<p>I'm asking this because I see a lot of posts on this forum from students who have not done as well in courses and want to increase their grade. So has anyone asked to get a grade higher than what they deserved, anything from a B to an A- or a D to a C?
In my opinion I think it is very unlikely that a professor will do so, especially if a class is already curved. I see this as unfair to the rest of the students in the class if one student gets a "bump" and other students do not.
I have heard of situations where a student may get an incomplete and has to do some more work later. But I'm not sure if a complete letter/grade change actually happens. Just curious...</p>
<p>I was recently successful in asking my professor to round up my grade from a B to an A…I was less than half of a point away though.</p>
<p>As a college professor, I almost never change a grade. Part of the reason is that I drop the lowest score and generally round up when a student is between grades, so in a way, most of my students already get more than they deserve.</p>
<p>The big exceptions are when a student really did hand in an assignment and I somehow failed to assign a score for it.</p>
<p>Every professor I know has heard a million sob stories about losing a scholarship or not being able to enter some program. After a while they’re just boring.</p>
<p>I even avoid giving out incompletes, because most students at my school never complete them. I need hard evidence that the student missed the work due to very unusual and unforeseen circumstances and has a background of getting things done.</p>
<p>I went from a D this semester to an incomplete. I only got it because I was extremely sick and had to miss one of my finals which counted for 30% of my grade (I had documentation from student health).</p>
<p>I had a grade changed once, but that was because the professor had written down I got a 29 on the final instead of a 92.</p>
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<p>^LOL, honest mistake</p>
<p>I agree with WasatchWriter and as a teacher, too, I want to say that at my school we are discouraged from giving incompletes. Something like 70% of them turn to ‘F’ grades/don’t get done. In 26+ years of teaching, I have only given out two that I can remember. One was for hospitalization (and yes, the student finished, but with a poorer performance than if she’d been able to sit with classmates for the final); the other was for an international student who had to go home when his father died. It was tough for him to keep in touch, but he did complete the class. Also, I teach in a field where we don’t curve scores. Students have to demonstrate their own personal growth/proficiency levels in order to pass, so there is no bumping grades. Either the student shows s/he knows/is ready to move on, or s/he has to repeat a class. Final thought, though: you have nothing to lose by making an appointment to discuss this with your professor. Good luck!</p>
<p>I’ve only been successful when it came to legitimate grading mistakes, but I usually don’t bother when it’s a matter of grades that I have actually earned (illnesses and drastic life circumstances aside, obviously). </p>
<p>Usually professors are very clear at the beginning of the semester if they curve or not and are adamant about keeping their grading policies a good 90% of the time. I honestly don’t understand why a lot of people think they can convince professors into giving them extra points they didn’t earn and assume that would be perfectly fair for everyone else - especially when it comes to really generous types of professors who curve or allow for extra credit, dropped grades, make-ups/retakes, etc.</p>