Probability of Grade Change?

Colleges and Universities A-Z SUNY - General
1

<p>I am currently an undergraduate freshman at a SUNY and I am worried about the probability of a grade change after receiving a poor grade in one of my gen-ed classes.</p>

<p>The situation is: I submitted my final research paper to my professor in a questionable fashion and they never received it. I slipped the paper under the professor's door, the night it was due, right before the building's closing, hoping she would receive it the following morning; this is a form of submission he/she sanctioned. My professor told me he/she never received the paper however.</p>

<p>If the paper were to be counted, I am certain that I would have at least received a B in the class. However, since the paper was to be 30% of my grade and it was not "included," (but counted as a zero instead), I received a D minus in the class. While I plan to email the professor apologetically, explain to him/her that I submitted the paper on time but it never got to him/her, offer to re-submit the paper for inclusion, and plead for mercy so that he/she change my grade from a D minus to at least a B minus, I am not sure how successful my efforts will be. </p>

<p>The school I attend, like all schools, has quite an inflexible final grade-change policy, and I am not sure how willing my professor will be in going through such a process--I am fully responsible for the paper not definitively getting to him/her, as I should have securely emailed it or handed it to him/her personally. But, at the same time, I don't think I should receive a nearly failing grade in the class when I completed all work--including the research paper--to predominantly A and occasionally B quality. </p>

<p>This professor is an exceedingly flexible, easy-going, nice teacher; but, considering the circumstances of the grade-change policy and weird/mysterious research paper disappearance, I don't know how much of his/her flexibility, easy-goingness and niceness he/she will be willing or even able to extend into changing my grade from D minus to the very different grade of a B. I cannot fully imagine how willing he/she would be to accept my crazy story of the research paper's disappearance, and then go through the stiff system of grade-changing, over the winter break: get approval from the department chair to change my grade, using the seemingly questionable story I have provided him/her, and send it in to the registrar's office. This scares me--it makes me question the probability of a successful grade change.</p>

<p>From an outside perspective, how does the probability of a successful grade-shift from a D minus to a B look? Has anyone ever had a grade-change happen for them before? In a SUNY school?</p>

<p>I am severely panicking about this issue considering I plan to go to a fine med-school and I don't want some accidental D minus to get in the way of that! Thanks for the help ahead of time!</p>

2

<p>So the cleaning lady stole your paper?</p>

<p>No chance of a grade change. </p>

3

<p>Thanks for the answer. Can I ask for a clear, reconsideration for the grade-change chances from you? I mean, I understand that the story sounds insane, but it’s not all my doing…if I knew the paper were to disappear by some weird means, I clearly would have submitted it in another form. No student wants a D, especially for something like that. I feel for the professor to simply refuse consideration of the paper, or other assignment, even when completed on time and in satisfaction of expected standards, is for them to imply that it is their intent to give out damaging grades, to unforgivingly and intentionally hurt the images of students…which I don’t think is the case…or even morally appropriate for the profession they are in. Moreover, I think it is the obligation of the professor to grade me on all that I’ve done and been able to reasonably control–to punish me for something I did not foresee or control (i.e., the awkward disappearance of the paper), even when I provably finished the paper on time, is wrong I think. Will you reconsider the case, with these thoughts in mind, and tell me the reasons for your dispute or agreement? I just want to be able to approach my professor in the best way possible and I think that you are ultimately helping me do that, so thank you once more.</p>

<p>If these things are not convincing enough, what do you think would make it convincing for a grade-change?</p>

<p>And, I wonder, for further on, if he/she does not change the grade and I am left with this stain of a D minus on my record, do you know how bad it would look to med schools, assuming I get pretty much straight As throughout the rest of college? How damaging is the D minus?</p>

<p>Sorry to be so persistent, I just don’t want to have poor grades if I can help it. Thanks again!</p>

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<p>You’re asking the professor to believe you finished the paper on the last hour of the business day it was due and, instead of emailing it to her with a date and time stamp on it, trekked across campus in the middle of winter to put it under her door. If you’d emailed her that night and mentioned that you just dropped off the research paper, you’d have a paper trail and might not be in this situation. Professors can only grade the work they receive and yours isn’t refusing to consider a paper that was “completed on time” to “expected standards;” she didn’t receive one at all. </p>

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<p>What does that ^^^ mean? Did the staff see you deliver the paper? If you can prove it was completed (and submitted) by the deadline, you may have a chance. But I think if you approach your professor from a moral high ground explaining what you think her “obligations” are, you’re going to keep that zero. The best you can do is send an email asking her to reconsider. If she won’t, you can retake the class. Both courses and grades will show on your transcript, but your GPA will be calculated using only the higher grade. </p>

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<p>Thank you for your answer. I have just sent her an email, avoiding the moral obligations-arguments, and just simply asked for her to consider the paper, saying that I was very sorry for the irresponsible circumstances in which I submitted it, understanding the leap of faith she would have to make to honestly consider my paper, hoping I’m not causing her too much trouble. Hopefully things work for the better, I know I have certainly learned a lesson about accountability; so, worst case scenario, I will just have to re-take the class to pull up my gpa…and hopefully med schools won’t deny me on the basis of one bad grade! Thanks again!</p>

6

<p>Let us know how it works out. I think, from reading CC, that med schools look at overall GPA and MCAT scores. If you do a search, I’m sure you’ll run across posts dealing with their requirements. Good luck.</p>