Is there any harm in begging for a better grade?

[lazymd]

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Say you get a C- in a prereq but, of course, you need at least a C or you'll have to retake it.

Is there any harm in asking the professor for a C?
Have you ever done this?
How did you go about it?

 

[deleted480308]

Nothing risked but pride

 

[Ochemlover45]

You can always ask. I'd probably retake either grade.

 

[lazymd]

Nothing risked but pride

Ha! It's a good thing I don't have very much of that.

You can always ask. I'd probably retake either grade.

👍

 

[CRCprofessional]

I think it shows poor judgement, honestly. You shouldn't try to get a grade just because you have to get it, you should at least try to show the professor that you're interested in learning the information and asking them what you can improve on. I had a C- in a class I took and sat down with my professor and discussed why my grade was so poor. He didn't change it, but he promised to write me a LOR which explained that the class was at a graduate level, class being taught for the first time, etc.

 

[MedPR]

Say you get a C- in a prereq but, of course, you need at least a C or you'll have to retake it.

Is there any harm in asking the professor for a C?
Have you ever done this?
How did you go about it?

I have too much self respect to beg

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[cliquesh]

Nothing risked but pride

Lol. If you are a girl you probably can get away with it.

 

[NontradCA]

Lol. If you are a girl you probably can get away with it.

Good looking girl*

 

[lazymd]

I think it shows poor judgement, honestly. You shouldn't try to get a grade just because you have to get it, you should at least try to show the professor that you're interested in learning the information and asking them what you can improve on. I had a C- in a class I took and sat down with my professor and discussed why my grade was so poor. He didn't change it, but he promised to write me a LOR which explained that the class was at a graduate level, class being taught for the first time, etc.

I know that a "good" student should be interested in learning as much as possible from every single class s/he takes along the way, but, honestly, I'm only interested in what adcoms think. And I may be alone in this, but I think a C looks better than a C- plus an LOR that draws attention to the C- by insisting that the reason for the poor grade was because it was a graduate level class that the prof had never taught before. But thats just me.

Thanks for your input.

 

[lazymd]

Lol. If you are a girl you probably can get away with it.

Ha! I'll let u know. I just emailed him.

 

[deleted245139]

I'm guessing you're undergrad with medical school aspirations? If so then...
1. you're going to likely end up retaking that course anyway unless it is your ONLY C.
2. you don't want to live up to your handle on here (Lazymd)... good habits now will last.
3. you can't take on a medical career with the attitude of "I only learn what X will care about" or "I only learned this so that I could do well on X test"... I will tell you right now - medicine will eat you alive and you will be miserable (this will become evident on your clinical rotations)

 

[Temperature101]

When I took microbiology, there was a friend of mine (a gorgeous girl 9/10) who was gonna fail the class...After going to the prof (a handsome young man) office so many times, the prof passed her...She would not tell me on what basis the prof gave her that C....Whenever I asked her if something happened, she just smiled and changed the conversation. Hey... People gotta to do what they gotta to do.

 

[Balantidiumcoli]

You know you're definitely on SDN when...

When I took microbiology, there was a friend of mine (a gorgeous girl 9/10) who was gonna fail the class...After going to the prof (a handsome young man) office so many times, the prof passed her...She would not tell me on what basis the prof gave her that C....Whenever I asked her if something happened, she just smiled and changed the conversation. Hey... People gotta to do what they gotta to do.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I know that a "good" student should be interested in learning as much as possible from every single class s/he takes along the way, but, honestly, I'm only interested in what adcoms think. And I may be alone in this, but I think a C looks better than a C- plus an LOR that draws attention to the C- by insisting that the reason for the poor grade was because it was a graduate level class that the prof had never taught before. But thats just me.

Thanks for your input.

Totally agree. Begging looks so much better. The worst that can happen is that he tells the other faculty in the science department and your chances for a good LOR are shot. Just plan on retaking it and take the C-.

Or you could go in the with "you taught very well, I don't know why I did bad, lets see what we can do," and hope like mad he feels bad. Then he tells his buddies that you really care about furthering your own education and you made the best out of a bad situation.

Why is it that so many people don't know how the real world works? If you beg, he will tell the other professors and they will all laugh at you.

 

[Balantidiumcoli]

Why is it that so many people don't know how the real world works? If you beg, he will tell the other professors and they will all laugh at you.

N=1 but I did overheard a bunch of bio profs doing exactly that.

A student pleaded for the prof to give him a grade better than a D- but the prof said no and that he didn't particularly care that he wanted to go to med school.

 

[lazymd]

Totally agree. Begging looks so much better. The worst that can happen is that he tells the other faculty in the science department and your chances for a good LOR are shot. Just plan on retaking it and take the C-.

Or you could go in the with "you taught very well, I don't know why I did bad, lets see what we can do," and hope like mad he feels bad. Then he tells his buddies that you really care about furthering your own education and you made the best out of a bad situation.

Why is it that so many people don't know how the real world works? If you beg, he will tell the other professors and they will all laugh at you.

I already have my LORs and I seriously doubt that I'm important enough for him to call everyone he knows just to tell them that I asked for a C instead of a C-. But thanks for the giggles.

 

[DrMeows]

Good looking girl*

LOL to this comment!

But in all honesty, don't beg. Retake the class. C- or C it's still a poor grade and may hurt you in the long run anyways.

 

[MedPR]

I know that a "good" student should be interested in learning as much as possible from every single class s/he takes along the way, but, honestly, I'm only interested in what adcoms think. And I may be alone in this, but I think a C looks better than a C- plus an LOR that draws attention to the C- by insisting that the reason for the poor grade was because it was a graduate level class that the prof had never taught before. But thats just me.

Thanks for your input.

You got a bad grade because of any combination of the following.

1. You're unintelligent
2. You're lazy
3. You didn't study
4. You're a bad student


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[Mr Kenobi]

Good looking girl*

I've witnessed it on many occasions. Saw the ******ed hot chicks in some of my classes get a full letter grade bump at the end of the semester just by asking for it...answers to the majority of exam questions in office hours...etc. Needless to say I became friends with these broads.

One professor (psych) was especially known for this. His class was notoriously difficult, unless you were a smokin babe. Dude tried to give me an A- in his class, I wrote him an email along these lines:

Dr. PervsAlot (name changed),

It has come to my attention that you have ruined the "curve" in your class by providing exam answers to certain curvaceous individuals. As I am sure that you would not like this information to reach the university administration, I am sure I would appreciate the removal of the bogus minus from my letter grade so that my actual effort in your class is rightfully represented..

You mad bro,

Mr. Kenobi

**It worked...So I say forget begging lazymd and try to find a way to blackmail. Much more effective.
















ACOM Disclaimer: I do not actually condone blackmail as a method of achieving academic gain...this message was intended for the purpose of humor and humor alone.

 

[coolingglasses]

If you have an actual reason to, no.

I had an 84.7% in med microbio and asked for a jump to A- (85 is the normal cutoff). I cited my performance on most tests, labs, and reports as well as good input from my TA. She gave it to me.

 

[angldrps]

I've witnessed it on many occasions. Saw the ******ed hot chicks in some of my classes get a full letter grade bump at the end of the semester just by asking for it...answers to the majority of exam questions in office hours...etc. Needless to say I became friends with these broads.

One professor (psych) was especially known for this. His class was notoriously difficult, unless you were a smokin babe. Dude tried to give me an A- in his class, I wrote him an email along these lines:

Dr. PervsAlot (name changed),

It has come to my attention that you have ruined the "curve" in your class by providing exam answers to certain curvaceous individuals. As I am sure that you would not like this information to reach the university administration, I am sure I would appreciate the removal of the bogus minus from my letter grade so that my actual effort in your class is rightfully represented..

You mad bro,

Mr. Kenobi

**It worked...So I say forget begging lazymd and try to find a way to blackmail. Much more effective.



ACOM Disclaimer: I do not actually condone blackmail as a method of achieving academic gain...this message was intended for the purpose of humor and humor alone.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I already have my LORs and I seriously doubt that I'm important enough for him to call everyone he knows just to tell them that I asked for a C instead of a C-. But thanks for the giggles.

you are right. professors never ever talk to anyone other than on the phone. very primitive species they are. Rare to catch one in the wild.

 

[MedPR]

you are right. professors never ever talk to anyone other than on the phone. very primitive species they are. Rare to catch one in the wild.

On a roll tonight. I like it.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[lazymd]

UPDATE:

He just responded to my email and said he would curve it to a C!!!

Whew! Looks like I dodged a bullet this time.

Later gators!

 

[DrMeows]

UPDATE:

He just responded to my email and said he would curve it to a C!!!

Whew! Looks like I dodged a bullet this time.

Later gators!

I'm glad you got what you wanted 🙂 For future reference though, I would highly consider retaking. A "C" grade can really hurt your gpa and doesn't exactly help on your transcript. I spent this semester retaking a C, C+ and B-, got 3 As and increased my sGPA by 0.2 <--- That's a ton!! Yeah it might get you passed the prereq phase, but Cs don't look good and really don't help your case at all. Congrats on having a nice professor though 😀 👍

 

[lazymd]

I'm glad you got what you wanted 🙂 For future reference though, I would highly consider retaking. A "C" grade can really hurt your gpa and doesn't exactly help on your transcript. I spent this semester retaking a C, C+ and B-, got 3 As and increased my sGPA by 0.2 <--- That's a ton!! Yeah it might get you passed the prereq phase, but Cs don't look good and really don't help your case at all. Congrats on having a nice professor though 😀 👍

👍

 

[Skeeks]

There is nothing wrong with talking to your professor about getting a better grade. I do it all the time. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt but it never hurts. Just make sure you approach it the right way. If you come to a professor and say "your grade reflects your opinion of me as a student, and I want to respectfully ask whether I can do anything to improve your opinion of me" then I promise you it will not reflect badly on you. Just be sincere and humble. My father-in-law is a dean at my college and he says he likes it when student approach him with this kind of thing it shows they actually care about your class.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

I have too much self respect to beg

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

Yes I would never bend down to some of the harder professors. No pun intended. Id take my grade in stride or retake it.

 

[IslandStyle808]

There is nothing wrong with talking to your professor about getting a better grade. I do it all the time. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt but it never hurts. Just make sure you approach it the right way. If you come to a professor and say "your grade reflects your opinion of me as a student, and I want to respectfully ask whether I can do anything to improve your opinion of me" then I promise you it will not reflect badly on you. Just be sincere and humble. My father-in-law is a dean at my college and he says he likes it when student approach him with this kind of thing it shows they actually care about your class.

👍

 

[deleted480308]

The ACOM disclaimer is my new favorite thing on SDN

 

[xBODOMx]

.

 

[MSTPlease]

UPDATE:

He just responded to my email and said he would curve it to a C!!!

Whew! Looks like I dodged a bullet this time.

Later gators!

Just want to make sure I'm not missing something. You had absolutely no academic basis for deserving a C but the prof actually bumped your grade up simply because you begged and needed a C instead of a C- for med school admissions?

I've seen stuff like the earlier poster who asked their 84.7 to be rounded up to an 85 but this thread makes it sound like people regularly just flat out ask for their grade to be raised with no real reason? I'm pretty sure every prof I had would have not only denied this request but now instead of just thinking I didn't try hard enough or simply wasn't that talented at the material, would also think I was entitled and didn't value learning.

 

[Mehd School]

The only time I've discussed a grade change with a professor was when I was right on the edge. For example, I got an 89.7 in my cell bio class, and had the highest grade. I talked to the guy about it, and he still gave me a B. Dick.

 

[abolt18]

The only time I've discussed a grade change with a professor was when I was right on the edge. For example, I got an 89.7 in my cell bio class, and had the highest grade. I talked to the guy about it, and he still gave me a B. Dick.

Off of hold I see. Congratulations!

 

[BuddyTheElf]

How close were you to the next grade? I've done this a few times. I was always less than 1% from the next grade up. Sometimes they will bump you, sometimes they won't. Good luck!

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

How close were you to the next grade? I've done this a few times. I was always less than 1% from the next grade up. Sometimes they will bump you, sometimes they won't. Good luck!

I begged to be let out of a class just after the deadline for withdrawal after I got a 33 on an ochem test (yes, its possible, I cant remember how I was ever that dumb). Long story short, they didn't let me out, I begged for a D, got an F....and lived to fight another day.

You can see from some of my other posts that I have been pretty successful despite the fact.

 

[Mehd School]

Off of hold I see. Congratulations!

Thanks. I had a brain dead moment and went into a little more depth on my old mcat than I should of. 🙄

 

[NontradCA]

The only time I've discussed a grade change with a professor was when I was right on the edge. For example, I got an 89.7 in my cell bio class, and had the highest grade. I talked to the guy about it, and he still gave me a B. Dick.

That's ridiculous, how upset were you? What did you tell him?

 

[Mehd School]

That's ridiculous, how upset were you? What did you tell him?

It's been a while, but if I remember correctly I told him I felt I earned the A. He told me no one in the class earned an A.

I got a 94 on my final. A 95 would have pushed me into the A.

This is the same guy that told me to put my application money towards grad school since I don't have a 4.0....said ill never make it in.

Oh, and I was PISSED.

 

[NontradCA]

It's been a while, but if I remember correctly I told him I felt I earned the A. He told me no one in the class earned an A.

I got a 94 on my final. A 95 would have pushed me into the A.

This is the same guy that told me to put my application money towards grad school since I don't have a 4.0....said ill never make it in.

Oh, and I was PISSED.

I would be too, did you learn anything from it? He could be one of those teachers who believes "failure breeds success".

 

[deleted245139]

There is nothing wrong with talking to your professor about getting a better grade. I do it all the time. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt but it never hurts. Just make sure you approach it the right way. If you come to a professor and say "your grade reflects your opinion of me as a student, and I want to respectfully ask whether I can do anything to improve your opinion of me" then I promise you it will not reflect badly on you. Just be sincere and humble. My father-in-law is a dean at my college and he says he likes it when student approach him with this kind of thing it shows they actually care about your class.

I very much doubt that the person asking for a C- to be raised to a C is going to be thought of as a "person who actually cares about the class".

 

[Mehd School]

I would be too, did you learn anything from it?.

I learned to make damn sure I have that 90.

 

[dudeliness]

Thanks. I had a brain dead moment and went into a little more depth on my old mcat than I should of. 🙄

So you got put on hold for discussing details of MCAT questions? Hmm...

 

[Skeeks]

I very much doubt that the person asking for a C- to be raised to a C is going to be thought of as a "person who actually cares about the class".

Obviously you will have some professors who will think this but most in my expereince wont. Most professors understand that different people have different ability levels in different classes (see the difference? 😉).

 

[Titus Times]

This baffles me, I mean nobody gets blindsided by a C-, you see those coming from way off in the distance when you cant seem to hack the homework, and when you go to take the first exam and cant work through the practice exam.

This is the point that you should start getting in good with professors by showing them you care, and when your the only student that the professor knows by name and personality they may grant you that +/- difference.

 

[Mehd School]

So you got put on hold for discussing details of MCAT questions? Hmm...

Correct. I have since deleted the comment. Mods crack down pretty hard on it.

If you say "I had a question about __________ on my test.", they'll hit you with the ban hammer pretty swiftly.

 

[Digsbe]

Just be careful and make sure the teacher isn't on some pre-health committee that will issue you a LOR to a school. It can't hurt to respectfully discuss your grade and explain why you may deserve a better one, but be careful and keep in mind that professors do discuss students with each other.

 

[abolt18]

This baffles me, I mean nobody gets blindsided by a C-, you see those coming from way off in the distance when you cant seem to hack the homework, and when you go to take the first exam and cant work through the practice exam.

This is the point that you should start getting in good with professors by showing them you care, and when your the only student that the professor knows by name and personality they may grant you that +/- difference.

True, but you CAN get blindsided by higher grade! For example I was SERIOUSLY afraid I'd end up with a couple of C's this semester... Ended up with a B and B- and about crapped my pants with joy! Definitely the worst semester I've had in about 4 years, but better than I expected it to be. Never realized how much having a kid and traveling for interviews would screw me up with school.

 

[coolingglasses]

True, but you CAN get blindsided by higher grade! For example I was SERIOUSLY afraid I'd end up with a couple of C's this semester... Ended up with a B and B- and about crapped my pants with joy! Definitely the worst semester I've had in about 4 years, but better than I expected it to be. Never realized how much having a kid and traveling for interviews would screw me up with school.

That happened to me in Physics 1. I got slaughtered in that class and was worried I'd get a C, or even a D.

Turns out everyone did so poorly I got a B, lol. Tough times learning from professors with deep Chinese accents.

 

[Mehd School]

.

Turns out everyone did so poorly I got a B, lol. Tough times learning from professors with deep Chinese accents.

I've seen that struggle.

Both gen chems and both organics were by a chinese guy and lady. Incredibly deep accents.

I actually got my first american professor in chem or phys when I got to Biochem, and he was far and away the worst professor of the bunch. 👍