Regarding final grade and professor issue

[bananafish94]

I completely agree with you. The thing is, this professor had a well-defined syllabus ( i.e. what each part of our grade was) yet is giving ambiguous, non-mathematical reasoning for my grade while refraining from giving me several assignment grades ( these assignments were on the syllabus).

I was advised by a faculty member to file an appeal based on this situation. Do you really think I'm making myself look bad for filing this appeal? I'm in desperate need of a higher gpa, especially since I'm applying this year. If I had mathematically earned this grade, I would've accepted it. The professor is just not giving it to me/even threatening me ( why, I still don't know...)

I understand all of that and I understand that it's frustrating. I think you sound like an earnest person who's just trying to make sure that you get the grade you deserve, but you have to imagine the optics of a premed student (given the reputation that premed students have among professors already...) going to a formal committee to to try to change their grade from a B+ to an A-. As for the GPA issue, it sounds like this won't be a huge deal. If this is a post-bacc, and we're assuming that there is around five years worth of grades in there, a difference of 0.33 for one single grade really shouldn't affect your GPA much at all.

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[astrostellar]

regardless of the outcome, you can always tear him a new one for being an ambiguous/arbitrary/unclear grader on ratemyprofessor.

 

[bannie22]

Just appeal. This has been way to dragged out.

 

[damagecontrol20]

I understand all of that and I understand that it's frustrating. I think you sound like an earnest person who's just trying to make sure that you get the grade you deserve, but you have to imagine the optics of a premed student (given the reputation that premed students have among professors already...) going to a formal committee to to try to change their grade from a B+ to an A-. As for the GPA issue, it sounds like this won't be a huge deal. If this is a post-bacc, and we're assuming that there is around five years worth of grades in there, a difference of 0.33 for one single grade really shouldn't affect your GPA much at all.

thank you for your response! I definitely understand the optics of a typical premed student. I guess a reason why I want to file this is because the professor admitted to making a mistake with roughly 10 students' grades; regrettably, I am now one of those students. he emailed the class apologizing for this mistake and changed their grades.

this is another reason why I want to do this especially since my grade falls in the A- range.

I guess I should just acquiesce? Another faculty member supports my decision but I guess the emotional toll of this will be quite taxing.

 

[Sharknad0]

Just appeal. As a post-bacc student you're probably taking these classes for a reason, be it grade-enhancing or to take them for the first time. It'll be worth the hassle since the gpa difference between a B+ and an A- is like .4 points. This thread has gone on too long and you have a case, just appeal it.

 

[Goro]

Im grateful for your response. The only reason I want to fight this is because I'm doing this postbac to enhance my academic record; a B+ is disheartening especially when my grade clearly fell into the A- category.

Is this just cause? I've never filed an appeal before but it's just weird seeing my friends get higher grades than me when mathematically I scored higher :/

well, if you don't appeal, you'll never resolve the problem one way or another, so go ahead. A single B+ or two in a post-bac won't hurt

 

[DBC03]

Feeling your pain on this. I have no advice. I had a similar issue with a LOR. I am using virtual evals and it confused one professor so he basically said he wouldn't give me one until I clarified it. I had to drive over two hours up to school to talk with him for an hour and we got the issue resolved, but it sounds like that won't work in your situation.

Unfortunately his retirement makes this even more difficult.


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[ak-aka-dak]

The caveat in your situation is that if pushed through the appeal process, the professor could give you low scores on your final 4 assignments (out of spite) that were not in the spread sheet, thus lowering your grade to a B. He could claim that his B+ was generous. He/she could potentially use those grades against you if the assignments can be graded subjectively even if you believe you did well on those papers. Based on the information that you provided, I believe that you deserve the A-. However, the professor could bite back on the appeal and make things worse for you. If the professor is retiring he/she has no skin in the game to play nice.

I am curious to see how this gets resolved, so please send an update to this thread with the final outcome. Good luck!

 

[Foreverworthless]

Tough situation. I was in a similar boat not long ago. I scored between 90-and 95% on all assignments (we only had team assignments) and the professor gave me a B-. I went and spoke to him and said he gave it to me because participation in class, even though my group members got B pluses and A minuses. I told him and highlight that on the syllabusit was not listed anywhere. Did an appeal, and the professor lied to the committee saying that they "verbally" said it and that they pulled me aside during the semester telling me to speak more: complete lie since I've never spoken to either of them outside of class. But of course the committee sided with them..

It is a risk to take, especially as you earned your A-, but as said above, without definitive proof of the grades of your last four assignments, he could just flunk you on them out of spite and you would have no proof that that's what happened.

 

[candbgirl]

How long is this appeal process going to take? It's already close to July . When do you plan to apply? What are your GPAs with a B+ and with an A-? Is the delay in applying really worth this appeal and the angst? I know you think it isn't fair and you are probably right but at this point is it really going to make the difference in an II or a acceptance?


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[hopefulERdoc251]

I'm gonna go against the majority here and say that you should be the PITA. It's absolute nonsense that a professor, who in part your tuition money is going to, is being a total asshat. On top of that, to have the audacity to say "If you e-mail me more, I will be forced to drop your grade to a B" - that is an abuse of power, which is BS imho. If you have all these correspondences with him in e-mail (aka, don't be an idiot an delete them), you absolutely have a strong case. As for the effect on GPA, sure it probably won't make a big of a difference in your GPA, but I'm standing more for the moral principle here.

As for those who say "well what happens when you get a bad clinical grade, etc", well that is more subjective on whether a preceptor gives you pass/high pass/honors etc. In a case like this where there is more cut and dry breakdown of grades, there is much less ambiguity. It's easier to prove "hey I got blah% on my exams, and blah% on the assignments, therefore deserve blah% as my grade", rather than subjective stuff like clinical knowledge, patient interaction, team player etc.

The other thing is that everybody's stating "oh it's only 1 B+, it won't make that big of a difference" but for all we know OP's teetering on a 3.4/3.5 so in all reality every little boost does help, so to make a claim like that is probably not the best advice...

 

[wholeheartedly]

I'm gonna go against the majority here and say that you should be the PITA. It's absolute nonsense that a professor, who in part your tuition money is going to, is being a total asshat. On top of that, to have the audacity to say "If you e-mail me more, I will be forced to drop your grade to a B" - that is an abuse of power, which is BS imho. If you have all these correspondences with him in e-mail (aka, don't be an idiot an delete them), you absolutely have a strong case. As for the effect on GPA, sure it probably won't make a big of a difference in your GPA, but I'm standing more for the moral principle here.

This might all be true, but in all my nontrad years, crap seldom tends to go in favor of the person morally in the right unfortunately, especially when such a huge power differential exists.

 

[RYost234]

I think it's a little ridiculous how invested I've gotten into hearing the outcome of this situation. Every day there seems to be a new cliffhanger.

 

[chickpeagoals]

Following for the end outcome

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[damagecontrol20]

hi all,

first off, I want to thank all of you for help in regards to this situation.

The department requested a breakdown from the professor and the professor gave it to them. It turns out, he gave me the lowest scores on the last four assignments of the course ( why he didnt email this to me beforehand, idk). I felt confident that I performed well on these assignments ( my other assignment grades were very high and i did nothing different :/)

the department chair has given me the option of filing for an appeal where all of my results from the course will be evaluated by the department. Do you think I should go about this?

P.s. the department chair forwarded the email that the professor sent him; the professor mentioned that he thought I was a terrible student who deserved a lower grade ( despite having 95+s on the exams). Once again he wrote to the department chair that he was thinking of lowering my grade.

Do you think i should just email the chair the class spread of the grades? the lowest grade the professor gave was a B and according to him, I deserve it despite having some of the highest grades on the exams. in addition, despite several requests, he didnt give me a mathematical breakdown of my grade until the department intervened ( roughly a week after).

If you were me, what would you do? Quite frankly, I find this process quite draining and taxing and honestly feel the professor will continue to say I deserve a lower grade. I want my assignment grades to be assessed in relation to the class' via a grade appeal, etc. At the same time, this process is just draining.

Thank you all for your comments. Regardless, I am still grateful for the B+ despite feeling that I merited an A-.

 

[Toutie]

Quit fighting. Take your B+ and move on.

 

[ChymeofPassion]

Take your B+. I think that's the appropriate action. Oh, and poop on his door step.

 

[DBC03]

With the last four assignments, do you have a B+? If so, it's time to accept it and move on. If it's clear that you still have an A-, I don't know. I would probably still take the B+. Don't fight it if the last four assignments give you a B+ because you will risk getting the department irritated.


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[Danny L]

I don't understand, being a "bad student" is not an appropriate reason for a professor to purposefully lower your grade. If you think you deserve a higher grade on those assignments (ie you put good effort into them and they're quality) then fight it and have the department review your assignments

Honestly this is getting to a matter of principles and not just the grade. In the future, if you get punished in your job undeservedly you're not just going to roll over and take it

However, make sure you remain polite throughout the entire exchange. Emails are permanent records so don't say anything that will prevent your reviewers from being objective and fair. So use your typical formal email format (Dear, [Message], Sincerely/etc), talk like you're talking to someone really important, and so on

 

[wholeheartedly]

how many more classes do you have with this department?

 

[wholeheartedly]

I don't understand, being a "bad student" is not an appropriate reason for a professor to purposefully lower your grade. If you think you deserve a higher grade on those assignments (ie you put good effort into them and they're quality) then fight it and have the department review your assignments

Honestly this is getting to a matter of principles and not just the grade. In the future, if you get punished in your job undeservedly you're not just going to roll over and take it

You'll be surprised what people roll over and take when they have mouths to feed and a mortgage to pay. The stakes only get higher in the future.