I NEED ADVICE!!!!! - What would you do???

Here's my situation: I am minoring in Political Science, and getting my full degree in Architecture. My grades for the past two years have been substandard. Not probation-bad, but we're talking about like, 2.35 to 2.45 GPA-kind of grades. Now, I need a GPA of at LEAST 3.6 to get into the architecture program at my university for the previous academic year before I apply, which means for this academic year of 2005-06, I need to have a total GPA of at least 3.6 over two semesters to make the cut, so to speak. This means I need as many A's as I can get this year.

Now, I just recieved my final grade percentage in a political science class called "Comparative Politics", a 2nd-year course. The final weighted grade percentage I recieved was 89.42 percent. 58/100ths of a percent away from a 90 PERCENT A. I have NO IDEA how the professor (and she IS a doctor, BTW) would think about just giving me an A in the class, because I have been a very enthusiastic student in the class, did all the assignments, all the extra credit, and did all the tests. The only thing holding me back is the first test I took where I only got 77% on that 25% weighted test.

I have been in a couple of other occasions, both in tech school and in university, where the teacher just decided to round up one percent or so, so either I could get a D and pass, or get a B or whatever. But now I need an A. So I e-mailed her, saying basically, look, I need A's this semester, and this percentage is VERY mathematically close to 90 percent, and I'm wondering if you would consider giving me an A, because I'm trying to get on the Dean's List, and I've been very enthusiatic in class, and really enjoyed it, and I'm wondering what you would think, and so on. Again, I have had professors and instructors round up less than a percent for me before.

So what I'm asking to you, is if you were the professor in this situation, would you make the 89.42 percent a 90 percent, and give me an A?? I really feel that I have earned the A in the class. What would you do??

Then I gotta go back and study.

:kick:

:kick:

If you were on the verge of getting a C instead of a D I would give you a C.

I would write her back and BEG for an additional assignment. It's in my opinion that you shouldn't ask for something for nothing. She has already given you what you earned (and an 89.42 is a good grade by the way so good job) but you're not entitled to anything higher at this point. However, you're EXTREMELY close to your goal and I think she would be more inclined to give you a chance if you proposed to write a paper, do research or whatever extra credit you can think of.

The best extra credit assignment I ever did was for my micro-econ class sophomore year. The professor had me write a paragraph explaining the correct answer on each question I got wrong on my one "bad" exam. I recommend suggesting something like that.

Maybe I could ask for something like that.

As a former instructor I never had anyone ask for a higher grade, but I might suggest a book review or some kind of report, with one major caveat. Absolutely do not do a substandard book report and expect to get something for it (I had an astronomy prof who would take extra credit and average it with the rest of the grade, as opposed to extra credit which is more like a no lose situation. To me, the extra credit work needs to be A work or very close to it.). But I also never graded on the whole 90-80-70 type of scale anyway because I thought it was bogus and arbitrary and it seemed to me that they never did it that way at Minnesota. Although I also remember some HS classes where I needed 93% for my A's.

would you prefer a student who, like the OP, is EXTREMELY close to making an A pro-actively suggest a few ideas for extra credit or would you prefer to come up with the extra work on your own? In other words, would a student who took the initiative come across as too strong in this situation or would s/he come across as someone who was honestly willing to go the extra mile?

I've always wondered this so if you could indulge me with your opinion I would appreciate it. :)

Now I'm worried that I may have come off desperate...:(

if you're worried, then write your prof right now and explain that you're willing to do extra work. Even with a high B, it's not the end of the world. Worst case scenerio, you re-take a few of your other courses to increase your GPA.

come up with the work on my own. If the student suggests something, it could easily be something they did for another class, requiring nothing more than cutting and pasting. Who knows though, if I suggest something, they could always hire that done too. Truth to tell, I wish students cared more about the subject matter than they did about the grades. Grades, grades, grades. More of a headache than a useful metric.

You know, most profs have written things themselves. If their work is not too obscure one of their articles could be read and discussed.

The whole situation is curious to me anyway, because, why isn't there a final exam? Usually you do not know your grade until you take the final and you get the grade usually without getting the score on the final. I suppose there was a final project instead of a test. Perhaps that project could be revised/improved.

I don't like the idea of asking for a better grade, but perhaps you might mention participation as well as improvement over the course of the class. Talk in person, don't email

and make her "show her work." How the hell did she come up with "89.42?" That's a dick-job passing itself off for a statistic.

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Barring that, bag the current major, examine your transcript for possibilities and change to the best option. Then study like hell for the GRE.

but you really should express it more in terms of the effort and contribution you've made during the quarter, and not in terms of what you need. The old "I need an A for my probation/scholarship/parents/whatever" spiel carries very little weight. Pointing out the improvement in your grades over the course of the semester might also help.

When I make my grade sheets, I generally don't look at the names - I set my grade cutoffs based on the score distribution. If a student who is on the cusp of a grade can make a compelling case, then I have no objection to adjusting the curve a bit. However, I'm against the extra assignment idea - most universities have policies against providing opportunities that are not available to the class as a whole, and if they don't, they should.

I go to IIT in Chicago. Both of my roommates are architects. We have a wonderful architecture school here. I don't know how hard it is to get in, but they are expanding the program. Plus this city is pretty cool so far.

It's a lot harder to turn someone down to their face. An email reduces you to a bunch of temporary pixels on a TV screen, whereas begging and pleading in person maintains your humanity (albeit a temporarily pathetic one).

The initial grade is just a jumping off point; she is just low-balling you.

Seriously, just sweet talk her. Tell her your plans, your dreams. I don't think squeaking you up 0.58 a point would make her break a sweat.

Good luck!