When Professors Don't Return Papers...

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Hey, I have pressured my history professor for the last four weeks to return my final paper so that I could keep copies. He has not given back my paper. It's going on week five, and it angers me that this is still happening. My mother, although optimistic I would get it back, has told me to move on with my life. He has probably never graded my paper but put a final grade he thought sounded reasonable when grades were due last month.</p>

<p>Should I move on since he won't give me back my paper in a timely fashion? Or pressure him to see what is going on?</p>

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<p>A lot of my professors will never return papers, they'll simply let you know your grade.</p>

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<p>Dude get used to this. As long as you get the grade back and its about what you thought, what does it matter anyways. It takes a LONG time to completely grade papers with comments like back in high school, so many professors don't return papers so they don't have to make comments on every little thing. Unless its an intro English class or a class specifically designed for writing you generally will NOT get your papers back with comments.</p>

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<p>Won't professors just start assigning random grades then?</p>

<p>Also, if they don't return it, then you won't know what you did right or wrong, which defeats the point of learning.</p>

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<p>I'm sure you can go meet with the professor to discuss the final grade, but like it's been said, unless the class focuses on writing, it likely won't be given back, and definitely not with many comments.</p>

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<p>Many dont even read it. lol</p>

<p>such as history, My history teacher collected them. Check the names and tossed them in the garbadge down stairs on another floor. i was going to another class and watched him do it.</p>

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<p>wow, you saw him do that? maybe you could get your paper if you wanted but then again it'll probably have no comments on it ;)</p>

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<p>A lot of professors will skim papers... That's why it's a good idea to have a really strong introduction!</p>

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<p>vinny is that school policy to not read the students papers?</p>

<p>sounds like a terrible professor to me.</p>

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<p>No idea, just what he did</p>

<p>I like it i am getting a A- in the class</p>

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<p>this thread is really disheartening, what schools do you guys go to?</p>

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<p>yea very disheartening. hopefully this won't happen to me</p>

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<p>IWannaBeBrown and ITG, the professor I had has a reputation where he's good in scholarship but very bad in teaching. My psychologist has had sessions with this professor's former students how hard he grades and how unrealistic his expectations are on undergrads. Some professors are just bad teachers. I ended up with one. =(</p>

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<p>tenisghs: what do you mean unrealistic expectations???? i mean... does that mean that if you end up with a bad prof there goes your chance at a 4.0??? my goal right now for the next four years is 4.0; not even a SINGLE A- or below... is that really unrealistic? i have a friend who's sister in u of minesota had a 3.96ish i dont know the actual # and the only class she got a B in was English and that's because she came to U.S. starting freshmen year in college as an international so i thought that was reasonable.</p>

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<p>If you go to see your prof during office hours to go over your work, will they let you see the paper and where you went wrong, or which sections were weak etc? I don't see how you could learn from your mistakes otherwise.</p>

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<p>I tried but he wouldn't tell us what he wanted. He did subjective grading. If he didn't like you, he graded you harder. If a tenured professor graded the paper, it was most likely an A-/B+. If this untenured harda$$ professor I had graded my paper, he would have given it a B/B-. That is a big difference. He said he was doing us a favor by grading us hard in class so that we can become better "scholarly" writers. Whatever.</p>

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<p>gianievve - </p>

<p>yes, that's exactly what office hours are for. To talk with your professors 1 on 1 about your progress in the class, and what they are looking for that you aren't currently doing so that you can do better on the next assignment / exam.</p>

<p>tenisghs's professor sounds awful. It must be a small class? Otherwise he would have no way of knowing who each student was. This is a situation where a if a lot of people complain in the right way to the right people, the professor will soon be out the door.</p>

<p>On the other hand, if he is just a "harda$$" and grades consistantly, and a B+ paper at one professor is a B or B- with another professor, there is nothing wrong with that at all. Different professors have different standards.</p>

<p>xokandykyssesox -</p>

<p>whether you will be able to get a 4.0, depends a lot on the school. Try to find out how many people in previous years graduated with a 4.0 from your school, and that will give you the best estimate of your chances.</p>

<p>If you see like 50 people did, you know you have a good shot. If you see like 1 person did, your chances are very slim.</p>

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<p>I don't seem to have this problem, yet. My history professor has a total of 250 students (5 classes) and always hands back papers and rough drafts with at least short comments on them. I even wrote extra papers (I'm a history major) and we discussed them after the final.</p>

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<p>Didn't you keep a copy before you turned it in?</p>

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<p>im sure people keep a copy before they turn it in; if its typed then its saved and you can print a billion hard copies... but i think tenisghs was referring to getting it back with comments and reasons for the grade obtained and stuff like that... like a whole bunch of critisizms if it was a C or something</p>