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Weird midterm grading policy

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:39 pm
by dirtyjesus
For my first midterm, we can pick how much of a percentage between 10-25% that it will count towards our final grade, with one catch we have to decide before we get our grade back?

I feel that I did well. But I don't know. It was my first midterm.
How would you handle this?

Re: Weird midterm grading policy

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:43 pm
by ph14
dirtyjesus wrote:For my first midterm, we can pick how much of a percentage between 10-25% that it will count towards our final grade, with one catch we have to decide before we get our grade back?

I feel that I did well. But I don't know. It was my first midterm.
How would you handle this?
I'd probably do 10%. Say you did poorly. Well, now you know and you have time to correct it before the final. Say you did great. Well, now you know what you are doing is correct and if you keep up the hard work you are on track to repeat your performance on the final.

Re: Weird midterm grading policy

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:50 pm
by dirtyjesus
ph14 wrote:
dirtyjesus wrote:For my first midterm, we can pick how much of a percentage between 10-25% that it will count towards our final grade, with one catch we have to decide before we get our grade back?

I feel that I did well. But I don't know. It was my first midterm.
How would you handle this?
I'd probably do 10%. Say you did poorly. Well, now you know and you have time to correct it before the final. Say you did great. Well, now you know what you are doing is correct and if you keep up the hard work you are on track to repeat your performance on the final.
From talking to others, I feel that I'm in the top third at least. Some completely bombed it. It was 10 MC and a short essay only an hour exam. This was torts and the essay was to identify which element of negligence would be the hardest to overcome. At least 3 people put contributory negligence. I was shocked. And did I mention, the essay question was pulled straight out of E&E.

Re: Weird midterm grading policy

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:52 pm
by thesealocust
Pick 10%, no questions asked.

Nobody ever has any idea how they did on exams, it'd be foolish to (in essence) bet that you will do worse on the final than you just did on the midterm.

I guarantee you that "talking to other people" will not help you figure out either how you did or how they did. Y'all are first semester 1Ls taking midterms, basically none of you even know the difference between a good/high point exam and a poor one at this point. Couple that with the fact that memories are fickle and that you can get great grades while still making mistakes and misstatements... you just have no way to know.

Re: Weird midterm grading policy

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:53 pm
by BlueDiamond
dirtyjesus wrote:
ph14 wrote:
dirtyjesus wrote:For my first midterm, we can pick how much of a percentage between 10-25% that it will count towards our final grade, with one catch we have to decide before we get our grade back?

I feel that I did well. But I don't know. It was my first midterm.
How would you handle this?
I'd probably do 10%. Say you did poorly. Well, now you know and you have time to correct it before the final. Say you did great. Well, now you know what you are doing is correct and if you keep up the hard work you are on track to repeat your performance on the final.
From talking to others, I feel that I'm in the top third at least. Some completely bombed it. It was 10 MC and a short essay only an hour exam. This was torts and the essay was to identify which element of negligence would be the hardest to overcome. At least 3 people put contributory negligence. I was shocked.
your confidence about this seems like the perfect setup for me to look back at this thread in about a month and read the 4-5 pages of "OMG i told the prof. 25% and I got a D!!! Everyone said they were so lost!"

Re: Weird midterm grading policy

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 10:57 pm
by Gorki
dirtyjesus wrote:
ph14 wrote:
dirtyjesus wrote:For my first midterm, we can pick how much of a percentage between 10-25% that it will count towards our final grade, with one catch we have to decide before we get our grade back?

I feel that I did well. But I don't know. It was my first midterm.
How would you handle this?
I'd probably do 10%. Say you did poorly. Well, now you know and you have time to correct it before the final. Say you did great. Well, now you know what you are doing is correct and if you keep up the hard work you are on track to repeat your performance on the final.
From talking to others, I feel that I'm in the top third at least. Some completely bombed it. It was 10 MC and a short essay only an hour exam. This was torts and the essay was to identify which element of negligence would be the hardest to overcome. At least 3 people put contributory negligence. I was shocked. And did I mention, the essay question was pulled straight out of E&E.
Everyone keeps their cards close to their chest during 1L. Even the students that felt they killed it will say they are unsure. Sure, 3 people put contrib. neg. ... but out of how many people in your section? Do not be tempted by these 3, or for the 1-2 section gunners, to feel you are smarter than this small subset of the section and thus must be top 1/3 secure.

Re: Weird midterm grading policy

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:06 am
by ben4847
I bet the professor will just use this to bump the final scores and that's all.

Re: Weird midterm grading policy

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 1:59 pm
by NotMyRealName09
Never discuss an exam with your peers after the fact. You will only make yourself feel worse. And if you are feeling better, I'd be even more suspicious. Seriously, everyone says this, then everyone talks to their peers anyways, but there is truth to this.

10%, no question.

Re: Weird midterm grading policy

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:26 pm
by notedgarfigaro
what's the point of this policy, to add even more stress to a 1L's life? What a bullshit policy, and the professor is a piece of shit.

Re: Weird midterm grading policy

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:58 pm
by shock259
notedgarfigaro wrote:what's the point of this policy, to add even more stress to a 1L's life? What a bullshit policy, and the professor is a piece of shit.
This x1000. What a horrible policy.