<p>I'm a freshman who wants to be a physics major. I took two 200-level physics classes this semester, where I was one of only three freshman in both. In one (which was the harder one,) I had an amazing teacher and did really well, finished with an A. In the other I got a C. The teacher and I did not mesh, the area of physics (Electromagnetism) I hated, and even though I busted my butt for this class I still ended up with a C. I'm not a screw up. I went to maybe two parties this semester, and when I did go out on weekends it was to go to synagogue (oy.) I had a really awful first semester, the girls in the physics department were really mean to me, and I caught them trashing me behind my back. The school I'm at was really not my first choice, I'm desperate to transfer, but now I have this C hanging over me. I got all A's in my other classes but I feel like it doesn't matter. I feel like all my work doesn't matter because of this one grade. And I'm now worried about graduate school. I'm so unhappy at this school, particularly in the physics department, and if I'm forced to stay I'll switch majors because it's been such a horrible experience with the people in the department. I love physics-I don't want this to happen. I'm going to try and appeal the grade, because I legitimately don't believe it's the right grade (I'm not saying I deserve an A+ or anything, but I was realistically expecting a B-.) </p>
<p>Any advice? My top two choices for transfer are Barnard and City College NY.</p>
<p>Go dig up the syllabus for this class, take a good hard look, and see if you can find something more concrete than “I want a better grade” as an argument. Look at the point breakdown, look at where your grade came from, and see if you have a legitimate reason to complain.</p>
<p>Also, honest question: “the girls in the physics department were really mean to me”… why not go make friends with the boys in the physics department instead? Most STEM fields are predominantly male, so why worry about how a handful of girls are acting? Go make other friends.</p>
<p>For transferring… honestly, a C isn’t the end of the world. You’re not going to get straight A’s for the rest of your life, especially not in a hard major like physics. I’m guessing your GPA is ~3.5 right now, that’s not a bad GPA. At all. So even if you can’t get the grade changed, it’s not going to kill your chances for transferring.</p>
<p>I will address the C grade: What you are failing to see is that a C is not the end of the world. You don’t sound like a “Cs get degrees type of student” so if you get a C here or there, it is not going to destroy you. If you worked really hard to understand the material and ended up with a C, accept it and move on. It is a bit dramatic to question your major or choice of school over one C grade.</p>
<p>A “C” in a few courses isn’t going to break you, at all. Be glad you passed because I’m sure there were some students who failed the course and wish that they would’ve at least gotten a ‘C’. Heck, I took a statistics class this past semester and I was a little disappointed that I got a ‘C’, but I had to realized that statistics isn’t an easy course at all. I know there were some students who failed and who would’ve loved to get a ‘C’. My advice, if you’re really bummed about getting it, try to take the class again if you can, but this time choose a different professor (if there’s one available).</p>
<p>yes getting a C here and there is not that bad as you make it out to be, especially being a physics major and since your overall gpa will likely be looked at more than that you got one C. but if ur aren’t happy at your school or with the department, you might want to consider transferring. but what would be the basis for your appeal besides that you want a better grade?</p>
<p>As others have already said, getting a C is not the end of the world. If this was your first semester, it means you have 7 more left to make up for it. That doesn’t mean that you have to get all A’s in the rest of your classes, because the chances of that happening are very slim. I’m a physics major too, currently in my second year. I’ve held my 4.0 so far, but I don’t think I’ll be able to hold it for another 2.5 years. Physics is a very difficult major. </p>
<p>If you’re going to appeal the grade, make sure you have a compelling reason to do so. Simply showing up and saying “I think I deserved a better grade” isn’t going to win you the appeal. Do you have all of your homework/exam grades recorded? If so, look at them, and calculate the grade yourself. That right there will tell you if you earned the B-, or if the C was the right grade.</p>
<p>Anvera, I’m not reconsidering my major because of this grade, seeing as I got an A in my other physics class. I’d only reconsider it if I was forced to stay at the school I’m at because it’s such an awful environment. I’m primarily upset at this grade because looking over what I did and all of my homework grades, test grades etc. I’m having a hard time understanding why I got this grade and I’m terrified that it will completely ruin my chances of transferring out.</p>
<p>Have you asked the professor if they are available to meet with you to discuss your grade? They will likely be able to explain where your grade came from, and if it turns out that it was miscalculated, then you have some basis for an appeal of your professor is unwilling to change your grade. You’ve given no actual reason why your grade should be different.</p>
<p>If you this is your correct grade, then all you can do is work hard and move forward. If you want to transfer, you can still apply and it is what it is. If you can’t transfer, then you have to figure out how to survive at your school. Everyone has to figure out how to make the best of a bad situation at some point. It won’t kill you.</p>
<p>It’s understandable that you feel upset. No one that generally gets high grades and works hard wants to end up with a C. You definitely deserve to take some time to dwell and feel bad about it. </p>
<p>However, after that stage, it’s time to move on. It’s time to do even better and redeem yourself. Obviously you’re doing okay if you got an A in another physics class, so it might just have been a different teaching style, different book style, different lab experiences, etc. </p>
<p>As the others have said, unless you have factual evidence that your grade is wrong, don’t go above your professor’s head and file a grade appeal. Meet with your professor first and ask him how he calculated your grade and how you could have improved, and also how you can improve in other physics courses. Approach it this way instead of “why did you give me a bad grade.” if your professor sees that you care about the subject and about learning, he’ll try to help you. But in order to change a grade, there needs to be proof that it wasn’t assigned correctly. Besides looking through all your assignments, did you calculate it yourself? Many profs make it clear how they calculate your final grade, but if yours didn’t, then that’s another reason to ask him about it. </p>
<p>As for transferring, don’t let one little thing make your decision for you. Sure you may have already felt weird about it, but this probably amplifies your feelings, so you’re not really being completely fair with yourself. Give it another semester, work really hard, and see where you end up.</p>