<p>Have any of you had an experience where you failed a midterm and it's worth 40% of your grade (the other 60% is from the final)? What did you do and did you end up passing the course? </p>
<p>I need 90% on the final to just get a C... any advice? Should I drop the course now? I'm just afraid that even if I try my best to study and I messed up one question then I'd fail the course :(. All my other courses are either B+ or As...</p>
<p>Something is seriously wrong if you got 40%, either your class attendance, understanding of concepts, or study habits... or all of the above. This should immediately raise a red flag - if you're getting B+ or A's in other classes, why is this class so different or difficult?</p>
<p>Drop the course now. If you got 40% on the first midterm, I would not take a chance to assume that I would get 90% on the final, and that's just to get a C. Either way, it's a lose-lose situation and will definitely drag down your GPA a lot.</p>
<p>That's actually incredible that the midterm is worth 40% and the final is worth 60% - what class is this for? Those weighted grades are pretty ridiculous, in my opinion.</p>
<p>what's the class average? in some physics/chemistry/etc. classes the average will be like a 50% so they ultimately end up curving everything like crazy and everyone ends up with a C.</p>
<p>however, if you scored significantly below the average, you should probably drop.</p>
<p>If you genuinely studied and everyone else scored higher than you, drop it. You don't want to put all your chances of passing on the final. THere's a good chance you may not get the material and fail it. A W looks better than an F.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Something is seriously wrong if you got 40%, either your class attendance, understanding of concepts, or study habits...
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</p>
<p>...nah, really??</p>
<p>One semester I got a D in Italian and my next lowest grade was a B+. If anything I did more work for Italian, never missed a class, and went to talk to the professor the most. </p>
<p>Talk to your professor about your options.</p>
<p>I just love how we have everything hanging on the finals, basically it means that to retake a course you just needs to retake the test.</p>
<p>Of course we have these small mid terms which makes it easier to pass the test but they are not really important. I don't really understand why it should be impossible to get an A in the course if you ace the final no matter what you did earlier, don't the final take up every concept taught in the course?</p>
<p>It's for a 3rd year econ class that I took for electives... I think it's just the one he marked the test. If you're missing certain key words or concepts then you get 0. So a lot of questions I wrote approximately the right answer I got 0 or 3 out of 10. I don't think I can get the Dean's List if I drop it and get a W... but then I'd have to ace the final.... =(</p>
<p>Do you guys think talking to the prof would do any good to my grade (or maybe ask him to make the final worth 70-80%)?</p>
<p>Also, I think the class average wouldn't be low.</p>
<p>I just realized I can't even drop the course... the deadline for dropping WITH a W was Feb. 12...</p>
<p>Well, if you can't drop, there's nothing you can really do. Talk to the professor. Ask what will happen if you ace the final and if it could make up for a poor midterm grade (I wouldn't start talking percentages, if I were you). And study, study, study for the final.</p>
<p>if i were you, I would drop if possible.</p>
<p>not every professor is that nice but you can try to talk to him.</p>
<p>Kidnap the proffesor and make the class be cancelled???</p>
<p>Ditto on talking to the professor. I he has a better idea of where you're coming from, you might be able to get some partial credit back, but even if that doesn't end up happening, showing initiative and a desire to improve are always good, particularly if the grading of the final is somewhat subjective.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Talk to the professor.</p></li>
<li><p>Highly consider taking a W. If you got a 40/100 on the midterm, do you honestly think you will get an A on the final?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I got somewhere around a 40ish on a midterm once. I withdrew from that class. Roman Civilization. I really liked the material, but the test was retarded. The "study guide" was 700+ questions and the test just asked for details. Not a good professor.</p>