got grades changed that were borderline often. If you are at a state school you can kiss your chances goodbye; i tried to get a b+ changed in a frickin spanish class in which I was literally a point away from the A- and she didnt do it; literally a point away!! youd be hard pressed to find people at cal that got anything changed i imagine.

 

[funshine]

long post so didnt get through reading it all but it kinda depends what institution you go to; if you go to a private where you pay through the a$$ ive heard the profs can be more lenient. Ive had friends that knew their profs well at a private and got grades changed that were borderline often. If you are at a state school you can kiss your chances goodbye; i tried to get a b+ changed in a frickin spanish class in which I was literally a point away from the A- and she didnt do it; literally a point away!! youd be hard pressed to find people at cal that got anything changed i imagine.

We pay a lot. I've heard profs can be lenient....if you're charming. Which I'm not. But, I guess I could try really hard 👎 and make myself feel sick.
you know, at our final presentation, another girl in my group gave him some stupid fancy wine and made some not-so-subtle hints about getting an A. I bet it worked too!

Edit: sorry about the B+. That must have sucked. Anyway, I'm calling my dad to learn what he did to butter up those policemen -_-

 

[Bap2qwrq7]

Geez

First off, quit being a grade *****. You've been on school for probably 3-4 years. One B+ is not going to rock your GPA in either direction. Go ahead and ask him about the grade to see what's up, but don't come in with any expectations. But just go talk to the professor to make sure it wasn't a grade mixup. Ohterwise, if he thought you deserved a B+ quit bargaining for a better grade.

Presentations and papers are subjective so he can always find something to mark wrong.

 

[funshine]

Geez

First off, quit being a grade *****.

I looked at your profile--it's much easier to say that when you have a 3.8+ gpa.

 

[beanbean]

If you want some clarity on the grade, then by all means talk to the guy. If you are professional about it and don't whine or insult the guy, its no problem. However, if you just want to tell the guy he sucks - that's immature and foolish.

 

[Bap2qwrq7]

I looked at your profile--it's much easier to say that when you have a 3.8+ gpa.

Yeah, but that was with a lot of hard work and studying. Not going to professors after the fact and try to get my grades changed after the fact.

But you should go talk to him and clarify what happened. It could be as simple as a clerical error or something that resulted in your grade.

But do not go tell him off and tell him that he is a bad professor etc. Burning bridges is extremely risky and stupid. You don't want to gain a bad reputation among other professors and in general it's jsut bad form. Some people just suck and it's best to just deal with it professionally.

But I can second that state schools are probably not going to be lenient in grade changes. The biology department institutes a 17% A, 33% B etc curve and I was exactly 1 point away from my A- being an A. I tried to argue that a few questions on the final were ambiguous but they told me to get lost. Just how it goes sometimes.

 

[MWillie]

Cliffs notes on the first post please.

 

[River Rat]

Yeah, but that was with a lot of hard work and studying. Not going to professors after the fact and try to get my grades changed after the fact.

But do not go tell him off and tell him that he is a bad professor etc. Burning bridges is extremely risky and stupid. You don't want to gain a bad reputation among other professors and in general it's jsut bad form. Some people just suck and it's best to just deal with it professionally.

👍

 

[kansas]

Regarding Haybrant's commentary. I do not think that all private schools are more lenient about grades and crossing over.

All of my profs are tight wads and they do not give away high grades, and I go to a private school, and you'd better believe we pay out the butt for tuition. I have some friends, though, who go to Kansas State, and their profs will give them high marks and just look the other way. Like this one kid I know, he totally goofed around the entire year during gen chem, and the prof still gave him a C. He told me that he failed all of the exams, didn't even write the paper that was required, and never turned in any assignments.

So, I have to wonder why I am paying out the butt if one can exert no effort and still make descent grades. However, I would not be pleased with a C, but I feel that unless you fully feel like you worked your butt of so much to the point that if you have to think about only getting a B+ for the effort, then you should definitely ask. Otherwise, if it is just a trivial matter, let it lie.

 

[constructor]

long post so didnt get through reading it all but it kinda depends what institution you go to; if you go to a private where you pay through the a$$ ive heard the profs can be more lenient. Ive had friends that knew their profs well at a private and got grades changed that were borderline often. If you are at a state school you can kiss your chances goodbye; i tried to get a b+ changed in a frickin spanish class in which I was literally a point away from the A- and she didnt do it; literally a point away!! youd be hard pressed to find people at cal that got anything changed i imagine.

boy, every one of your posts is about how you have it so hard and everyone else has it really easy. this theme runs throughout your posts bitching about how schools should spend more time reading your application, how you don't like it when you don't get an interview because in your mind your money's getting wasted, and how kids at stanford don't have to earn their A's like the kids at cal. you need to stop bitching so much and accept the fact that unfortunate things happen to everyone, not just to you. your own shortcomings and frustrations are all you seem to care about. look at the big picture and maybe you'll realize that there are many people in your situation who turn out very successful and also many people in the "easy life" situations you describe that don't succeed in spite of being very talented and working very hard.... well, just maybe...

 

[brucecat]

i've definitely know kids who have their grades changed by talking with professors (and this is at a private school), but i think it's rather pathetic myself... and it's a B+.. who cares??

 

[QofQuimica]

I don't think there is anything wrong with making an appointment with the professor to find out why you got the B+ instead of the A you were expecting. You might also ask him for tips on how to improve your work in the future. However, I would advise you NOT to ask him to change the grade unless you have a strong, objective case for doing so (like the clerical errors that other posters suggested might have occurred). If there is evidence that your grade is actually wrong, make sure that you tell him calmly and respectfully; even if he still refuses to consider it, thank him politely for his time and accept his decision. From the instructor side of it, I can tell you that nothing is a bigger turn-off than a whiny pre-med (or worse, a crying one!) who melodramatically tells me that s/he will never get into medical school over one B+. But teachers are human beings too, and I have changed grades for students on a few occasions when they brought errors of mine to my attention.

 

[Dr. Chiquita]

To the OP:

I actually did discuss grade changes with two different professors at my school (for what it's worth, it is a private school) and was successful. So I will just tell you what happened.

First time I did this, I had a really good relationship with the TA. Not that we were friends or anything. I think he liked me because I took his sections seriously. Before the final exam, I asked him, being an obsessive premed that I am, what it will take for me to receive at a minimum an A-. He told me 89. Then, I got a 90 on my final and still ended up with a B+. Of course, this got me a bit upset and I sent a nice email to the TA to ask him what happened. The next day, he emailed me back saying that the professor will put in a grade change. So if your TA can be an advocate for you, use 'em

Second time I did this, I was receiving research credits for a letter grade. I am very independent when it comes to doing research and I don't usually seek much help from grad students. So I did my project on my own and on my own terms. So I will go in at odd hours and run experiments and such. My professor thought that I was slacking off and gave me a flat B. I made an appointment to see him and basically told him exactly what I did and showed him what I had produced over the course of the semester. As soon as I did that, he said that it was his mistake and I should have gotten an A. So another grade change. Sometimes, professors need to be politely reminded of what you did and what they promised.

I hope you get that grade changed. BTW, I don't think it's grade grubbing when you actually deserve a better grade. 🙂

 

[tacrum43]

long post so didnt get through reading it all but it kinda depends what institution you go to; if you go to a private where you pay through the a$$ ive heard the profs can be more lenient. Ive had friends that knew their profs well at a private and got grades changed that were borderline often. If you are at a state school you can kiss your chances goodbye; i tried to get a b+ changed in a frickin spanish class in which I was literally a point away from the A- and she didnt do it; literally a point away!! youd be hard pressed to find people at cal that got anything changed i imagine.

I go to a public school (Cal Poly-SLO) and I have gotten grades changed before. In an English GE class, I was 1 point away from an A- and I e-mailed my professor and explained to him why it was important (since I was applying to medical school, it would put me on the Dean's list and also I was only one point away and had gotten a 98% on the final exam). Still, he wasn't happy about doing it.

In addition, this past quarter I got a C+ in Hematology (the prof gave 7 out of 19 students As and Bs, and then there was me at number 8, grrr) and I talked to him about getting it changed (again one point too low) and he said he would read over my extra credit paper and see if he will give me the extra point. I think he will; I've had him for about four other classes and he wrote one of my letters of recommendation. Still, basing it on my paper and not just giving me the stupid point seems kind of ridiculous.

Basically, you just have to throw yourself on the mercy of the prof and make them feel that if they don't give you this grade they will cause you to have a horrible future living in poverty and not saving people's lives the way that you should be. I did feel a little icky about begging, but it did work (of course it has failed three other times, so it's hard to say, but I'm getting better at it).

Good luck funshine, I say go for it, just be nice. The worst he can do is not change the grade. Also, I've heard of classes before where the students all petitioned the admin about the grades they received and got them changed (that was a case where I think no As were given out though).

 

[Perrin]

When I recieved my grades last spring, I had a C in my financial management course. I had made A's on all tests and felt I did well on the final. Unfortunately, the prof was out of town for a week, so I had to sweat it for a while. When I talked to him, he realized that he had forgotten to enter one of my test grades into the computer, so I had a zero.

Another story...
When I was in architecture school, at midterms, both of my design studio profs told me I had a solid B and that if I kept up the "good work" I'd finish the semester with a B. Cut to the end of the semester. Profs stop by my desk in studio and say they need to have a conference with me. They decided I wasn't ready to go into 5th year design so they were failing me. A big bad "F" in a 6 credit course. I talked to other professors and they pretty much told me that contesting the grade would be useless, as the course is very subjective. Thus began the long road to changing my major.

 

[TexPre-Med]

A friend of mine just got finished fighting one of her grades. She had all A's on every test, but supposedly her class participation brought her down to a B. She went and talked to her Dean (who also knew how talkative she was) whom did an investigation. The girl's grade was subsequently changed and the prof (non-tenured) was fired. Good luck fighting it buddy.

 

[RaistlinMajere]

Never beg.

 

[drguy22]

ahhhh...i have failed the one time that i tried....i got a C+ in expository writing my first semster of my freshman year..that was a HUGE blow because i though I would never end up in medical school with a C+ on my transcipt. O well...guess i was wrong.


-although in HS it always worked.

 

[funshine]

The girl's grade was subsequently changed and the prof (non-tenured) was fired. Good luck fighting it buddy.

Oh wow, that sounds scary actually. I'd feel horrible about getting a prof fired.

Anyway, thanks for everyone's encouragement, success stories, and um, constructive criticism.

In case you're curious about what happened--
The prof emailed me back saying he was on sabbatical in England, so I can't really go and "beg" in person. To make a long story short, I'm not getting the grade change. But I've come to terms w/ it and everything 😉 .

 

[Haybrant]

boy, every one of your posts is about how you have it so hard and everyone else has it really easy. this theme runs throughout your posts

true true; the opposite side of the coin about defending the privates runs through your posts; guess we both have opinons. it's all a wash in the end anyway, just like life...hopefully we both end up at stanford so we can be friends 👍 whens your interview?