I don’t see the harm in asking…unless the teacher has told you not to. Only you and your teacher know the circumstances, and it is ultimately up to that teacher to decide. My D approached a teacher about a grade this term, and the teacher then realized a mistake that had affected several students, and so all of those students benefited. I guess the others decided not to ask, but if no one had, the mistake would have remained.
I cannot believe some of the stuff people are saying in this thread. Lots of people are really disconnected with the real world I see.
@intparent
I got a B on a final last semester and I was 7 points out of 900ish or about 1% from an A. So I asked my teacher if she could round up my grade and thankfully she did just that. Overall the majority of my professors have been accommodating in rounding up grades, not necessarily for me but for other students too.
I can see easily how this can happen. My D went into her AP Econ midterm with a 92 and came out with an 89. Everyone in the class bombed the midterm because it was much harder than the teacher had led them to believe. I think the teacher should curve the midterm but my D says she won’t. I would ask for extra credit or a retake. Otherwise just take it as a life lesson: sometimes you do everything you can and someone baits and switches on you. Negotiation skills are extremely useful and good to hone them as early as you can.
As a teacher, I would defintely tell you NO! You get what you earn. If you needed more points, you should have put in the time during the semester to earn it. You knew all along that you were going to have to send these grades out.
If you do ask, be willing to do extra work for it; don’t just be like, give me another point because I’m such a nice person.
I don’t really understand why a teacher would change a grade, unless there was a mistake, or perhaps an error of judgment, in which case, of course the student should politely present his or her case to the teacher. Or, if a teacher was unfairly grading some students more harshly than others, that might need to be raised at a higher level. But assuming the grade is based on known factors, e.g., class work, home work and tests, and those were fairly graded, over the course of an entire semester, then the grade is what it is. If the teacher rounds up, then he or she will round up for everyone, right? This is how it works in my experience, which admittedly is just limited to NYC public high school. There has to be a concrete basis to challenge a grade.
Having said that, if the class is a very challenging AP Class - say, Calculus BC or Physics C - then it seems to me that an 89 is just as good as a 90 so why go begging for a higher grade? Unless this is a high school where students expect to have all 90s and above on their report cards (again, this is not my experience).
@nycparent12
From what I’ve read on this site NY uses 0/100 scale for grading. So an 89 or a 90 might be just as good in your state. However I thought that was a really strange grading system because my state uses the more conventional A-F grade which then gets converted into a GPA value. So a 89% is a B- or a 3.3 while a 90% is an A- or a 3.7. 1% grade different = .4 GPA difference.
Thanks for all the responses!
The reason I have an 89 is because I made a silly mistake on my last test, which messed up its grade. Instead of multiplying by radical-3, I multiplied by three, and consequently, my answers were off.
As @redpoodles said, negotiation skills are best developed young. One doesn’t get what one doesn’t ask for.
OP: ouch, that is harsh. If you think the 89 will really make a big difference, as compared to a 90 (which I continue to doubt), you could ask your teacher to raise your grade on that last test, based on the fact that the one error carried through the entire test, and the grade on that test is not a good representation of your ability, or your hard work. That seems like a legitimate request, and if you are typically a good student, etc etc, the teacher may be sympathetic.
If that one test grade is raised, would that get you to a 90?
Beware for signs that your teacher is about to launch into a lecture about entitled youngsters who think they all deserve to have higher grades and drop the matter if that happens. You don’t want to dig yourself in deeper.
I don’t see why everyone is being so harsh. It seems like students caught up in college applications (and their parents!) have lost a little humanity… I would ask, especially if it was just because of a stupid mistake like that. Make sure that you are very polite and definitely explain the mistake that costed you on the test. You could even ask her to give you that extra 1% and then in return, she can take off 1 or even 2% off your grade next semester to make up for it. Good luck, and even if she say no, I think you’ll be okay application-wise.
JustOneDad:
“So THAT’S what all those Premeds were always doing at the entrance to the Physics building.”.
With above post and below post in premed forum, did you ever consider standup comedy?
“FWIW, I have some friends who say they are sorry they had to quit their education in order to attend Medical School.”
There is a downside - whether or not you prevail upon your teacher to give you another point, that story will follow you and your LOR may suffer. I always tell my children that “no point is worth the loss in reputation of grade-grubbing”. Also, someone said that “younger teachers” are more willing to give back points - I’m not sure I understand that statement.
There’s a terrific set of youtube videos about kids asking for higher grades at the end of the term, by I believe “xtranormal”.
And if what he intends to do is to go in and ask if she can consider giving him more partial credit on those problems because of the cascading impact of that one mistake, that is logical. But his initial premise was that he would just ask for a grade change, and he had no academic basis that he stated to use to ask for more points.
Good lord, this generation feels so entitled. Give everybody a participation ribbon or up a grade that you didn’t earn. Ugh.
I wonder how many of the OP’s classmates also made (to quote) “a silly mistake?” Can the teacher fairly and/or reasonably permit the OP’s “silly mistake” to be ignored, and not theirs? Why don’t we simply allow the students to tell the teacher what grade should be submitted, regardless of whether it was earned or it was not?
“Good lord, this generation feels so entitled.”
You do realize who raised this generation, right? Saying that is just adding more needless negativity and insensitivity to the world.
And OP isn’t even acting “entitled”, she/he never said that he/she is entitled to a grade bump or anything like that.
But anyway, I know some teachers who look at the students who have grades right on the border and bumps them up if they are hardworking and participate or typically do really well in that class besides maybe 1 test/assignment that brought them down, ect. I don’t see any problem in it and think it is a good solution to the whole fairness thing.
Just ask! The worse she can say is “No”.
I feel like they should help you bring up your grade because you’re sooo close. A friend of mine had trouble with a teacher who offered no extra credit (she was in a similar situation as yours). She eventually talked with the guidance counselor/school dean.
My daughter is a swimmer. When she first started, she had the habit of looking at other swimmers which added time to her laps. I suppose I could have asked the officials to give her a better time because she made a “silly mistake,” but why would I? She didn’t earn it.