Should I dispute my A-?

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fqrngjrwq

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I found out that I did not receive my extra credit points which is worth 1% of my total grade.

The class is curved and I received an A- since the class is curved.

Should I tell them to recalculate my grade with the 1% extra credit and try to get the A or should I let it go? It's been 4 months but they can still change my grade.
 
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A- = 3.7 and A=4.0 when it comes to AMCAS calculations. Unless you have a 4.0, it probably won't affect your GPA that much since you need 120+ credit hours for your BA/BS (may change the thousandths place).

With that said, this happened to me once but I didn't ask. Lol.

Edit: If this is during a PB program to "repair" your GPA, I would say something. It makes a bigger difference it there is only a year or so of grades. Some schools weigh your PB GPA way more heavily than your UG for non traditional student.

(I'm thinking about this waaaay to much. I know. lol)
 
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Well, what was your final percentage? And how are you finding out about this 4 months later? My first thought is that the ship has sailed.
 
@JustAPhD apparently they were supposed to add it to my lab report grade which my lab TA never did

i always thought they added it to final calculations but i found out after my lab TA this semester told me

im getting my grade recalculated thanks guys
 
JustAPhD said:
Well, what was your final percentage? And how are you finding out about this 4 months later? My first thought is that the ship has sailed.
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You're right. I totally ignored that 4 month part. And I wrote a long response and everything. Haha
 
Make sure you take it straight to the Dean. Ignore any faculty in-between. If he denies your claim, threaten legal action. Deans are weak and afraid of confrontation. Also, make sure you specifically tell him that your (insert family member) is a lawyer. If the Dean still won't budge point out that the class was unfair and that you shouldn't be expected to do that much work. Then cry. Crying is important for you and for the Dean. Deans are sympathetic and will bend over backwards to make a difference in your life. Good luck.
 
fqrngjrwq said:
@osckey ?
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Dry humor. I sometimes have it.

Seriously, chalk this up as a learning experience. Make sure you check your own scores before the professor posts them. It becomes a lot harder having to move through the official routes to change a score than it is going through the professor and asking them about changing scores.
 
fqrngjrwq said:
@osckey ?
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osckey said:
Make sure you take it straight to the Dean. Ignore any faculty in-between. If he denies your claim, threaten legal action. Deans are weak and afraid of confrontation. Also, make sure you specifically tell him that your (insert family member) is a lawyer. If the Dean still won't budge point out that the class was unfair and that you shouldn't be expected to do that much work. Then cry. Crying is important for you and for the Dean. Deans are sympathetic and will bend over backwards to make a difference in your life. Good luck.
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I disagree. Should get a lawyer first and have them talk to the Dean for you. No reason for half measures here.
 
I don't get why people are telling him not to do it. What's the harm in pointing out some missed points and asking for a recalculation?
 
Absolutely. Professors love grade grunging pre-meds. You'll probably get a glowing LOR for your initiative.


fqrngjrwq said:
I found out that I did not receive my extra credit points which is worth 1% of my total grade.

The class is curved and I received an A- since the class is curved.

Should I tell them to recalculate my grade with the 1% extra credit and try to get the A or should I let it go? It's been 4 months but they can still change my grade.
Click to expand...
 
@Goro Yeah because its so hard to enter a couple points into excel

this thread has been answered
stop beating a dead horse
 
Even harder to realize that one extra point isn't going to get you into Harvard. Even harder to realize that your grades are YOUR responsibility.


fqrngjrwq said:
@Goro Yeah because its so hard to enter a couple points into excel

this thread has been answered
stop beating a dead horse
Click to expand...
 
If you feel you earned the A, send an extremely sweet email to the professor and TA. Make sure you CC the chair of the department and the Dean. (Maybe BCC the President, just in case.)

K.I.S.S. Keep it short and sweet.

Say you feel there is a mistake, you are extremely sorry and you know this may seem like not a big deal to them or other students, but you did the extra credit assignment, you keep track of your grades, and you wish to get into medical school.

Offer to do another extra credit assignment or write an essay. I'm pretty sure you'll get a response. Don't get a lawyer, lol. No threats, ummmkaaaayy?

You'll get more bees with honey.

I'd do it fast. Class is out in May, right?
 
fqrngjrwq said:
I found out that I did not receive my extra credit points which is worth 1% of my total grade.

The class is curved and I received an A- since the class is curved.

Should I tell them to recalculate my grade with the 1% extra credit and try to get the A or should I let it go? It's been 4 months but they can still change my grade.
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Yes, and then use this as the topic of your adversity essay in the supplemental applications. Win-Win.
 
I usually not in favor of the above gunner advice I just posted, but I can empathize with not getting the grade you think you deserved.

At the very least, ask to go over the reasons you got an A-.

Maybe you were tardy or absent or did not participate in class much?
 
I think you should rethink medicine completely. No med school is going to touch you with that A-.

Actually, go back and dispute it for an A+ first, then rethink med school when it doesn't work
 
osckey said:
4 months after the fact makes it an administration issue that will require more personnel to go through than the professor alone.
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Only if the final grade actually needs to be changed. If it's still an A-, then forget about it. If it's actually an A, then it *should* be changed.
 
You guys are being ridiculous. OP is asking about 1% that he/she did the work for and earned, not disputing a vague question on an exam or something of the like. A simple, polite email will not harm anyone if this is the difference between an A/A-

That being said, 4 months is a long time. You should've noticed this and addressed it much sooner, OP. I'd probably let this one go.
 
:laugh: My biochem professor refused to curve and said that a 94 in the class would get you an A, but "there might be some wiggle room." My final grade in the class was a 93.97 and he gave me an A-. So naturally, I called the police and had him arrested. How dare he dent my gpa by less than a hundredth of a point? Doesn't he know I'm trying to get into med school here?! This is serious business!
 
jonnythan said:
God forbid a student ask a professor to correct an error in grading.
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Doctoblast said:
You guys are being ridiculous. OP is asking about 1% that he/she did the work for and earned, not disputing a vague question on an exam or something of the like. A simple, polite email will not harm anyone if this is the difference between an A/A-

That being said, 4 months is a long time. You should've noticed this and addressed it much sooner, OP. I'd probably let this one go.
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I don't think anyone is against getting errors in grading corrected. OP has no idea if this will change his grade. It may, it may not, it is based on an extra credit assignment for a class that finished grades 4 months ago. It is not unreasonable to say, "let it go." There is a time and place for most things. I don't think that it is unreasonable to ask someone to re-calculate. But to "tell" them to recalculate like they owe you?

It sounds stupid, but these kinds of things can burn bridges. Chasing after meaningless points (again, OP has no idea if these have any impact at all), way after the fact can reflect negatively on someone. Sure, you can always argue that you will never see this professor again or need a LOR or whatever, but you never know. And people talk... Certainly NOT a reason to shift around your life's plans, but it is naive to think that impressions don't matter.
 
mimelim said:
I don't think anyone is against getting errors in grading corrected. OP has no idea if this will change his grade. It may, it may not, it is based on an extra credit assignment for a class that finished grades 4 months ago. It is not unreasonable to say, "let it go." There is a time and place for most things. I don't think that it is unreasonable to ask someone to re-calculate. But to "tell" them to recalculate like they owe you?

It sounds stupid, but these kinds of things can burn bridges. Chasing after meaningless points (again, OP has no idea if these have any impact at all), way after the fact can reflect negatively on someone. Sure, you can always argue that you will never see this professor again or need a LOR or whatever, but you never know. And people talk... Certainly NOT a reason to shift around your life's plans, but it is naive to think that impressions don't matter.
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I agree with you 100%. My post was meant to say to request a recalculation only if it made the difference between an A/A- and in a timely manner. I think the ship has sailed for the OP in this case as well.
 
If you had just gotten your grades back, it would have made you look attentive to ask. Four months later, it makes you look desperate. As others have said, that ship set sail a long time ago.

If it was the difference between and F and a C, that would be worth it, but not to change an A- to an A.
 
mimelim said:
I don't think anyone is against getting errors in grading corrected. OP has no idea if this will change his grade. It may, it may not, it is based on an extra credit assignment for a class that finished grades 4 months ago. It is not unreasonable to say, "let it go." There is a time and place for most things. I don't think that it is unreasonable to ask someone to re-calculate. But to "tell" them to recalculate like they owe you?

It sounds stupid, but these kinds of things can burn bridges. Chasing after meaningless points (again, OP has no idea if these have any impact at all), way after the fact can reflect negatively on someone. Sure, you can always argue that you will never see this professor again or need a LOR or whatever, but you never know. And people talk... Certainly NOT a reason to shift around your life's plans, but it is naive to think that impressions don't matter.
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Chasing after meaningless points is silly, absolutely. I think it's entirely reasonable to, upon noticing that some points were missed in the final grade, ask if including them would affect his transcript grade. If the prof says no, or says it's too late or whatever, then he or she should be thanked and the matter dropped. I definitely think it's worth politely asking.
 
jonnythan said:
Chasing after meaningless points is silly, absolutely. I think it's entirely reasonable to, upon noticing that some points were missed in the final grade, ask if including them would affect his transcript grade. If the prof says no, or says it's too late or whatever, then he or she should be thanked and the matter dropped. I definitely think it's worth politely asking.
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Definitely not.

Point-grubbing is really annoying. OP didn't catch it during the window where it would have been an easy change. The professor has moved on and would just be annoyed.
 
So much effort to change a grade I doubt he will.
 
Always ask, the worst they can say is "no". That said, you should've asked 4 months ago.
 
I am going to go make the thread I posted controversial somehow so I can get at least one reply
 
OP: seriously, let it go. The time you would spend proving/fighting it, use it to study for current classes to pump yourself up half a letter grade.
 
There's extra credit in college but not in my highschool? Damn them.

And it depends on the professor. Is he nice? A hard ass? Or in between? A simply train of thought on his character would have gave you a better answer than anyone on SDN
 
I don't see the harm in sending a nice email and asking..unless you are expecting a LOR from him.
 
They probably won't even change it. I have two grades that are errors on my transcript and they never changed (A- should be an A, B+ should be a A-). They didn't change them even though I contacted the professors a week or two after getting my grade. If the grade is done by a TA you have a smaller chance of getting it changed. I got yanked around for months where they kept saying they'd change it and it never happened. First time it happened, I went to the dean of the department and the guy was the worst. Ended up getting into an argument with him and it wasn't even about the grade. Just felt like he was being disrespectful and I was too prideful to let his attitude slide. Was young and learned from it :laugh:. You're not winning this battle. Not worth it.

But in your case, meet up with the professor or person who deals with the grade directly and nicely ask. Don't email because it'll probably get ignored. If they refuse to change it, just chalk it up as bad luck. Just keep tabs of your grades closely next time.

Hope I helped.
 
Does the extra credit actually bump you up from an A- to an A? If it doesn't then there's not really a reason to try to get it changed. In the long run, an A- versus an A isn't going to make a difference in your GPA. If you plan to ask your professor for a LOR, asking for a grade change may negatively impact your LOR. Also, it's much easier to change a grade before the grade is submitted officially. Since it's been 4 months, there are several extra steps your professor will have to take to get the grade changed (ex. filling out paperwork for a grade change and submitting it to the administrative department) = more reasons your professor may not end up changing your grade. Probably not worth to ask for a grade change since it's been 4 months.
 
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