I got my grades back from my first semester of college and I got two As and a B+, but I took my fourth class that is not in my major as pass/no pass. I messed up and thought that t I could still pass with a C-, but apparently I had to get a C so I did not pass. Right now I’m at a competitive liberal arts college, but I want to transfer. I’m scared that this will prevent me from transferring to UC Berkeley or UCLA, which I plan on doing in two years because of financial benefits and also because they have better programmes for the major I’m interested in. Am I completely screwed for admissions? Will ANY competitive universities consider me? Will taking the class at my local community college help? SOS
Edit: does your transcript say W or pass/no pass?
It says NP so no pass
At your school, does NP get averaged into your GPA as a 0?
No, my GPA is not affected. It’s pretty high because of the other classes. I just don’t get credit.
@lostaccount @NASA2014 ~ sorry I forgot to tag you guys before
Can you go back to the professor and explain that you messed up and perhaps he can recalculate your average so you get a C? He may not have realized what the affect is. Look over the final or the paper, find a point somewhere. Calculate your test average to make sure you really got a C-. You already failed so you have absolutely nothing to lose.
Are you allowed to change a P/F back to a grade? You might be better off with a C- although I am not sure.
In some schools if you retake the class the grade gets replaced, is that true at your school? You should speak to someone about that as an option. If it is and assuming the C- stays, then yes it is worth retaking the class if it will fully replace this grade.
Be pragmatic and look at other schools.
@GMTplus7 So what you’re saying is a student who generally got As her entire life will be entirely dismissed for one mistake? Also I can’t because my family won’t pay for anything “less prestigious” than the college I’m currently attending.
@SeekingPam I already emailed my advisor and she told me I cannot change the P/NP.
But you didn’t get the non-passing grade in the 9th grade. You got it in Freshman year of college. Not passing a class is pretty serious. How does that instill a sense of confidence that you will hit the ground running at a very competitive school when you transfer there?
Then your parents need a reality check.
I don’t think a professor will regrade assignments to give students an extra point or two on their final grade. If they did that for one student, they’d have to do that for everybody. OP is better off retaking the class and learning the material.
@GMTplus7 Given the fact I got two As and a B+ at a school that is statistically harder to get into than UCLA or UCB I don’t really think that if I continue to do well over the next three semesters then I’ll be entirely dismissed - but what do I know? I think it’s actually an unhealthy mindset to give up or be “practical” in life all the time. I’ll apply to other schools too, but I won’t let this stop me from giving it a shot.
@austinmshauri Yes, I am going to retake the course at UCLA summer school or my local community college this semester. I hope that given my professor probably won’t be a first year out of MIT grad whose class overall did poorly I should be fine.
So you played the game without knowing the rules.
No. @GMTplus7 is not saying this will happen but rather that it might happen, so it’s a good idea to be pragmatic. I’m sorry to hear about your parents’ unreasonableness, btw. I hope they change their minds.
Erin’s Dad is correct, most freshmen do not know the rules (my D included).
@austinmshauri , professors change grades. It happens. Sometimes it is because they take pity on the student, sometimes because they added wrong (even MIT grads), sometimes because you can show that too many points were taken off an exam or that something deserves partial credit. This is particularly true in non quantitative classes where most everything is how you look at it (ie it is all BS and just a function of how well your BS sounds (I was a liberal arts major too)). Most people do not ask so worrying about what “everyone” does is not part of the analysis.
OP’s first step is to go over her work, try to find points. Add her tests and papers to see if it is close to a C. Whether it is or not, go see the professor. You have nothing to lose since you already failed. Worst case it is a lesson in what does not work. It is only a half grade after all. Since he is new he may not have known the rules either. I would have assumed a C- is passing. DO NOT SAY YOU WANT TO TRANSFER, just tell everyone you are interested in graduate school and are concerned about how it will look. Be familiar with how he got to your grade, what was each test worth and so on. I once had a teacher in college change a grade because he said the midterm was worth x and the final y, I did better on the midterm but when you added it on his point value I deserved the midterm grade not the final grade. He changed it. It is a pain but point out it would be a bigger pain to have to retake the class.
Assuming talking to the professor does not work, talk to your adviser, she may have suggestions. Can you retake it to REPLACE the grade and make it disappear? Find out, look at a WRITTEN policy not an I think maybe policy. Do you have to take it at your home school?
Assuming you cannot replace the grade by retaking, then you need to find out the grievance procedure. Schools hate this kind of stuff. There is a formal process. The fact that a good part of the class did poorly is extremely helpful to you. In particular a teacher who is new and not tenured probably would not want this. Do you go to the department? The board of the school? Are there repercussions to you if you do this (win or lose), does the hearing go on your record? I have no idea, you need to research the procedure and be familiar. Speak to anyone who has been in this situation. Is anyone in your class in the same situation?
I had an employee in a somewhat similar situation at an east coast state school. She successfully appealed her grade from a D to a C (so she could get credit in her major). It was a long process but it worked.
As for straight As saving you, I am hoping it will save my D who did almost the exact thing you did although she took summer classes too so has even more As. She is in a gap year studying abroad and may have failed a class. I am hoping like crazy that this does not impact her at the elite school she deferred to do this gap year. While I am proud of her As, I am so mad at her about the F. In some ways the As make me madder although believe me I am happy they are there.
Best case she basically flushed a semester’s worth of tuition and effort down the drain because she cannot ask to transfer the high As she will get because they are attached to an F. She cannot retake the class to replace the grade. The general rule is no Ds or Fs. It is kind of ironic in your case that you got a C- since that is less bad than what goes on your transcript (a potential basis for objecting to the grading policy at your school). The As save her because her GPA for her classes is still in the low A range even with the F (different system) so if she ends up having to send a transcript they will realize it is an aberration and may ask for an explanation. The one difference is they have already sold her a seat. If she were applying from her gap year program now, she might not get in. As someone else said, why take a potential red flag when you have students without one lining up to hand you a check as UCSB, UCLA and University of California Berkeley do.
If we get past the hurdle of her elite school, the F will still raise a flag if she hates her school and wants to transfer or with grad schools since she will have to disclose this transcript whether she gets credit or not. It can be overcome but it is a question she may need to address in the future. Hopefully people will be impressed enough with the grades she gets next year and after so that this will be excused. I want to believe she learned a lesson.
I am hoping that this does not discourage either of you from trying in the future. As someone recently told my D, everyone is entitled to one major screw up, you have now had yours. Going forward work at your full potential and do not screw up again.
As for parents paying, you are already in a decent 4 year program? I do not think they are the ones who need a reality check. Unless you hate your school, why would they pay more for you to go elsewhere if you do not get more from it? If you are truly miserable, be honest and talk to them about it. Maybe you can get merit money elsewhere that will make it comparatively cheaper.
It’s also unhealthy to be in denial.
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You probably mean “humanities,” because the “liberal arts” includes the physical sciences and mathematics.