<p>how would you go about <em>tactfully</em> asking a professor for a grade change? i hate grade-grubbing but that C+ does look quite ugly on my transcript..</p>
<p>I've gotten changes three times, but they were all pretty legitimate, i.e. I found errors on the final and the grade change on the final caused the overall grade change. One of the three, I went back just to look at my final since I did poorly on it, and just went through it for 15 min with him, found a couple errors in grading that wouldn't have caused the change but in the end he decided to do it anyways.</p>
<p>I've had a professor change a grade from a B to an A becuase I was only off the A by .6%, and a professor change a C to a B becuase most of the class failed.
so they will do it...</p>
<p>Just talk to the professor about the last couple assignments and tests, and possibly ask if you could turn in anything additional.
the most important thing though isn't to sound like you think you really deserve the higher grade, or the professor was grading wron.</p>
<p>... you need to have a legitimate reason for why the grade should be changed. Also, you need to contact your professor soon because I know at my college there is a deadline for grade changes. After a certain date, grades cannot be changed(or changed easily I guess...). Be careful how you word things because you can end up looking like a moron in front of the prof. Don't go in with the idea that you deserve a higher grade. Numbers are numbers and if everything was graded properly, the numbers don't lie. I had a professor tell me straight out when I asked to see my final exam(I wasn't even challenging the grade), "If you cared so much about your grade you should have worked harder on the homework."</p>
<p>accept what you earned.</p>
<p>Not all grades are earned. Quite often, they're just handed out arbitrarily.</p>
<p>Yay college.</p>
<p>I was given an A- in this pointless and poorly taught seminar class. I feel so lame asking for a grade change, but really, the class was that dumb and useless, and for half of the semester the professor wasn't even there, not that it was any better when he was.</p>
<p>if grades are handed out arbitrarily you should either
1. find different professors
2. find a different school</p>
<p>I mean, I know there's the deal with Auburn right now about how you could sign up for classes and never go or do any work and just get an A. Good deal if you don't care about learning anything.</p>
<p>What about having an 83.33% (a 3.0 in this case) and asking a prof to change it to a 3.5 since that is an 85%? How do I go about this (or should I)?</p>
<p>
[quote]
but that C+ does look quite ugly on my transcript..
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Do you have a better reason than that?</p>
<p>
[quote]
How do I go about this (or should I)?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If I understand you correctly there is no error and your grade rounds to an 83, 2 points below a B+. Such is life. Take what you earned.</p>
<p>You're right, there is no error. I just thought that since my professor has seen my 30 page review sheets, and I have made appointments with him to review for every exam a week ahead, and has even told me that I have been studying hard, that a bump up to a 3.5 (because I am 2% away) would be a reasonable request. And he knows that I will be taking another class with him next semester (and I am not going to change my mind even if he didn't bump me up; he's an awesome professor) and is actually looking forward to having me again as a student. I also had improved my test grades overall and reached his target score for the final exam of 43/50 to be at a 3.5 or "pretty darn close to it".
::sighs::</p>
<p>Go for it, no harm in asking.</p>
<p>I was just making sure that I won't make a fool out of myself for asking. I have absolutely nothing to lose if I do ask; if he does bump my grade up that's great, if he doesn't, I'll take the 3.0 and continue working hard in his other class.</p>
<p>I apologize to the OP for hijacking your thread. I kinda had the same problem, except I don't want my grade changed because of the way it will look on my transcript (if he doesn't change my grade, I am still content with a 3.0).</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree I think people should hold some sort of accountability for what their grades are. I got a C+ on my transcript too for my first semester, but in that class I learned by the end of the semester that I do have to go to office hours when I don't understand something (it was an Italian class), because no matter how hard I tried, some concepts I just couldn't get on my own. That C+ was well worth the lesson I learned. Personally, I'd rather take a lower grade than go to the professor and ask him to bump it up for me, that would be a humiliating experience, but that's just me.</p>
<p>there's no harm in asking (especially if he said if you got a certain grade you would probably get a B+, and then you got that grade and you didn't), but remember the point of going to office hours is to clear something up / learn more so you can do better on the test, not so you get a better grade just because you tried to show you care.</p>
<p>Soccerguy-
He did say that it might be a 3.5 or pretty darn close to it if I had gotten a 43/50 on the final (he calculated it). He told me that I wouldn't be guaranteed to get a 3.5. </p>
<p>Also, I have gone to his office hours to ask him to review key concepts I didn't understand before an exam. I am also on good terms with him and he even offered to look at my research paper and make suggestions on where to get it published. I truly respect him and I wouldn't be taking another class with him, if I thought otherwise. I didn't befriend him, to get a higher grade in the end. If I never had him as a professor, I might not have considered majoring in this subject. I am extremely interested in his research and I want to continue taking courses for this subject. (He even pointed it out to me that I seem interested in this subject and that I should take another class with him). I honestly thought I would just take this one class and be done with it, but for some reason, I have fallen in love with this subject and I want to continue taking these classes.</p>
<p>Sorry for the long post, I'm just clarifying.</p>
<p>i was borderline C+/B in my chem class (730 points was the cutoff for a B, and i was at 720) and i was horribly sick for the final, so i emailed my professor to set up a time to talk, and then went and told him i was concerned about my grade because i thought i had done poorly on my final because i was sick, and he ended up giving me the 10 points (which was the equivilent of 1.333 questions on the final) and was really cool about it, even thought i didnt even ask for it...but, he mentioned that it was only because i got a low B on the first test, B+ on the second test, and a 96% on the third test...he knew i was improving and deserved a B, and therefor HE felt that i should recieve a B...
do i feel bad that some other kid might have been in the same posistion and gotten a C+? no, because you won't get anywhere in life unless you act for your well-being and stand up for yourself every once in awhile...
so, my advice is talk to your professor about the concerned grade, and maybe he/she will point out that you were close, and do deserve the B+...however, if you're at a 83.33%, you would still need 1.2% extra, which is a slightly big bump...(mine was 10 points out of 1000 possible, so he essentially added on .01%, which is nothing)</p>
<p>thanks shoebox. I asked people for their opinions because I wasn't sure about what to do. I know it's a big bump, but I had improved on my exams overall and I did complete the extra credit. I'm still unsure about what to do. </p>
<p>Thanks for your opinions though! :)</p>
<p>smurfette2692, I didn't mean to imply that you were meeting with him just to get a higher grade. Sorry if it came out that way. It's good you enjoyed the class and found a subject interesting that you didn't think you would! Too many people are hardcore concerned about their grades that they don't want to branch out and take different things, and I think those people end up missing out on a lot. =)</p>
<p>soccerguy, it's not a problem. :) It's funny how I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I got here, but now, I am not so sure.</p>