did I fail my civ pro exam?

[kill me]

It was a three-part, three-hour exam.  First part had a time-suggestion of one hour, second had a time suggestion of 1.5 hours.  Third part had a time suggestion of 1 hour.  Only wrote 1 sentence in response to the third part.  The parts I did complete were pretty lackluster.  Anyone have this experience?  How many fails does a student typically get before he can't retake the courses anymore and gets booted?  I feel like crap.

[Dr. Balsenschaft]

That sucks.  I know this sounds lame, but see if you can complain because the time suggestions threw you off.  Last time I checked 1 + 1.5 + 1 = 3.5, not 3.

[RobWreck]

Only wrote 1 sentance for 1/3rd of the exam? Things are not looking bright for you, my friend... whether you've taken a hit for the rest of your classmates by volunteering to suck up an 'F' will depend alot on how well you answered those other 2 questions. Of course, the performance of your classmates will really determine your overall mark, but not all those potential points you forfeited will be hard to overcome.
Regardless, your school's student handbook, which is usually available online, should explain their particular policy on failing grades and retakes...
Best of luck,
Rob

PS: Assuming that this wasn't your last final, you really need to figure out what went wrong. Did you blank on that last question? Run out of time answering the first two? Whatever was the problem, you CANNOT repeat it on your next exam. Don't worry about this one's grade right now... you'll have plenty of time after finals to worry about your grade. For now, just focus on your remaining exams since this one is now beyond your ability to influence it...

[Susan B. Anthony]

Eh. Hard to say. Also depends where you go to school.

On my civ pro exam as a 1L, after spending 45 minutes pondering what to write/crying in the bathroom for the third question (the one allocated the most time), I got down 7 or 8 sentences before time was called, and I did just fine. It could go either way, depending on the performance of the rest of your class, etc. When I looked at the sample answer he posted for the question the following year in our exam bank, he noted that it was not a successful question. Maybe everyone else had a hard time with it, too.

It's pretty much impossible to judge what grade you'll get on an exam after the fact. Chances are it wasn't as bad as you thought - take this as a learning experience and try not to let it get in your way on your other exams.

That sucks.  I know this sounds lame, but see if you can complain because the time suggestions threw you off.  Last time I checked 1 + 1.5 + 1 = 3.5, not 3.

This...would not really accomplish anything, and just make you look silly/whiny/childish.

[Dr. Balsenschaft]

That sucks.  I know this sounds lame, but see if you can complain because the time suggestions threw you off.  Last time I checked 1 + 1.5 + 1 = 3.5, not 3.

This...would not really accomplish anything, and just make you look silly/whiny/childish.

In the off chance that the professor might reconsider how the exam is graded, it's worth looking stupid (who cares what the professor or dean of students thinks?)  For instance, the professor could decide to count only two of the three parts.  I've never complained about an exam myself, but I've benefited twice in my law school career from what I thought were silly exam complaints made by classmates.

[Susan B. Anthony]

Perhaps. But everyone was operating under the same instructions. I have a hard time seeing a professor saying anything but "oh, sorry." Maybe I'm wrong.

[Dr. Balsenschaft]

Fair enough.  But shooting off an email to the professor and copying the dean of students would take 5 minutes.  Maybe other students ran into the same time-crunch as a result of the time suggestions. 

[jack24]

I've been graded on 5 finals, so I'm not really an expert, but the harder the test, the better I seem to do.  The easier or more straitforward tests seem to trip me up just a bit because I spend too much time thinking when I should be typing.

It's possible to totally bomb a test, but it's more likely that there will be quite a few people in the same boat you're in.   I've heard a lot of people talk about screwing up on a test and so far all of them end up with a grade good enough to count toward graduation.

Sorry if that doesn't make sense.  I just finished an absolutely brutal Contracts II test (UCC)

[SASS]

Two Things:

1) My first year I thought I did really poorly on Civ Pro. In fact I was praying for at least a C. I ended up with the high grade in the class. I never speculate about how well I perform anymore.

2) I would challenge the format of the exam. But make sure you follow the school's policy for a challenge. I would ask the dean or the records office the proper way to challenge an exam so you don't breach anonymity. I have had see students successfully complain about much less. Here, you followed the rules which were completely misleading. I think it is at least worth being brought to someones attention.

[Susan B. Anthony]

I don't think time suggestions constitute rules - they are suggestions, and indications of the relative weight of the portions of the exam. These are the kinds of things you should notice at the beginning of the exam, at which time you can probably ask that the professor be contacted for clarification. I just have a really hard time seeing how this is particularly unfair, or problematic to the point that it should be challenged. Everyone had the same instructions and the same suggestions. If it is really such an issue, then I don't think it's unreasonable to presume that many other students were impacted similarly, so (assuming a forced curve)...it shouldn't actually significantly impact grades.

I get that exams are high-stakes, particularly IN THIS ECONOMY, so I guess I can understand wanting to challenge it on the chance it helps, presuming anonymity is maintained. I just personally think it's whiny bull.