Comments needed for my grade dispute Forum

[whymeohgodno]

OP has been warned, rather significantly, about the topic of their professor's sexuality. If the topic comes up again in any way, by anyone, they get the hammer.

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[jdhopeful11]

OP has been warned, rather significantly, about the topic of their professor's sexuality. If the topic comes up again in any way, by anyone, they get the hammer.

My teacher is from Texas, can you give him the hammer?

[kazu]

Look, everyone's trying to help here (or at least initially). It would have helped if your letters had been more too the point so that the readers, whether it be us or the professors, could have understood your point better. It would also have helped if your tone had been more respectful so you wouldn't risk alienating people who you're trying to get to help you. Why are you being so defensive?

[vanwinkle]

OP has been warned, rather significantly, about the topic of their professor's sexuality. If the topic comes up again in any way, by anyone, they get the hammer.

My teacher is from Texas, can you give him the hammer?

Having someone put a hit on him wouldn't exactly get you an A, you know.

[St.Remy]

So basically, jdhopeful, your grade rests on your professor not saying "oops, I reported his in class final grade in my email, not his overall one which was an 82." This is why it is wise to not make people think you are a douchebag.

[whymeohgodno]

So basically, jdhopeful, your grade rests on your professor not saying "oops, I reported his in class final grade in my email, not his overall one which was an 82." This is why it is wise to not make people think you are a douchebag.

+1

[jdhopeful11]

So basically, jdhopeful, your grade rests on your professor not saying "oops, I reported his in class final grade in my email, not his overall one which was an 82." This is why it is wise to not make people think you are a douchebag.

Lets have a toast to the douche bags

[bk1]

There are not enough facepalm pics on the internets to adequately convey this unfolding saga.

[Skyhook]

Essay quizzes (40% of total):
7/15: 85 (dropped)
7/21: 95
7/26: 85
8/9: 88
8/11: 88
score: 91.5 (36.6 points out of a possible 40)

Attendance (15% of total):
score: 100 (15 points out of a possible 15)

Participation (15% of total): (this should still be adjusted)
score: 85 (12.75 points out of a possible 15)

Final exam (30% of total)
overall score: 87 (grade changed to what was reported via email to me -
26.1 points out of a possible 30)

Total: 90.45 A

Your professor can quite easily say he quoted the in-class final grade for the overall final grade.
And that would seem like what happened. (He would have a gradebook to back this up by the way.)
You need to explain the grading structure a bit better: 85=?, 88=? to show why you think an A is 100.
90 or above is an A to me, so you could get anywhere in that range.
Sticking with 95's and a misunderstood request for your final exam grade then your only recourse is the participation grade.
It seems like you've burned that bridge though, why would these people look favorably on you after the way you went about it?

Remember those LSAT questions about attacking the author rather than the argument?
Keep that in mind for future reference!

I understand your frustration and the need to take strong offensive action, but looks like it wasn't the best approach.
And think carefully here, you got 77% on a take-home final. Should that convince anyone that you are an A-grade student?

[12262010]

you're not going to get very far in life if you think those E-mails are remotely appropriate.

[bk1]

I agree with the A remark. I don't think that it is a strong case to argue that A is 100%. In my experience, a B is usually an 85 but is often anywhere 84-86 and an A is 94-100 assuming no A+. I might assume A+ is 100% but I don't think I would ever assume A is 100%, that seems outlandish.

On a final note, if you really care this much, who gives a shit about whether you're right or not. Fight it till you're blue in the face or you get the grade you want, there really is no downside.

[Spinozist21]

Ok, so lets cut the OP some slack. Because one of two things could be going on here: 1) the OP is one A-Class d-bag and lying about what the professor said about grades, OR 2) the professor actually did say he was getting one grade and then gave him another. Obviously if it is the former than simply shame. However, if it is the latter, and again it is possible that it is, then the ethical violations alone are quite troubling.

[whymeohgodno]

Ok, so lets cut the OP some slack. Because one of two things could be going on here: 1) the OP is one A-Class d-bag and lying about what the professor said about grades, OR 2) the professor actually did say he was getting one grade and then gave him another. Obviously if it is the former than simply shame. However, if it is the latter, and again it is possible that it is, then the ethical violations alone are quite troubling.

Or....the professor gave him the in class final exam grade instead of the overall final exam grade in that email.

Which would not make this some huge ethical violation. It would just make it a case of miscommunication.

[WestOfTheRest]

I agree with the A remark. I don't think that it is a strong case to argue that A is 100%. In my experience, a B is usually an 85 but is often anywhere 84-86 and an A is 94-100 assuming no A+. I might assume A+ is 100% but I don't think I would ever assume A is 100%, that seems outlandish.

On a final note, if you really care this much, who gives a shit about whether you're right or not. Fight it till you're blue in the face or you get the grade you want, there really is no downside.

In all fairness, if the teacher is only assigning letter grades and the highest grade attainable is an A, then an A should be considered the highest end of the A range or at minimum the midpoint. If it is not either of these things, it is almost impossible to get an A, since if you get a single grade below an A you cannot mathematically get an A in the class.

[bk1]

Ok, so lets cut the OP some slack. Because one of two things could be going on here: 1) the OP is one A-Class d-bag and lying about what the professor said about grades, OR 2) the professor actually did say he was getting one grade and then gave him another. Obviously if it is the former than simply shame. However, if it is the latter, and again it is possible that it is, then the ethical violations alone are quite troubling.

1 has been confirmed by things other than what you mentioned.

In all fairness, if the teacher is only assigning letter grades and the highest grade attainable is an A, then an A should be considered the highest end of the A range or at minimum the midpoint. If it is not either of these things, it is almost impossible to get an A, since if you get a single grade below an A you cannot mathematically get an A in the class.

I've had plenty of professors who just wrote a letter on the paper even though an actual number was given. I can't think of a single class where there wasn't a mathematical breakdown of my grade despite professors not always writing said breakdown on my essays/exams. It would be the OP's fault for not verifying.

[Lonagan]

If your personal statement is as awful as your grade appeal e-mail the difference between 2.99 and 3.01 is not going to do enough to help you.

[WestOfTheRest]

In all fairness, if the teacher is only assigning letter grades and the highest grade attainable is an A, then an A should be considered the highest end of the A range or at minimum the midpoint. If it is not either of these things, it is almost impossible to get an A, since if you get a single grade below an A you cannot mathematically get an A in the class.

I've had plenty of professors who just wrote a letter on the paper even though an actual number was given. I can't think of a single class where there wasn't a mathematical breakdown of my grade despite professors not always writing said breakdown on my essays/exams. It would be the OP's fault for not verifying.

I've had plenty of classes where grades were given as a letter and the professor did not assign a mathematical grade to the assignment. In this case I have had professors use midpoint, the higher of a range, and the lower of a range. The result being that it becomes almost impossible to achieve the highest score.

[bk1]

My point was for the case of the OP where the professor assigned a 95 for an A. There is nothing that says he was wrong in doing this just because he wrote A on the paper. What I was trying to say is that while it may not be fair, the OP is not right that just because the only things written were A, B, C, etc that it should automatically count for the highest score in that range.

[WestOfTheRest]

My point was for the case of the OP where the professor assigned a 95 for an A. There is nothing that says he was wrong in doing this just because he wrote A on the paper. What I was trying to say is that while it may not be fair, the OP is not right that just because the only things written were A, B, C, etc that it should automatically count for the highest score in that range.

The OP feels entitled to his grades which is irritating. But he also hasn't provided any information regarding the specifics of the grading system.

[bk1]

The OP feels entitled to his grades which is irritating. But he also hasn't provided any information regarding the specifics of the grading system.

OP being an all-around douche is incredibly grating as well. Honestly I think in this situation if it does come down to something foggy like whether an A is 95 or 100 then it will sit at the discretion of the dean.

[WestOfTheRest]

The OP feels entitled to his grades which is irritating. But he also hasn't provided any information regarding the specifics of the grading system.

OP being an all-around douche is incredibly grating as well. Honestly I think in this situation if it does come down to something foggy like whether an A is 95 or 100 then it will sit at the discretion of the dean.

OP has probably already screwed any chance of winning the appeal, just by being a douche. So don't worry about it.

[bk1]

OP has probably already screwed any chance of winning the appeal, just by being a douche.

QFT

[Rikkugrrl]

First, let me say I do sympathize. I currently have something like less than a hundredth of a point away from a 3.4, and needed an A to get a 3.4, except in that class I made straight As all throughout the year except for one minor group project that was only worth like 10% (A-) and ended up with an overall grade of A-. Never have I been so tempted to protest a grade, but stayed quiet because the professor liked me a lot (he even headed the study abroad trip I went on and we always got along) and I figured he must have had a reason. Maybe I screwed up the final or didn't participate enough or something (also the fact that I've always hated grade grubbers who do better than most of the class and still whine about their grade...and I knew for a fact the class average was a C+)./end rant.

But I gotta say, girl (or guy, whichever), you kinda shot yourself in the foot. First off, the amount of information you've given will make it really easy for anyone who knows about the dispute to recognize you on here if they went looking. I don't think it's a good idea to post transcripts of conversations on public forums, but that's not my call.

Second, I read your whole email exchange, and I do think you were in the wrong for a lot of it, particularly about the quizzes and attendance. I currently have a professor that gives us pop quizzes whenever he thinks we haven't read, and there's nothing even on his syllabus about quizzes. I had another one that took attendance on Fridays and the day before breaks, and would sometimes decide when to take attendance based on if there weren't many people that showed up that day. He'd laugh while he was doing it too. Professors will run the class the way they see fit, and unless he's actually miscalculated your grade (by that I mean numerical grade that you can back up with your own copies of graded quizzes tests essays etc, without subjective letter grades or participation grades) your chances of getting the final grade changed aren't good The fact that some parts of your email come off as rude and abrasive (like others have said, attacking the professor personally=bad news bears), lowers your chances further. I also agree with the others about how the professor can easily say he was giving you the final exam grade in class.

At this point I think the best thing to do would be to cut your losses, thank the chair for his time and drop it. You don't want to make a bad name for yourself in your department, particularly when it comes time to do LoRs if you haven't done them already. I know at my school the departments communicate with one another too, so that's something else to think about.

[dresden doll]

OP has been warned, rather significantly, about the topic of their professor's sexuality. If the topic comes up again in any way, by anyone, they get the hammer.

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Goddammit, I wanted to bitch OP out for that.

[IAFG]

PSA: if you go to LS you will have to spend long painful hours with people like OP.