Calculus issues...

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
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<p>I recently took Calculus 1, and I was going into the final with a C average. The grade was made up of the two tests that were 50% of the grade together, the homework and quizzes 10 percent together, and the final exam was 40 percent. I had a tutor for this class, and the tests didn't go as well as I wanted, but I passed them nevertheless. I spent such a long time studying for the final and I was pretty much confident that I had done better. However, when the grades were posted I got 74/140 on the final, which caused me to get a D in the class. </p>

<p>I was utterly shocked from this grade because I thought I had done well and that there was only one question that I had trouble with. Also, I e-mailed the instructor, asking if he could look over my test again. He said that he already did and that I had done better than last time in the e-mail and that there was nothing that he could find on my test in order to bring my grade up. I was really perplexed by this because I knew that my final exam score that was posted was not a better score than my previous tests. I then e-mailed him again asking, if it was possible that my score was entered in wrong and also stated that my final exam grade was not better than my previous tests. He then said that he never said my final exam was better, and he basically just e-mailed me the contradiction of my e-mail. </p>

<p>Also, he said that he is out of town, and I won't be able to see my test until the start of the next semester. My question is, if he possibly entered the score in wrong and possibly put in another students grade as mine by mistake? Also, I'm convinced that I couldn't have gotten that grade. I studied SO hard for that final, but I'm willing to take my lumps if the score is what it is and learn from it. I'm wondering, if I might have to appeal the grade and could anyone give my advice on this process if it comes to this? I know that I shouldn't worry about this matter and let it ruin my break right now because there's nothing I can do about it at the moment... any advice?</p>

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<p>I don’t think that you can do much until you see your test. Sorry! </p>

<p>I’d just ask (politely) if you can go over your exam with him when you get back from break in order to learn from what you got wrong.</p>

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<p>This probably won’t happen with a math exam. When you go in to meet with him, the professor will be able to pinpoint every mistake you made on the exam and explain why he (or his graders) gave you the score he/they did.</p>

<p>The only thing you could argue with possibly is the allocation of partial credit, but, in my experience, math professors are usually pretty generous about partial credit if you show in your calculation that you know what you are doing.</p>

<p>It is pretty unlikely that you’ll have any ground to stand on for your appeal.</p>

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<p>Yea, you’re probably right about this. However, what do you think that I should do, if it turns out that he graded my exam too harshly and didn’t assign enough partial credit?</p>

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<p>Well, the professor gets to decide what is enough partial credit : )</p>

<p>You could argue about that, but it probably won’t be very productive. </p>

<p>You could try making some arguments (be polite though!) for a few extra points here and there. Make sure that you know what you are talking about.</p>

<p>If he refuses to give you points, I don’t think there is much you can do. Presumably he or his graders graded all exams the same way. Appealing the grade would be silly because you don’t have any special circumstance. There’s not much of a reason why you should get an unfair advantage over other students in the class.</p>