I've got a grade that is a huge outlier on my transcript. If I deserve it, i deserve it, but I'm really not sure how it happened. I'd like to make sure that it was not a mathematical error on the professor's part. Is it out of line to contact the professor and ask him to double check the math? To be clear, I am not asking him to regrade my exam, just to read up the points from before and make sure that they match what he had.

see if your school has some sort of procedure for exam review. if not, email the prof and ask to meet with him and go over the exam.

My school doesn't have any dispute procedure. Also, I'm looking at transferring and will not have the opportunity to go over it with him until after the deadline. Out of line to email him and ask him to check?

eh, in that case, go for it, as long as there's no rule specifically forbidding you from contacting professors about grades. just try to phrase it politely.

Hah yeah, I'm trying to figure out how to write an email which doesn't end with me coming across as a complete douche.

Crim was a shitshow. I had Ohlin also, and I thought I did really well, and I didn't do so hot. Accept it and move on.

Happened to me in con law. Total outlier. It hurt. I went through denial, grief, then eventually, deciding my professor was a douche. You'll be ok, one day.

That isn't possible, because no matter what you say, you will be a whiny little bitch. I know from experience, just resist the temptation, there is nothing you can do, let 'er go.

Here is what you will say in a nut shell.

You: "*sniffle*, are you sure?"

Prof: "Yeah (douche)."

Not saying you're a douche, but, that is what will happen.

I'd call or walk into the professor's office instead of emailing. Easier to control for tone.

Just make sure you walk in not expecting to get anything changed. Adjusting any 1 grade means the class median gets changed, which may bump it out of the mandatory range (ours is 2.8-3.0, for instance).

+1 on asking in person - it allows you complete control without coming across as a douche.

I got an outlier grade too. It was shockingly below my average.

Grades for that class were released within one week of the exam. I was worried he had graded my test too quickly. He had a reputation for skimming when grading. I had heard of this reputation before taking the exam and I had decided to put a mini conclusion at the beginning and end of each question so that it was clear I had addressed all points. However, after meeting with him to go over the test, I got the distinct feeling that my strategy backfired.

For one of my questions, he said that I correctly mentioned a key point "in passing" but failed to elaborate further. However, there was an entire paragraph dedicated to that point in the middle of the essay. I'm dead certain he just read the mini conclusion at the beginning and immediately marked me down for not elaborating. When I pointed this out to him, he read the paragraph and quickly thought of something else I hadn't mentioned. That's when I realized it would be a fruitless effort to continue.

I would definitely have challenged it, but I'm not certain it would be the right decision given my situation. I don't want to give any more details, but I'd rather not make a fuss when my GPA is about to be wiped out anyway.

I contacted the prof when I got a huge outlier and it actually was a mistake. I waited too long and it impacted my 1L summer job search.

Is the possibility of looking like a whiny douche worth a summer of lost income/transfer hampering/OCI impacts to you? You decide.

I went and talked to three profs last semester because my grades knocked me on my ass. One of them did adjust up, the other two helped me understand what went wrong (one, tragic mismatch of how I communicate and how the prof communicates--what I said wasn't wrong, just how according to him; the other, found out the word limit wasn't enforced and so I couldn't put enough points on the board because I did follow the limits)

In conclusion, talk to the prof. There's nothing to lose by doing so.

I'm a grad, PM me professor and I'll give you insight on what curves are like with that prof and maybe tailor advice on how to proceed

Oh hai! An old familiar co-2011er!

My 1L outlier grade ended up being deserved. With out school we can see the exam without going through the professor and this professor had a few model answers from actual exams on file as well. I could see how he scored points and it was a number of things in my case: A relatively easy exam so the curve was tight; One the question worth the most he was looking for an analysis of why certain issues did not apply, and I did not bring up issues that in my mind clearly did not apply. He was essentially looking for a go down the flow chart and hit on everything kind of response and I did not supply that. Where some issues I spotted that he wasn't looking for got me points, but only 1 point per issue - so the time/value wasn't there for the creative issue spotting if he wasn't looking for it.

Point being, the grade may be legit because you and the professor just were not on the same page. It happens. Part of the real world is giving your supervisors what they are looking for and giving the judges what they are looking for.

Is it weird that I remembered your stats and school choice immediately??

Nope! I remember yours too! I also met two of your classmates recently! Haha

You've got me wondering who

PM me, then. Or I could PM you, but I like receiving mail...