<p>Labor Day weekend. On Sunday, I saw a lot of smiles on P/Cs faces.</p>
<h2>They were very thankful to have Monday off. Whew...</h2>
<p>OK. That's over now, ladies. BACK TO THE GRINDSTONE !
(So, frowns, stress, and other general ca-ca should be back in force)</p>
<p>I'm not thrilled in the least about my son living on protein bars (he didn't need to lose any weight!), but at least it's something. I find myself going back to the sage words of IS2DAY4HIM on this post (#83):</p>
<p>"here's something that's good to know, your kid will complain to you and go all out. you're their only outlet at this point, thus you get it all. he's ok, he might be a little down in his spirit, but he's still here, he's still living, it's nice outside, and you just gotta be supportive. i'm not saying you are, but fair warning to all parents: DO NOT CODDLE HIM! be understanding and a pillar of support, but nursing the "poor me" attitude will only make things worse. that just makes it all the easier to see the bad side of things. remind him of all the accomplishments he's made in even the last few months. this place is what truly separates the boys from the men."</p>
<p>His words belie his youth!</p>
<p>I have learned that my son, too, has basically been living on protein bars we've been sending since he misses dinner at least 3x week for sports practice. Hey Yogert, you mentioned "Boxed Lunches" available for sports teams who miss dinner. My son is unaware of this option. Must one "pre-order?" If not, does he just show up somewhere after practice to get his box? Please advise.</p>
<p>The team should have them available after practice and they can take them back to their rooms and eat them there. What team is your son on?</p>
<p>Sailing-Dinghy. I will send this page to him-thanks. Just pack from post office; mailed another 24 pack of protein bars!!!</p>
<p>Sorry-should have asked...are the boxes available in Delano? He should walk up there from Slocum and find them in main dining room?</p>
<p>8 HOURS LATER and no response from my KP COLLEGE CONFIDENTIAL friends???? Where are you? Should son pick up the boxed dinner at Delano??? He hasn't heard anything about this meal option. Protein bars have been his lifeline. He's so HUNGRY!</p>
<p>HELLO???</p>
<p>i'm not too sure about the boxed lunches for sports that get out late. his best bet would probably be to talk to his coach about it, they are the ones that put in requests for boxed lunches.</p>
<p>Navy food getting better</p>
<p>What about KP ???</p>
<p>MIDTERMS this past week. :(
Quite a few cranky statuses on facebook.</p>
<p>Question - what is the best way to appeal a test grade? s says he worked a problem the way a professional tutor showed him which was a quicker method; professor took off all 20 points even though he said the answer was correct and method was correct but not the way the professor would have done it.</p>
<h2>Somewhat similar... S has calculator set to radians not degrees. Worked all problems, using correct formulas. Correct process, correct application, but wrong decimal digits at the end. No partial credit for proper application.</h2>
<p>Best lesson, ummm. "Well, I'll never make THAT mistake again."
Regardless, I am proud that he's using the right stuff. Of course, if he worked on a Mars Lander, his would have crashed as well. Attention to detail is critically important.</p>
<p>yeah zonker, unfortunately that's how it is around here. remember, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. as one of my teachers from plebe said, "even if you did the right work, but get the wrong answer, the bridge still falls down." i hate it just as much as everyone else. some teachers do give partial credit, others not so much, it's really the luck of the draw.</p>
<p>In the upper level engineering courses, you'll generally see partial credit. Why? The material is that much harder....it's Physics, Chem, and Calculus after a trip to BALCO. Also, some engineering classes like Strength of Materials only have 3 questions on each test...i.e. one from each chapter, long problems, solve them. Sometimes they have parts like a, b, c, etc. and sometimes they don't regardless, the teacher will generally give you partial credit if you have stuff correct. I remember on one of those tests last year I used the safety factor incorrectly, instead of dividing by 2 I multiplied by 2...so my answer was twice what it should have been. That was the last step to the problem however so he only took off 3 points. on a question worth 30 points. </p>
<p>I can understand stand the bridge falling down equation...but come on...like our attrition rate isn't high enough...besides you need a PE to design the bridge...I don't think I'm getting a PE out of KP am I? The right answer is very important, but knowing how to get there is sometimes more important because you have to be able to do similar problems, with different numbers, etc. </p>
<p>With regards to the professor taking off points for not showing his method. That's a bunch of BS and should be fought by your son. Have him take it to the professor, and if he doesn't care...maybe try the department head...have him ask another professor to confirm his work, etc. Don't just accept it, he should get full credit, or at least partial credit. I would not stand for that and hope he doesn't. One thing that the professor might be thinking is that he used his calculator to get the answer and made up the work. New graphing calculators these days are pretty amazing, and great for higher level engineering courses. </p>
<p>There have been a few things I have noticed with students at KP in my class from plebe year to now. Sometimes you have the group of really smart plebes that pretty much fly through all the core requirement courses...have a 4.0 at the end of the year and look like Einstein next to someone like myself who pulled anywhere from a 2.6 to 2.8 each trimester Most of the time they already took these courses in highschool (heck I got an A in physics one...I'd taken AP Physics (mechanical only) in high school my senior year). Then classes 3/C year get a little more difficult (I'm talking to engineers here, as I couldn't accurately speak for deckies) and the wiz kids grades either stay great or fall off drastically to 2.4 for the trimester. Why? Because some of those kids did not learn to really study. Those of us who struggled to keep our GPA at a reasonable level worked are butts off to get a decent grade. When classes get harder we know what we have to do, and some of the smart kids feel they can get by...and they don't always do. A good deal of them will still do well, but some won't...they get to coast on their good plebe year grades.
Now at my 2/C year everyone has to study, even the smart ones because the material is so new and different. I pulled slightly over a 3.0 the past two trimesters (the hardest ones) because I had some idea of how to study. </p>
<p>Some of your kids will struggle and have a really hard time, they'll see the tutors/professors/etc. but in the end they might still get really bad grades. It's the harsh reality, and excusing yourself by saying...but I went to all the tutors is a bunch of BS as well. I believe that almost everyone accepted at this school can pass their plebe year classes if they don't give up and put in the time between the books and themselves...read it 1000 times it will start to make sense eventually! They have to have the mindset that I am not going to fail this crap and I am not going to end up in summer school, setback, or kicked out (for grades). This past spring trimester I took differential equations 2. I had a D- going into the final. I knew I still wanted to be a systems major and if I failed the course I would have to drop it. I was lazy and did not start studying until 2 nights before the test (or maybe it was even one...but will go with two so I don't sound like too much of an idiot). I stayed up the night before the test until almost 3am studying almost 12 hours that one day alone for that test. I just did problem after problem. I ended up getting an 85 on the final and pulled my grade to a C. I was hoping to get a D and was ecstatic with a C. The point I'm trying to make is they must have the mentality they're not going to fail and do whatever it friggin takes to pass (without cheating of course). </p>
<p>I know this was a long post, and I could go on, so if you have questions post them or private message me. Encourage them, but it's ultimately them who has to take the test and pass. I hope I didn't leave any ideas unfinished...I wrote this in the quick reply box and it's hard to see the whole post and where I started and left off...oh well, nap time.</p>
<p>my S stated that he reviewed this w him - S showed his work using his tutor's method which was a shorter way to the answer. Because S failed to use the "professor's method" - all 20 points off. On another problem he forgot a variable in the set up but in the work and final answer he had the variable in the answer - lost 12 of 20 for that one. on a third his answer was correct but he did not give direction - 16 points off on that one. Does this sound normal?</p>
<p>Honestly it doesn't sound normal at all. Who's the professor?</p>
<p>tmr - I think that our sons must have the same professor. My son said that he did a problem that was done correctly but not the method that the professor wanted and received no credit for it. My son was not happy but he is trying to do it only the way that the professor is doing it so that he gets the points. </p>
<p>This is really stupid but I don't know what else you can do.</p>
<p>helicopter alert, helicopter alert :) just kidding (sort of)</p>
<p>Did the professor mention before the test that he wanted them to use his methods? If so, sorry, kids didn't follow directions, if he didn't make this clear they may be able to talk to the professor about this. If still unhappy with the answer they can try to talk to the dept head. </p>
<p>Just because you don't agree with the method doesn't mean it's stupid, just means it's different. This is Kings Point, not high school, there will be rough spots along the path even if you were a 4.0 GPA in HS.</p>
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<p>Many years ago I made the same mistake with my slide rule.. :)</p>
<p>in this instance maybe the "methodology" of solving the problem is as important as the right answer..
Maybe the professor is trying to teach a method that is best for solving ALL types of this particular problem.</p>
<p>Essentially DD2 told me the same thing davygravy3 said in his post. He also said that one important thing he learned at KP was how to study "smarter" not necessarily "harder".. He got VERY good at focusing in on what he needed to study without wasting time on irrelevant material..</p>
<p>deepdraft presents a good point. If your teacher gives you a good idea of what's on the test study that material only...For example if they say the test will cover chapters 3, 4, and 5 and the questions are based on the homework problems go over the homework problems for those 3 chapters until you can do the problems without any trouble. Why bother reading the book unless your having a hard time understanding what your trying to do in the first place. Use your homeworks like a pony in a sense.</p>