Like the title. I would have had a 4.0 gpa if not for this class. I love art, and all my previous experience with the class has been great. Except this year I switched schools and got a new art teacher.
She’s horrible. She gives us a new essay to write every three weeks along with a new project. She grades both the project and the paper extremely harshly. She only grades the art itself from her own subjective view about what I supposedly intended, not taking into account that her opinon isn’t objective. She does not offer any substantial help. Regardless, I despise her. I thought I could bear with it, but then I got an 87 in her class 1st quarter. So now i have 3.75 gpa. It’s so hard getting a good grade in her class. I constantly feel stressed out because of her, and out of all my various advanced courses I can state with confidence her class is the hardest.
I wanted to withdraw, as I just recently learned that was thing you could do. Unfourtanetly I had passed the deadline by 5 days and all I could do was a WF instead of just a W. I feel absolutely devastated. I cannot stand the thought of having her for another 3 quarters. I want to cry. I hate her class so much. I want to withdraw but I truly fear my gpa crumbling even more than if I stayed. I don’t really know what to do.
Would colleges be okay with my lowered gpa if I explained why I withdrew and “failed” a class?
-it lowers my gpa (no chance of getting a 4.0 gpa anymore, despite all of my previous hard work)
-I’m not confident I’ll be able to maintain a good grade in my next 3 quarters
it stresses me out by a lot
-when people see you get a b in an art class, they usually view it as you not working hard enough. Most art classes I know of, usually will be rather easy as long as your participate enough, so not getting an A usually is indicative of someone’s behavior. Art class is notoriously known as an easy “a” right?
No, since you did not do a good job of explaining it here; it’s unlikely you could come up with any explanation that was not whining.
A B is not a bad grade, and certainly better than a WF. You need to level-set your expectations and priorities if you think graduating with a 4.0 is meaningful. You still have 2.5 years of HS; are you planning on dropping every class you don’t get an A in?
no the last sentence of the first paragraph. It’s just her class really stresses me out. I feel like there’s no way to meet her expectations. It’s not a class that I can memorize or learn in to get a good grade. What I get is determined by her expectations. And she never listens. I’m not trying to whine, I’m just trying to explain how it frustrating her class is (badly ig).
and the reason I want to get a 4.0 gpa so badly, is cause its ridiculously easy for most people where I am. It’s not that hard as long as I do all the work. Even when taking advanced courses.
Idk I’m just starting not to enjoy art in general because of her. I took the course because I thought it would be a relaxing course in the midst of all my rigorous ones.
It’s causing me so much stress. I hate it so much.
ah now I’m whining lol. I guess all I can do is grit and bear it through right? i still feel like crap though.
Are you a high school student or a university / college student? I am guessing high school since you said “teacher” rather than “professor”.
Either way, I think that you should work hard in the class and take a B.
A grade of “WF” does not look good on your record. A grade of “B” is fine.
Do you know what major(s) you might be interested in? In university I was a math major and got some “not good” grades in a couple of art classes (worse than B). Based on results applying to graduate programs it appears that the graduate programs just ignored my grades in art classes. They did not seem to care at all.
Regardless, even if you are intending to be an art major, I do not see that a B will matter in any way other than breaking your goal of having all A’s. It is very tough to maintain nothing but A’s for four years in either high school or university for exactly the reason that you are discovering – over four years you are very likely to run into some teacher (or professor) and some class that you just do not gel with. This is normal and university admissions do not seem to think anything of it.
That was not my experience. Art classes seem to be easy A’s or hard A’s or hard B’s or worse depending upon how well you gel with teacher.
Im in high school. I dont know what I want to major in yet, I just wanted to be able to get a scholarship of some sort or get into a good school when I do end up deciding. Knowing what you said definitely helps. Thank you very much for your advice. It’s made me feel much better about this whole trouble.
Art is not an easy A. So that’s a problem that’s on you. You made an assumption. It’s biting you. A WF is truly best avoided. Generally colleges don’t give much weight to non academic classes, but if what you describe is true, you’re risking a quite noticeable dent in your transcript.
Someone is going to get an A in her class. It could be you. Schedule a meeting after school,with her. Ask her what you need to do to improve your work. Ask her what her expectations are. It’s a bummer her class is bad, but you’re going to get bad classes and bad teachers in colllege, and you can’t drop all of,them. You have to confront the issue and do your best to overcome it.
Thank you very much for the advice. I’m going to try and do my best to bear through the year and focus on dealing with it even when its hard. thanks a bunch.
Go to the school administration. Tell them exactly what is going on, and say that you want a W, not a WF. Tell them that you have always loved art, that you consider this to be an enrichment class, a counterbalance to all the hard work you have to do in your academic classes, but that this teacher is simply toxic. Get help from your parent(s) in backing you up. Make noise. Be assertive. Start on Monday morning, first thing.
You are the same age as my daughter and we have many conversations with her about how she doesn’t have to maintain a 4.0. I don’t think I’ve convinced her quite yet.
I understand the frustration of having a teacher you don’t gel with, especially when the grading seems so subjective.
It sounds like this is a year long rather than a semester long course, which is surprising to me since it’s an elective.
If you’re stuck in the class you need to make the most of it. Is there anyway to meet with the teacher and see what you need to do to get an A? Or speak with other students who are getting As and see what they’re doing that you’re not? Other than that, if you’re going to get a B anyway, try to enjoy the art that you’re doing.
My advice beyond that is to take a deep breath and remember, as you get more semesters under your belt, this one B won’t affect your overall GPA as much. It’s not the end of the world and it ultimately won’t make that much of a difference (if any) in your college chances.
Getting a B in one course is not the kiss of death. I think this student needs to really think about why one B grade is making her so upset.
If the teacher is that horrible, and there are specifics of what she is doing that are not proper, that’s one thing. But calling someone toxic without supportive data is not right, in my opinion.
The school has told this kid she can withdraw from the course but it will be a WF. Why would that change?
My opinion…a B in one course is not the kiss of death. Ask your school counselor if you can take only one semester of this course…and not the second. Maybe that’s a possibility.
Well, let’s say that this straight A student is telling the truth, and that the teacher is a problem. Why should the kid suffer silently because of it? Part of school is learning to stand up for oneself, to advocate for oneself. Sure, the school might realize that they’ve got a problem with this teacher - but if the student doesn’t stand up for herself, that is not going to help her.
She’s MISERABLE in this class, so she should drop it. I just don’t think that she should accept that she has to suffer for it, with a WF.
Whatever the response and I see both sides of you and @thumper1 I do agree they need to learn to cope because this won’t be the only time this happens in their educational career.
But I do think there are 3 perspectives. The student, teacher and the truth which no one will ever know.
I think the first step would be to sit down with the teacher, even if a parent was invited as support. This could be a mis understanding or just not being on the same page.
Most alarming to me is that for many students, including the OP, anything less than straight As is a failure. I had a 2.8 in HS I was a disaster :). Maybe today I’d be a 3.8!!
Go back and read the OP first paragraph. They don’t like there are essays. That she grades subjectively. And gave me an ‘87.
Yes the OP did well b4. This teacher may provide a unique challenge.
They may be good or not good. The OP may learn something if they focused on the class and not obsess on the grade.
Would the OP want to leave if they had a 95 instead of an ‘87?
I go back to the OP asking for a conversation so they can query why they have the grade they have. And to bring a parent for support if they are not comfortable.
We have to get away from everyone deserves and gets an A. Yes, art is subjective. Some like Monet. Others like Van Gogh.
But you do not make the school rules about W versus WF.
@Ok1 , can you complete this semester and then drop for the second semester (or change to a different art course or different teacher second semester)?