<p>I am 99% sure my math instructor calculated my grade wrong?</p>
<p>Should I email him to receive
1) my exam grade
2) class avg exam grade
3) method used to curve</p>
<p>Or should I talk to a dean within the math department.</p>
<p>I am pretty sure I earned a high grade than I was given.</p>
<p>Contact your professor first b/c it was probably an honest mistake and then go from there. If you find that the error is still there and that you did not recieve the grade you feel you earned than try talking to the dean but don’t be aggressive or accusatory when doing so.</p>
<p>I hope it all works out and you get the grade you earned.</p>
<p>Yeah but is it okay to email him for the above 3 items? He is a graduate student</p>
<p>You can just email him I really don’t see a problem in asking him for that information you want. Of course there is a way of approaching each question without coming off as an annoying student.
I had to email a professor about my grade recently which was 1pt away from an A. It was awkward but I sent him an email asking if that grade I saw on Blackboard would be on my transcript and if I should be worried since it is showing an 89.xx which calculated wrong because I calculated it and my grade should have been 92.xx and he explained it me and told me it would be sorted out. So I see no harm in asking.</p>
<p>“The final average will be at least B”</p>
<p>this means he is curving to at least a 85? , as in our school an 85 is a B , 82 is a B-, 88 B+.</p>
<p>And can someone post a proper way to ask for these 3 items in an email without coming off as an annoying student?</p>
<p>Curving the final average to a B means it’s going to be curved to a B. The percentage doesn’t really matter in those curves. In most colleges, the professor just gets a sheet to fill out grades with, and he’s usually even given a little bit of leeway to introduce subjective factors such as selectively failing certain students (subject to fairness, of course).</p>
<p>The way to ask respectfully is to explain that you are confused about your grade and are wondering if you could get an explanation. The idea here is to ask what you need to ask and only what you need to ask. Make sure you avoid implying anything about the professor, whether or not it’s against him.</p>
<p>Good example: I am confused about how my math grade was figured and am wondering if I could have an explanation. Can I have statistics for the exam and more details on the grading?</p>
<p>Bad example: My math grade is inconsistent with my expectations. Can you please explain how you figured it and make any necessary corrections?</p>
<p>Both of them appear as innocent ways to ask, even though the bad example implies that you suspect an error in the calculations. However, that is OK to ask once the details show for sure that there is an error in the calculations.</p>
<p>^
exactly, there is a huge difference in the response you will get if your tone is “I don’t understand how the grades are calculated” instead of “I believe you calculated the grade wrong.”</p>
<p>Curved to a B in a mathematics class means that he’s proably using a Z curve, in which case you could lose points just as easily as gain points. It does not make the average grade an 85.</p>
<p>I’m assuming your grade is correct but you just don’t understand how he did the grading system (which has happened to me a couple of times in the past when professors are purposefuly vague).</p>
<p>Email him, don’t email the department head.</p>
<p>Dear professor, </p>
<p>I’m confused about my grade in (class) and I was just wondering if you could clarify. In the syllabus, it says that you would curve to a B (whatever % that is). I calculated my grade and with that curve, I believe I should have a (insert whatever grade you think you should have here) but on Blackboard/ANGEL/whatever you use to see your grades, it says I have a (insert your grade here). I would be grateful if you could check my grade to make sure it is accurate. </p>
<p>Sincerely,
Worried student’s name</p>
<p>There’s a template. Work from there. I tend to be very close to my profs and would never write such a formal letter, so my formal letter writing is a bit rusty haha.</p>
<p>I think you should change it to the following (but use less brown-nosing!!):</p>
<p>"Dear Professor,</p>
<p>I am sorry to bother you during this busy holiday season but I am confused about my final grade. I would greatly appreciate it if you could please explain to me how it is that I received a ____. According to your syllabus, it says that you would curve to a B (whatever % that is). I calculated my grade and with that curve, I believe I should have a (insert whatever grade you think you should have here) but I apparently have a (insert your grade here). </p>
<p>Have I miscalculated or is there an issue with the grading program? I would be grateful if you could check my grade to make sure it is accurate and explain how I came to receive it. Could I see the breakdown of all my grades?</p>
<p>Sincerely,
Worried student’s name</p>
<p>lol I don’t know why everyone is writing long templates.I sent a quick but very polite question to my professor about my grade w/out insinuating fault on his part and he responded within the hour answering my questions and he even posted them to webadvisor the same night and I received the A I worked hard for. He was totally cool about it.
Just don’t be wordy and make sure to be polite and use proper grammar and spelling and it’s all good.
Going overboard and being too “brown-nosy” is just silly. Just ask the question and wait for a response.</p>