Unfair Professor

[Auron]

I'm taking this required humanities class, basically a history class where you just write papers and I just got back my latest paper and am very angry with the grade I recieved. I got a 78, and it was a 14 page paper which I had 4 days to write, and many of his remarks were either wrong or very trivial. I honestly believe I deserve a higher grade.

I've aced every english class I've ever taken - I know I write well. This is some BS class I have to take and the fact that a B is so hard to get is killing me. I just worked so hard writing that paper, and its made it clear that my school is just plain difficult.

I would like advice on how to best deal with this situation (I will be meeting him in a day and will talk to him about the paper). How have you handled these situations?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

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[Bacchus]

Assuming this isn't a mocking of a previous thread, don't expect to get a grade change. Use it as a learning experience and be glad it doesn't slice at your BCPM.

 

[Sir Buckethead]

A good takeaway lesson is that we premeds should not be so snooty about the difficulty of our classes. I would much rather take on a bitchin hard multiple choice exam than a supposedly "easy" subjectively graded essay.

 

[Geekchick921]

A good takeaway lesson is that we premeds should not be so snooty about the difficulty of our classes. I would much rather take on a bitchin hard multiple choice exam than a supposedly "easy" subjectively graded essay.

A-freakin'-men. One of the many reasons I wish I had stayed with Psychobiology instead of switching back to theatre (which I have a degree in). NOTHING spells subjective grading like art classes, performing or visual.

Last semester of senior year I had the worst professor I had in college. Taught me both Shakespeare and Neutral Mask, and he would constantly give me grief because of how I sat/stood. I repeatedly told him my shoulders (and posture) were in poor condition because I was very well endowed (I've had a reduction since then). He wouldn't listen, and he told me flat out, on more than one occaison, that it affected my grade.

There were several other women in my classes with him that he would write off the legitimate excuses of, whether they were specifically female or not. Mind you, there were several other problems with his teaching habits. As someone so aptly described him "He epitomizes everything that could possibly be self-serving or simply completely wrong about being an educator." That completely sums it up.

 

[HumidBeing]

Join the club. This semester I have an English prof like that. The first paper which we did in class, she marked me down for not quoting and citing myself! Of course, it is impossible to prove that something is NOT plagiarized. I've learned to write as though I'm stupid, just to be sure that she won't try something more severe. The last paper that I turned in was, as usual, graded "B". Get this - she marked me down for errors in my ROUGH DRAFT, which had to be turned in with the final paper. It's not that she goes over the original drafts and allows us to rewrite them. We just have to do a rough for every final.

My solution is to just roll with it. Over four years worth of courses, grades from one or two obnoxious profs won't make much difference in the final GPA. It IS difficult to swallow when one believes in fairness, but it's really no big deal in the long run.

 

[ADeadLois]

I'm taking this required humanities class, basically a history class where you just write papers and I just got back my latest paper and am very angry with the grade I recieved. I got a 78, and it was a 14 page paper which I had 4 days to write, and many of his remarks were either wrong or very trivial. I honestly believe I deserve a higher grade.

I've aced every english class I've ever taken - I know I write well. This is some BS class I have to take and the fact that a B is so hard to get is killing me. I just worked so hard writing that paper, and its made it clear that my school is just plain difficult.

I would like advice on how to best deal with this situation (I will be meeting him in a day and will talk to him about the paper). How have you handled these situations?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

A bad paper is a bad paper. The amount of time you put into shouldn't be a reflection of your grade either way. English and history are two different writing styles; English is more expository whereas in History you often have to write more contextually and analytically. A history paper can be well-written from a purely literary perspective, but lack the style of argumentation the prof was looking for.

Re-grades for these kinds of things are rarely successful, since the grading is largely subjective to begin with. My advice would be to take it in stride and move on.

 

[beachblonde]

Re-grades for these kinds of things are rarely successful, since the grading is largely subjective to begin with. My advice would be to take it in stride and move on.

Please, for the sake of all future pre-meds, don't walk into that prof's office and demand a higher grade. Try your best to be gracious and accept his criticism so that you can do better next time.

Every prof expects something different-your writing may have gone over well with your previous profs, but clearly this one wants something different. The trick is to learn what that is instead of whining that you're a good writer and hence should get good grades.

 

[DreamRavyn]

Another way to think about it ... come med school, you will have to spend time on the wards (years 3 and 4), where you will be judged by your attendings and residents who will not care if you know everything about medicine or even how great your are with a patient - it is all about how they, themselves have interacted with you. Did you know the answers to the ridiculous questions they pimped you on? Did you stutter while giving a presentation? Are they having a good day or a bad day? Are you asking too many questions - or perhaps not enough questions? The result: you will not be able to win over everyone, and you will certainly not have the opportunity to challenge them for an unfair mark because it really is their opinion that matters (unless of course there are major issues, e.g. sexual harassment). Furthermore, these subjective grades make up the majority of your class ranking come residency application time (seriously).

I do hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is the way medicine is learned, and I know that when I was pre-med, what I thought medicine was like was completely different. This is not to say I regret medicine for even a split-second - I only wish I knew what lie ahead so I could have thanked those unfair college professors for preparing me for real life.

 

[Revenant]

If you truly are confident about your paper then post it. I would be happy to go through and rip it to shreds to justify your professor's grade.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

I have to agree in all who posted above.

Even though I worked my tail off in science classes, the majority of time I saw somewhat of a relationship to what I got grade wise. Not a perfect correlation, but it's there.

Any kind of class with subjective grading, yeaach. My first paper for medical ethics I slaved over, rewrote numerous times. I got a cursory "good, not great' B. The next one I was busy with other, more important classes and I slapdashed it together in two nights. Grade? A+ "Excellent understanding of ethical frameworks, it's obvious you put a lot of time into this"

 

[Geekchick921]

You can do the exact same thing (perform, paint, write a paper, give a speech) for 5 different teachers that will be grading you subjectively, and get 5 different grades and critiques (some will explicitly contradict each other... that's enough to make you rip your hair out).

However, you can hand 5 different science or math professors the same assignment and get the same grade for each of them, with the same corrections. Ah... sanity.

As others have said, such is life with subjectively graded classes. Vent to whoever will listen, avoid that teacher in the future, and count your blessings it doesn't affect your BCPM. And if it really bothers you, talk to the professor one on one and see what you can do to pull your grade up.

 

[Star2008]

urgh...I sympathize with you completely! I've had a TA rudely ignore my request to see him after receiving an unfair grade in his class. I wasn't even after a grade change either and I made it clear to him that I just wanted to go over the paper so that I can IMPROVE. I have had an English professor offer me a re-grade though when I visited him after receiving my grade to go over my works, so I would recommend that you at least give it a try. Just don't be pushy or whiny... let them know how well you understand the subject and be humble in accepting your mistakes...and they will be reasonable and hopefully offer you a chance to improve your grade...they are professors after all...so they have years of experience and are not likely to be purposely unfair in grading. GL!

 

[pakbabydoll]

I feel for you, my chem prof is that way. She makes her grading system so hard. She takes points off like 1/16 or 1/23 then in the end messes everything up (does not like calculators) and we get stuck with grades like 71 1/16 or something. The worst part she is the only one who teaches chem at my school so I have her for 2 semesters straight.

 

[Ginzo]

My first suggestion is to outright avoid taking classes from known "paper nazi" professors. There are countless professors, particularly in philosophy and the like, that have this perverse opinion that an A paper is some theoretical construct that never happens in the real world. Avoid these guys no matter how great they are at lecturing. They couldn't care less about whether you get into medical school.

Another thing to consider when taking courses graded primarily on papers is that each professor has his or her own little quirks about what they want to see in a paper. Your mission is to fish these out from him or her before you have to turn in your first paper. My suggestion is to use office hours. Get to know the prof. Some of them are even willing to look over your paper before you hand it in. Just show some interest in the subject matter. Once you've established yourself as a "good student" in the professor's mind, your A becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Many times an A paper is merely regurgitating the professor's own ideas back to him or her in your own words.

Oh, and avoid writing papers where you take a stance that you know the professor ardently disagrees with. That's just a bad idea.

 

[Istan Bull]

Show humility and be polite. These struggles result when a professor feels disrespected by a know-it-all student. I've been in that situation you describe myself. The key is keep your **** together, and show humility and ask sincerely for advice on improving your understanding not just your grade. Anything else will just piss him off.

Sad truth is that you're at his mercy, and if you acknowledge that, you'll do better. If you indignantly demand justice, you're screwed.

 

[Concordia]

Unfortunately, not every prof is going to like you--it could be anything relevant (bad writing) to irrelevant (you remind them of their spoiled daughter). The way I see it, you still have to deal with this person for the rest of the semester. Show more maturity than s/he might show. Explain that you have worked really hard on the paper, explain that you normally do not have this much trouble with the rest of your writing classes, and ask what you can do in the future to insure a better grade. If nothing else, your humility and willingness to play by his/her rules may impress the prof and may earn you some respect and future help. Most important thing in a situation like this not to take immediate offence and stop yourself from aggressively defending your writing skills. Sometimes being laid-back and willing to conform to somebody's arbitrary rules will actually win the war.

 

[osli]

Life isn't fair.