<p>I am in need of a bit of advice, as I am very frustrated right now. I am a second semester freshman at a top 50 LAC. I spent my first semester in London and did very, very well. This semester, I'm frustrated. My grades up until now have been very good, all As except for a few high B's on all of my assignments. I'm comfortable with all the material. However, midterms didn't go very well for me, and it frustrates me. I KNOW the information. I "took" the exams from the previous semesters and did very well (only about one wrong). I was confident in my knowledge, however I didn't do well.</p>
<p>My one professor speaks very poor english. I have a very hard time following what he is saying sometimes. He makes up words, and his spelling and grammar are interesting, to say the least. My homework average is something like a 95% right now, but my exam grade was poor. Not because I didn't know the material, but because I didn't understand his questions and their wording. They were all awkward, and when he changes terms from the books terms to "his" terms I get confused. He also uses different definitions. He'll say something and disagree with our text books definition and want what HE wants the definition to be. I struggle with that a lot. It also frustrates me that almost all of us had to turn our exams back in after we got them because he had graded some questions incorrectly. Also, when I asked him to explain to me why I got one of the questions wrong he told me we had spent enough time on that topic and he wasn't going to talk about it anymore. I was also upset by the fact that on one of the questions I did make a mistake in my calculations and he wrote, I quote, "OMG How the hell did you get this number?" </p>
<p>My other professor isn't as bad, but she gave me a 0 on one of my essays because "I didn't answer the question." The question was "If a river spirit said they would take you to any part of the dynasties we studied, which would you choose?" So I said the Han, and explained why. She said that I showed I had knowledge but she thought that I had tried to answer two of the questions in one. What do I say to that?</p>
<p>I'm so upset right now, I cry every time I think about it. School and grades are very, very important to me, and I work very very very hard. I don't know what to do?</p>
<p>Welcome to college. What you are experiencing in part is the difference between the way colleges grade and high schools grade. It can be a shock. A good part of getting a good grade from the profs at college is getting to know what they want, not just learning the material. You'll experience this in the work world as well. If you don't give the employer what he wants in a job, doing the job as it should be done is not enough and can get you fired. Get some examples form your one prof on how she would have liked the question answered. That is valuable info. In college, many times they are not testing ofr knowledge, which they assume you have learned, but for your taking it to the next level and quality of thought in doing so. In your dynasties question, for example, you would get full points in high school by listing the traits of the dynasty you would pick thereby showing that you know the info about that dynasty. For college, you may have to go farther, showing implication, assumptions and why the other dynasties don't make the cut. This is just an example of how things can be, and not necessarily what that prof wants. They all have their specific things they want, and it is your job to find out what it is.</p>
<p>The non English speaking grad student has always been the terror of colleges. Even back in my day. Many of them are teaching solely for the stipend they are receiving and have no teaching skill at all. They may not even know what is being covered in the course; they know the material well, but not its presentation. Again, you need to learn what they want from you. If the grad student will not spend the time to explain something you still don't get, find someone in the class who does know the material and get it from him. Forget about what he writes on you papers. That is not important and you need to get over that. When you complete this course, send a note to the department head and the dean regarding the grad student's lack of teaching and refusal to explain things. That is on his head--he is supposed to explain until you understand or get you assistance if he could not get there. Also rate the course and prof on whatever services are available to do this, so that everyone is alerted about this guy. I have no sympathies for these grad students who do not do their jobs. Also let the prof know. If you can be transferred to another section for recitation, do so.</p>
<p>OP - I'm sorry you're suffering this situation. Unfortunately I don't know you well enough to suggest ways to fix it. Locate the freshman counseling office and speak with them. Perhaps they can point you in the right direction.</p>
<p>Find the Academic Support office at your school - every school has one. Go there. Talk to them. You are not the first student facing these issues. Even if the profs are new, the AS office has seen similar situations. They'll be able to help you better than we can.</p>
<p>Sometimes everything makes sense in the lecture, but then when the exams come along the prof is testing not just the info in the book/lecture, but the ability to apply it in a higher order circumstance. To take the ideas and meld them and apply them to something else.</p>
<p>This might result in your thinking, hey, I have never seen anything like this.</p>
<p>can you take your exam and go over the errors with the prof. It may be you simply need to adjust your studying?</p>
<p>"The non English speaking grad student has always been the terror of colleges. Even back in my day. Many of them are teaching solely for the stipend they are receiving and have no teaching skill at all."</p>
<p>My son had two of these for labs. One didn't know what he was doing. He didn't grade and return assignments. My son spoke to the lab director and the lab director straightened things out - my guess is that he provided close supervision. There were still problems but the major ones were ironed out.</p>
<p>Most people will have a few bad professors and they might ding your GPA. You can either drop the course if you can read them fast enough or withdraw later on. If you're a great student, the overall damage to your GPA should be small.</p>
<p>Many, many students who thought they were good writers in high school realize they need to polish up their skills for college writing. Visit the Writing Center at your school for help.</p>
<p>I agree with all of the advice so far. Some other ideas to put into your tool bag of ideas.</p>
<p>1) Make friends with other students in your classes and compare/contrast notes and grades. Find someone who is getting good grades and sincerely ask for their tips and insights.</p>
<p>2) Go talk to a professor during their office hours. This doesn't always work (some professors are a short and impatient everywhere) - but some professors are much better one-on-one. Remember that professors don't like to be accused or professionally humiliated, thus sometimes asking questions in front of other students or faculty will backfire. While we're on the topic... make sure that when you talk to the professor you do it from a neutral and friendly place... many professors react badly to the emotional-accusations (even if subtle) from students... so make sure you get the professor on YOUR side first, then ask questions. Put another way, attempt to create rapport first, then ask your questions.</p>
<p>3) Remember you are at a top 50 LAC... that means competition for grades will be tougher than if you went to a third tier school or a state university. While you definitely have room to improve your GPA, keep in mind that <em>you</em> chose to go to a top LAC. Enjoy the challenge and realize that your future GPA will need to be mentally recalibrated.</p>
<p>4) Figure out if you are in a "weeding out" class... some classes are designed to weed out students from particular majors. They are deliberately and unexpectedly tough. </p>
<p>5) Ratemyprofessor dot com is your friend. I'm not saying sign up for all easy peasy classes, just use it to know what you are headed into and to balance your class load. You need to read between the lines (some students just whine) ... but you can get an overall sense if the professor is engaging, committed, open to students in office hours, etc. </p>
<p>6) Try to find a tutor who has actually taken <em>that</em> class with <em>that</em> professor. Worth their weight in gold!</p>
<p>7) Relax. Realistically, you probably have one or two more semesters before you really hit your stride. It sounds like your first semester was off campus in London?? That means <em>this</em> semester is your first "real" semester at the college. It takes most students 2 - 3 semesters to really get comfortable with a college and learn how to work the system (study skills, expectations, difficult professors, time management). I think you need to assume that London was the exception to the rule and not the norm for colleges.</p>
<p>Head off to your college's study center and at least get a second opinion about the exam and the essay. I think it would be worth it to find out if the problem is with you or with the professors. The accents can be difficult though I have to say my favorite prof in college had a really strong Austrian accent. I couldn't understand half of what he said the first day, but I did get used to it. I agree that you should meet with the professors and try to get a little more direction from them. Tell them that you are anxious to improve your grades in their courses and you'd like some more pointers on just where you went wrong on the exams. As others have said, tread carefully. Professors don't like being accused of being unfair, but most are anxious to have their students succeed.</p>
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Queen's Mom, how did the stat class work out?
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<p>You deciphered it. LOL. Actually it was Econometrics. ;)</p>
<p>I took it pass/fail because I thought I would bomb it. I wound up with a B on the final. I could have kicked myself for the pass/fail but it was too late.</p>
<p>The OP said in very clear English that the incomprehensible teacher was a professor, and people respond assuming it was a teaching assistant or graduate student.</p>
<p>This is just unacceptable:</p>
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Not because I didn't know the material, but because I didn't understand his questions and their wording. They were all awkward, and when he changes terms from the books terms to "his" terms I get confused.
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<p>If the professor is using incorrect definitions and unclear questions, you should show examples to the chair of the department and ask how it is possible to perform well under those conditions. For a "top 50" LAC this sounds bizarre (but believable).</p>
<p>First, I think you should keep in mind the fact that you are more than your grades. A bad semester at college IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD! </p>
<p>Also, you said that you attend a LAC. I imagine it's small enough that at least you could talk to your professor about your grades/assignments? The second professor seems reasonable. I would talk to her; perhaps you could ask her if you could rewrite the essay for partial credit? A zero is ridiculous. As for the first professor, I'd ask around to see if there are study sessions or tutors for his class. There are also probably upperclassmen who've had him before -- go talk to them and see if you can borrow their notes/get advice on the class.</p>
<p>And I agree, ratemyprofessor is great! I use it ALL the time, and it's helped me to avoid bad professors at my university! Use it to figure out if a professor is difficult to understand/sucks at lecturing. The easiness/hardness factor doesn't really matter. If you work hard, you can pass the class even if it's considered difficult. I did that my first quarter in college -- had a great prof., was a hard class, but passed with flying colors.</p>
<p>If the prof redefines formula or terms and they differ from the textbook, you need to go with his/her formula and terms unless his/hers clearly make no sense (like 1+1 = 1 instead of 1+1 = 2). Maybe you didn't do that but I am suspecting you just went with the textbook's partly because you just assumed his/her definitions must be wrong since his/her English is not very good. But that can get you into trouble. If you see the differences and can't reconcile (because they just don't make any sense to you and the book's seem to be so much better), you need to go to his/her office hour and resolve the confusion <em>before</em> the exam.</p>
<p>As for his/her bad English in the exam paper, were you allowed to ask for clarification during the exam? I am not sure what you should do at this point. But I think other people have already made some suggestions here.</p>
<p>This brings back nightmares from grad school. I'm with Queens Mom on this one. I had a prof (not TA) that I could not understand. Unfortunately it was a math class and I never, ever liked math classes because I just don't "get" math, but it was required for my master's. His accent was so thick and he literally made up words I think. It took me weeks to figure out that perenpickler was his version of perpendicular. I remember laying on the floor crying in my apartment after working 8 hours and going to class for 3 hours trying to figure out what this class was all about until the wee hours of the morning. I think I self-taught this class and squeaked through with a C but I try to forget about it 30 years later. Horrors. I feel for you OP. My advice is to ease up on yourself regaring the straight-A thing and read cpt's message again. It's a good response.</p>
<p>One thing to do might be to ask the professor if you could read an A paper. I think there was someone on CC who thought she should have gotten a better grade than she got. Once she read a paper that got an A, she could see the difference.</p>