Typo on exam?--anyone have experience w/ this? Forum

[TierForceOne]

"In A's claim against B, what will A's possible defenses be?

He/she meant to say "what will B's possible defenses be."

Some people just sat there confused, some answered as he/she wrote it (got creative I guess), and some answered it as intended.

Any idea on how he will handle the situation?

Context: My school has a "no man left behind kind of attitude" and we get a little babied. Tuition is high so I guess they think they need to go above and beyond to push us along. I can just imagine the entitled emails that are being sent to this professor saying "you must drop that question! It's not fair!" And while I get their argument, the question was a large portion of the test, and it's not fair to those who spent a large amount of time on it, or even chose to forego answering another question to answer this question.

Thoughts?

[WhiskeyAndCupcakes]

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[Slytherpuff]

My school had this happen a few years back and I think the professor ended up making separate curves depending how people answered it - or basically just awarded points on different scales for people. We now have a policy that if there are typos or unclear questions, you're supposed to state your assumption (like "Assuming that this refers to B's possible defenses...") and then go ahead and answer the question.

Either way I wouldn't worry about it for now!

[Nonconsecutive]

I wouldn't worry. So long as you stated which scenario you were operating under, and effectively wrote about that scenario, you'll be fine.

[EzraFitz]

I wouldn't worry. So long as you stated which scenario you were operating under, and effectively wrote about that scenario, you'll be fine.

This. You won't be penalized for choosing either direction. In fact the confusion is likely to make grading more lenient than if it had been crystal clear.

[foregetaboutdre]

Had a prof do this 1L on a civ pro exam. Gave out points either way. The prof announced what they intended like 1.5 hr in the exam to everyone. One girl freaked out.

[lstrw]

Agree with the consensus - professor will know what you meant, and it should be fine. On my very first real 1L exam, I started out my answer by saying the defendant should prevail* -- only to conclude my answer by saying that the defendant should lose. Apart from a big sharpie question mark over my conclusion, my grade did not suffer at all.

* Starting with a conclusion, that you repeat at the end, is a good habit, for many questions, that way you don't forget to actually answer the call of the question. Just make sure to keep track of your conclusion and stay consistent...

[TierForceOne]

Had a prof do this 1L on a civ pro exam. Gave out points either way. The prof announced what they intended like 1.5 hr in the exam to everyone. One girl freaked out.

Hahahaha. Didn't have anyone freak out this year, but I was totally freaking out inside at some points throughout exam time.

[hiima3L]

I had an exam where, IIRC, the fact pattern had something that was not in writing that had to be in writing to be enforceable. So almost all of us who spotted the issue said "This was not enforceable because it was not in writing." My friend assumed it was a typo/missing a fact and wrote "Alternatively, if it were in writing..."

Guess who got the highest grade on the exam?