How far would you go to get grade changed?

[adizzle87]

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So I basically just had a qtr of OChem and I wasn't doing too bad. I got borderline A's for the first half of the course, but got slightly above average on the final giving me a little over 87%. The prof doesn't give partial credit on problems which accounts for my lower finals score.

The problem with him is that he doesn't give out +/- because he said that if he did, he'd be giving out more -'s than he would +'s. For him his compromise has been to implement a straight scale, but whats even more unfair is that he's been upping peoples grades who are borderline as well, so a person who earned 79.75% (average on midterm and final) would earn the same grade I would, who earned A's on the midterm and above average of the final.

To me this isn't fair, would it be wrong for me to ask for a B+? This professor has been notorious for being narrow-minded about taking input from students, and isn't open to the idea of having good personal relationships with with, unlike other professors at my school. Most importantly this person is the spouse of the highest ranking faculty at the school, which I am sure is why this person acts all arrogant.

The school does say that +/- grading is optional, but I'm thinking of filing a complaint because he's helping those borderline people in two ways: he's setting a straight scale and he's pushing up those borderline people. So someone who deserves a C+ (79.75%) actually gets a B, but someone like me who gets a 87.25% gets the same grade.

I'm thinking about filing an appeal/complaint if the professor and I don't meet eye-to-eye on this. But I see the Chem dept simply saying "too bad," and I expect the head of the school to say "too bad" as well since that person is married to him/her. I'm so unhappy about it that I was considering sending an email to the President of the UC System. Does anyone have any suggestions? Ya'll can see my GPA on Predents, its low and I need all the "progress" I can get on my transcript.

If anyone has any input, can you guys share? Thanks in advanced

 

[predentstudent1]

This is a sucky situation but to be honest it happens everywhere....i just got done with the semester and the same thing was happening in my genetics class. The B scale was from 75-90. Can you believe that? and the worst part is.....there is no +/- at my school so if you bust your a**.......or if you DONT...you get the same score. There really isnt much you can do about this type of situation.

By the way i ended up with an 88.6 for my final grade....and NO bump whatsoever....I know I was 1.4 points away but still.....I attended every class and that should count for something....but i guess you just have to deal with it. People who slacked off and never came to class got 75's and ended up with the same grade as me....sadness.

 

[slick90210]

The way I see it, you are being marked fairly and other students are getting helped out. I wouldn't make it into a situation, you are not being treated unfairly.

 

[HupHolland]

I'm really sorry, but life isn't fair. I don't even see how an 87 would be considered a B+?

I've ended up with many 89.x's in dental school only to receive a "B" while my classmates with 80's got the same grade. As I said before, life isn't fair.

You need to do your best in the future to get A's.

Best of luck,
Hup

 

[54807]

Don't get labeled as that person who begs for better grades. That happened to me twice in ugrad and I was feeling like a POS, but I never complained. Just verify all your grades were recorded correctly and move on....it's sad but not the end.

It wont matter overall if the rest of your application is getting better. OChem blows, it isn't hard, but it was like memorizing a phone book at my school. I didn't do so hot but somehow I did well on the DAT in ochem. Whatever.

 

[Dentgirl09]

Sorry guy, I agree with everyone else.

Although it sucks... I wouldn't push it. It's the SCHOOL's policy that the professor has the option. And so if the professor chooses to do so, that's his choice. It would be different if he lost an assignment and didnt put it in and so you got a lower grade or something actually unfair. But that's like saying.... well i have an 89.96 so I should get an A-... but hte professor has made it clear that he rounds grades for no one. (That happened to me in Intro Bio and I was pissed... but just asked the professor once--because I was unfamiliar with a policy like that) and he said that just how he works and thanked him for a great semester and moved on and did better in Intro Bio 2.It's shocking and seems unfair at first (and it may be that it is unfair) but you gotta live with it.

 

[capisce?]

You said it yourself, you didn't do well on the final so you end up with a B. If you wanted the A then you should have done better on the final. You need to put the violin down...you are going to have a hard time in dental school if you think this is something to appeal. That's been like that in all grading...no matter how it's done there is always a cutoff and there has to be. You can't control other people but you sure can control yourself. Next time do better on the final or be happy with your B.

 

[DrReo]

Almost 80 percent average on the final....? Don't complain, that's an awesome average. Do better next time and; life is a garden, dig it.

 

[pcakes]

if you knew this grading policy at the beginning of the quarter...... i dont see what you can really complain about. i don't think you'd be complaining if you were the 79.75% person and got a B. sorry this happened to you 🙁 good luck

 

[harrygt]

Don't even think about fighting this, because you will end up wasting a lot of time to get to nowhere. However, send that professor an email, tell him that in your opinion, he has such a bad grading policy (give him a brief explanation here), and that you are very disappointed and regretful for wasting your efforts in his class. Send the email only if you are not going to take Ochem II with him, otherwise just suck it up😱. Believe me, if 20 of those unfailry treated people stand up and say something (like sending an email), they can make a difference.

 

[adizzle87]

Thank you for the input guys. I guess I'm not the only one whose been in this sort of situation. I might go to his OH and give him my opinion about his grading scale, doubt it will change my grade or his mind about how he grades but I look at it as "student input." Thanks again, at least this gives me a little bit of closure and a small push on how to move on from it.

 

[murff05]

Honestly, take the grade you deserve. I got an 89% in my philosophy class and probably could have gotten away with getting an extra point but I don't deserve it. No big deal. A B+ is not the end of the world.

 

[zdlamkin8195]

I feel your pain....I recently got a C in my summer Trig class when I kept an A all summer but felt like I had the black plague lol.....and the professor mysteriously couldn't find my final so i could see how I did so bad....so the people I helped study had higher grades than I did in the end....

MY point is....keep going and dont give up....put your head down and do work from now on....Good Luck!

 

[Bluemain]

If its in the syllabus, the deans wont help you out. I had a class were in the syllabus, it said grades would be done using the median grade and standard deviations. Beating the median by one full standard deviation would give you an A. At the end of the course, only grades averaging 95.6-100 got A's since we had high test averages... That's just here at UNC though..

 

[alexamasan]

I feel your pain, but such is life. I got an 89.7 after doing really well on the final exam, but alas, my teacher doesn't give pluses or minuses. So it seems many people are in the same boat as you are. I personally would not complain because there really is nothing behind your argument besides the fact that you want a better grade...and so do I 🙁. But that's just how it is and so we just have to try and do better next time. We just gotta accept our grade and be mature about it.

 

[DROCKINDAHOUSE]

If your professor is a chick see if you might be able to persuade her to change the grade. Haven't you seen Van Wilder?

 

[Jake8]

Doesn't hurt to have a nice and polite conversation with him, but if you go in there raising hell on your soapbox it will come back to haunt you. You might not take him again but there are others in the same department who he talks to, and could hold it against you.