<p>I will meet with him on Thursday morning, after my last final. He’s out of town through Wednesday, so I am meeting with him the earliest I can.</p>
<p>Let us know how it goes! ;)</p>
<p>Guys, he’s not asking whether he should do it or the merits of doing it.</p>
<p>He has ALREADY decided to speak with the professor to try to get that, what, B?</p>
<p>The question is how can he best approach the matter, having already decided to do it — ‘just accept it’ is silly because as I graduated high school valedictorian in a school of 3,000 people (though have relaxed since college lol) ---- I can tell you that talking to teachers can raise your grade, though not always.</p>
<p>The first and easiest way to get back points is finding answers you put on the test that were potentially correct. Longshot if your answers are inarguably wrong. In a 300 person psychology seminar once, I argued for an answer the prof said was wrong because of blah blah blah blah blah. No one else supported the answer, but I have an excellent memory and remembered my stance was verbatim in the textbook – someone with the textbook verified this. The prof stated that the textbook was “technically wrong” but granted points back to what ended up to be almost 1/3 the class.</p>
<p>Besides that, the main approach should be how you word your position and your stance. You should frame the discussion in a way where the prof thinks he’s giving you back points fairly; that you have earned those points. He doesn’t want it to seem, to himself or any outside observer, that its unfair that you were given those points when no one else was. If some things were never covered in the course, fine — although if a lot of people got those questions right, that just begs the question.</p>
<p>If there are any extra credit opportunities, obviously, take them.</p>
<p>Arguments that won’t work are probably 1. attacking his grading system or 2. trying to get sympathy and pleading with him that you were “sooo close.”</p>
<p>@peter - Lol, I appreciate you addressing the actual question I proposed in the beginning of this thread. I knew as soon as I saw the 73 that I would be asking for 4 points back, so it was never of question of whether or not I should do it, but how.</p>
<p>The biggest problem I am going to face when meeting with him is the fact that I have not seen my exam. My school does not give final exams back to students, so my first time seeing what I got wrong will be there in the office with him…so my wit and mental sharpness is definitely going to be tested, with no room for error.</p>
<p>I would definitely not attack the grading system, but if worse comes to worse, I am going to have to pull the sympathy card. Normally, I wouldn’t care if I got a B-, but the fact that credit for this course won’t transfer to my new university unless I get a B is what is driving me to contend with my professor.</p>
<p>^^^It’s inappropriate if this kid’s grade is adjusted in a CURVED CLASS for any reason except a grading error–which should be adjusted for all people in the class. As you said, your professor changed everyone’s grade, not just yours.</p>
<p>In a class where one person’s grade can’t be improved without hurting another person’s grade, you shouldn’t be able to negotiate a grade. This is especially true in a large class with a strict curve that’s been in place for years.</p>
<p>@justotalk - The class lecture exams are NOT curved at all. The only part of this course that is curved is the laboratory part, which is curved down. Changing my grade would alter nothing other than my grade, and would affect no one.</p>
<p>Again, this chemistry course has no curve whatsoever. The class average naturally falls between a 65-68%, which the chemistry department has deemed acceptable. Giving me four points would not affect anyone but me.</p>