The Most Ridiculous Grade In My Academic Career....

[justaguy88]

So what happened?

The situation continues to develop in unpredictable ways.  Here's the update:

Tuesday (the 15th) was the last time my professor corresponded with me.  In the e-mail he sent on that day, he told me the first day he would be available to discuss my exam with me was monday of next week (today).  Later tuesday, I responded to his email and let him know that noon on tuesday would work, but any time earlier would work as well.  Wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday went by without any response to that email confirming a time.  Last night I wrote him again and very politely mentioned that he had yet to confirm a time with me, and that I assumed we were still meeting monday, but needed to know where, ect.  It is now monday night and still no response from my professor   

I have been polite and patient in everything I have said to him.  At this point, regardless of why I received the grade that he gave me I am upset that he has not been able to do so much as respond to a simple email in a weeks time.  Considering the urgency of the subject matter (from MY perspective, at least...I'm sure its not urgent from his) I think this kinda sucks.  Let's hope I can get in touch with him tomorrow......

[Luigi rules]

update?

[JobInquiry]

Yesterday was Martin Luther King day. Was your university open?

Perhaps the professor forgot about that day? Nevertheless, he should have responded to you earlier.

I hope you find the answer to this riddle. (And that you'll keep us updated.)

[whit1981]

Most ridiculous law school grade ever....F+ in "How to fail as a lawyer"

[justaguy88]

The professor finally emailed me back today and told me that tomorrow would be a good day to talk about the exam.  (How convenient for him!)  Anyways, I got sick and tired of waiting and being perplexed by this whole situation so today I went into the assistant dean's office and explained to her that I was considering contesting a grade.  I told her everything that I've outlined here and she was surprisingly sympathetic.  She told me that I should most definitely contest the grade if the professor refuses to change it, and that the whole situation seemed "a bit ridiculous," to quote her words exactly.  (Pretty ironic, too, since that's the title of this thread.)

She is only the assistant dean, but still, I would imagine she carries some weight when it comes to getting grades changed.  She also told me that she would have the dean of the law school get in touch with my professor before my meeting with him tomorrow and remind him that a low pass counts as a 1.67 on a student's gpa.  It seems like I've got some strength for my cause now, and at the very least I have the comfort of knowing that my conversation with the prof tomorrow is not my only hope for a grade change.

[snewcrash]

Impressive. I'm sure he'll be so much more sympathetic now that you've gone above his head without trying to handle the situation with him first...   

[justaguy88]

Impressive. I'm sure he'll be so much more sympathetic now that you've gone above his head without trying to handle the situation with him first...   

Wouldn't have happened if the prof had responded to any of my attempts to contact him in the past 8 days.

And why should I care about what he thinks when the dean will change the grade for me?  It wasn't even my idea to have the dean speak with the prof....

Also, I'm sure the embarrassment of being reminded of the school's grading scheme does not outweigh the embarrassment of having a grade you've given overturned by the school administration.

[Alamo79]

Good for you man--most people would just take this lying down.  Keep us posted . . .

[Lawprofessor]

Interesting enough.  I had a Dean at a law school not return my phone call and come to find out a nephew of his died which prompted his having to leave town.  You dont know why he didnt return the email.  And the Dean didnt say he would change the grade.  Dont count the chicks before they are hatched.  Deans very rarely change grades because of the message it sends.

Impressive. I'm sure he'll be so much more sympathetic now that you've gone above his head without trying to handle the situation with him first...   

Wouldn't have happened if the prof had responded to any of my attempts to contact him in the past 8 days.

And why should I care about what he thinks when the dean will change the grade for me?  It wasn't even my idea to have the dean speak with the prof....

Also, I'm sure the embarrassment of being reminded of the school's grading scheme does not outweigh the embarrassment of having a grade you've given overturned by the school administration.

[justaguy88]

Okay, finally an update.  Yesterday I spoke with the assistant dean again and she gave me some extremely helpful information.  (Luckily I don't listen to some of the people on these message boards who are so deathly afraid of upsetting the law school pecking order.)  The assistant dean pointed out that there is a mandatory grading policy for upper division courses.  Apparently at my school, in upper division courses with more than 20 students, the professor CANNOT give more than 8% of the class a grade of C- or below.  Since a low pass equates to a C-, this means that no more than 8% of the class can receive a low pass.

At my meeting with the professor today, he finally showed me the grade break down.  Yes, as many people have speculated on these boards, my grade WAS one of the lowest in a cluster of extremely close grades.  A twist to the situation is that the professor actually gave FIVE low passes.  I don't know who the other two low passes are, but I feel bad for them.... they're probably thinking that they got the only low pass in the course.

Anyways, of the five low passes mine was the highest (luckily).  In the meeting I pointed out the grading policy for upper division courses (the guy is a visiting professor....don't know if I mentioned that  before)and turns out he wasn't aware of it.  Surprise, surprise...    I let the professor know that he exceeded the 8% maximum for C- or below and he was receptive to what I told him.  Since he had given 5 low passes in a class of 27 students, that means he had given more than 18% of the class a low pass grade!

After I made all this clear, he told me he would verify the grading policy with the dean, and if it required him to change the grade he would change the grade.     Since the assistant dean was the one that brought the grading policy argument to my attention, I still don't want to count my chickens but...it seems like a grade change is inevitable.