in tears; art teacher failed me purposely, unfairly, and I now have an F

Applying to College
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<p>my gpa otherwise was around a 3.2 unweighted after sophomore year of high school (not including the Fs in ART). (Hoping to get it up to a 3.5 unweighted by the end of junior year, entering this fall, but now I probably can't.)</p>

<p>I was sick for a weeks on end, and missed a lot of school, and in my art class she just FAILED ME for no reason. </p>

<p>I submitted my makeup work when I came back on time and had at LEAST B worthy work in her class!! </p>

<p>I even did this mostly without her help because whenever I went before school, after school etc to ask her about makeup work, she'd call me 'selfish' etc. </p>

<p>She also made it so that my grade would never be higher than 59% in her class. </p>

<p>i'm in tears right now, and I've talked the administration, gotten my parents involved and they say its all up to her, and they can't do anything about it ...and that they should be happy she's giving me credit for the course (they don't know yet that she failed me anyways...)</p>

<p>how can i explain this to colleges? and my gpa...anyway to save it??
please dont give me too much of bad news. i just feel really helpless and I feel robbed of a great grade that I deserve after BUSTING MY ASS in her class.</p>

<p>and last thing...i'm moving from a public-magnet school to a private school next year. would this grade carry over? and my counselor said the colleges don't look at art, but I don't buy that because it factors into my gpa.</p>

<p>AGGGGH. =(
thanks for the help guys.</p>

<p>ps. I'm not looking at ivies I made this username around 2 years ago so, it's not an option anymore but I am interested in liberal arts colleges, and colleges such as: barnard, wellesley, nyu, tufts, etc.</p>

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<p>Studio Art classes don't count for most colleges. They recalc you gps based on academic classes. It's almost like gym to colleges.</p>

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<p>You should appeal; get your parents involved. </p>

<p>Schools may overlook it, but you don't want a failing grade on your transcript if it's there unfairly.</p>

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<p>Yeah, what Barron says has merit, but I assure you that schools like Wellesley and Tufts still don't want people who have F's or even D's and C's in anything -- even if they're electives. In fact, a class like art is one where an A is almost expected...</p>

<p>I agree with above posters that you should really work to appeal the grade especially if you so strongly believe it is unmerited.</p>

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<p>Good luck at those schools with a 3.2.....</p>

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<p>I do not understand why some teachers are so mean-spirited. They are supposed to want to share their knowledge and enthusiasm for their subjects with their students. And they shouldn't be teachers if they don't care about their students. It doesn't sound like this woman is a teacher. It sounds like she is a petty despot on a power trip. Is there any way to just drop the class and not have it (or a grade) appear on your record. I don't see what your options are, otherwise. You were unavoidably absent and you did your best to make up the work in a timely and appropriate manner. She should have been HELPING you with that process. You have shown that you care about the class. She has shown that she cares nothing for you. Your school sounds no better. If you cannot get this dropped (though that would still be a less than ideal solution), it is certainly something you can explain on your applications in a side note (it would help if your gc or someone at the school also commented on this, to back you up). I think you might have to avoid "blaming" the teacher, but if your gc wrote something like, "Despite his best efforts to make up the work he missed during his illness, Ivyhopeful was unable to achieve a passing grade in Studio Art due to the teacher's policiy of mandatory grade reductions for late work." It sounds stupid, but it makes the school sound stupid, not you, I think. Is there any chance your advisor supports you at all on this issue?</p>

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<p>get your parents involved. try to be as tactful as possible. if this doesn't work, then go over the teacher's head.</p>

<p>Getting docked for missing school due to illness is something that can easily be contested, and I think the principal would be sympathetic to you.</p>

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<p>I just re-read your post -- you're aiming rather high with a 3.2 average, and if this F stays on your transcript, well, it's even harder. You should look into some schools that match your academic profile. You can, of course, apply to Tufts and whatnot, but you should know that such schools are reaches.</p>

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<p>to loslobos71, i still have time to improve my gpa, plus I have a lot of other hooks and a great SAT score. i agree even with my gpa a lot of those schools are reaches, but that's a given for me. I have 'safety schools' and 'match schools' on my list (not included up there) as well. </p>

<p>its just my effing art class that I'm super annoyed about.</p>

<p>gah. :(</p>

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<p>You must have some good hooks to offset that.</p>

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<p>they are lying when they say they can't do anything about the teacher and the grade, that is hogwash</p>

<p>you have already gone to the teacher, etc., now is time to go over their heads, you have time to fix this, and as I said in another thread, the school staff just wants you to go away and drop it</p>

<p>don't drop it, move on up the chain, you have nothing to lose....</p>

<p>and again, when they say they have no power to change a grade, oh yes they do, they are lying to you so you will go away and cower</p>

<p>don't do that, stand up and be nice, but a pain</p>

<p>document everything they said to you, put it all in writing, and from know on, it all needs to be in writing, and send copies to the school district and such</p>

<p>you have time to get transcript fixed, and grade, but they figure since summer is coming up and you are leaving anyway, you will let it go</p>

<p>so right now, write down exactly what happened, what they said, your illness, other grades, etc...once in writing, it is harder to ignore</p>

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<p>CGM,</p>

<p>brace yourself! I agree 100% with you. You're spot on.</p>

<p>Organize yourself, request a timely meeting with principal and teacher and present your case. Ask the teacher to explain her reasoning behind the grade infront of the prinicpal. </p>

<p>If your situation is reasonable, things will be done. However, don't expect anything to be done in front of you with the teacher in the room. Usually the prinicpal will hear you out, thank you for the meeting and then speak again with the teacher 1 to 1 in private (no one, even if you don't like them deserves to be publically berated by a boss..which would also be considered an actionable offense (read lawsuit)) </p>

<p>The prinicpal will then contact you with some sort of solution to the problem in most cases...provided your situation really warrants it. There are two sides to most situations. </p>

<p>What will happen "if" you've put together a strong "professional" arguement (avoid the "she doesn't like me" because it will be counterd with "of course I do") about the provable facts to the situation. </p>

<p>I would think a solid compromise is to list the class as an "audit" as you will
probably not get an A or B, unless you have won awards for the work outside of class that you can show another pov about your work. An audit doesn't effect your gpa. Yes, you'll probably need to retake an arts class, but is that a bad compromise? </p>

<p>We dealt with something somewhat similar with one kid. We had our facts straight, information complied and present when we met with the instructor and prinicpal. We were professional in pointing out what we saw as incorrect. We were thanked for our time, excused. The next morning I received a call with a "reasonable" solution. </p>

<p>Had we not, we would have moved on to the next level.</p>

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<p>These posters are being ridiculous, a 3.2 GPA is not a black mark, especially if its only the students sophomore year, and there is an upward trend (as the OP is suggesting)</p>

<p>I had a 3.35 by the end of high school (public), and was only rejected from one school (Brown), and accepted into 8 others (Pomona, Williams, Vanderbilt, McGill, BC, BU($), Miami (full ride) , Tulane(full ride))</p>

<p>Note also I wasn't a URM, Athlete, Cancer Curer, Legacy, First-Gen, Well-connected, VIP, development, or anything like that, and was outside the top 10% of my class.</p>

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<p>I would not worry too much about it; just explain it.</p>

<p>Art class, while the art class grade may not be as important as, say, a math class grade, are viewed highly by colleges. Worry more about just getting the credit for art, not the grade. If you show a passion to art, I think thats all that really matters.</p>

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<p>No offense but I have trouble believing that you give us a fair account of the story.</p>

<p>What reasons did your teacher give for failing you? What did she say when you confronted her?</p>

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<p>"Organize yourself, request a timely meeting with principal and teacher and present your case. Ask the teacher to explain her reasoning behind the grade infront of the prinicpal."</p>

<p>And include your parents at that meeting. This is a time to bring in the big guns -- parents, principal, etc. I was in a situation in which a similar thing happened to one of my sons and several other students, and doing what is described here is how we got the unfair grade revised. Incidentally, the grade was changed after it was very clear to the principal that the teacher had not used a rubric to determine the grade.</p>

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<p>I have a hard time believing your parents accept this. If this were my kid, I would be in the principal's office with all guns blazing. I'd move it up the chain if the situation warranted.</p>

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<p>My D had a simular experience-with a PE teacher in a public school. Teacher dropped the grade from an A to a C.We actually fought it-all the way up to the superintendent of schools! He made her revoke it! You are getting good advice. Include a letter from your doctor, and a copy of the letter you parents wrote to your school-explaining your absence upon your return from your illness.
Public schools have written regulations on how you address this very scenario.
Demand a copy of it from your school, and follow each and every step. When they respond, then you MUST respond within their timeline. I had to start with guidance couselor, department head of the counseling office, principal, and district administrators and finally the superintendent of schools. My file was very thick when I finished-but the pride my daughter felt-made it all worth it.
She is graduating this year as valedictorian!Good luck!</p>

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<p>ask if you can pass fail the class</p>

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<p>^^^doesn't the OP have an F?</p>