<p>I’m reasonably sure this is a Weinberg-only phenomenon, but it is one of my biggest, if not only, complaints about Northwestern.</p>
<p>I hate being redirected to the TAs when I approach a professor about a grade/something on a test/etc.</p>
<p>Tuition at Northwestern is $35,000 a year so that students can have access to experts in their fields, not hear the opinions of graduate students three years older than them.</p>
<p>If you have a question about a test or grade, “Talk to the TA” is probably appropriate because the TA’s do the grading, so they’re the ones who would be able to discuss the problem with you. If you have a problem WITH a TA and how they are grading, then I would be frustrated if the professor was unhelpful. </p>
<p>I have found that it is easy to approach profs with questions about their field of study and things of that nature, so that is where the tuition comes in, I think.</p>
<p>also, it is not at all absurd at a liberal arts school to think a professor would personally discuss your grade with you in-depth, if not grade your work themselves.</p>
<p>i think then that it is important to inform prospective students the difference between the experience at a liberal arts school and at a university like northwestern, which you highlighted even more thoroughly when you said the concept of a professor discussing your grade with you is ‘ridiculous.’</p>
<p>That statement in and of itself helps to explain the difference to someone if they were trying to decide between northwestern and, say, middlebury.</p>
<p>False meaning that I believe you opinion on the tuition dollars and the collective responsibilities of professor’s and their TAs is wrong.</p>
<p>To put this more clearly… I will use a comparison:</p>
<p>If a person is stung by a bee, and claims that the bee is foolishly wasting its time by attacking humans, the falsehood comes not from the bee sting (which undeniably occurred) rather the incorrect conclusion that bees are maliciously stinging humans.</p>
<p>see above post (#5)</p>
<p>I’m through with this thread.</p>
<p>To those who may be reading this I encourage you to pursue a deep understanding of the world while simultaneously utilizing your talents for the rational improvement of mankind (edit: whether this be at Northwestern or any of the schools the original poster seems envy).</p>
<p>OP, do professors brush you off most of the time or is it only when you discuss exams? I hope it’s the latter. </p>
<p>Separating the academic discussions and grade-grubbing sounds like a pretty good idea. My HS teachers always wonder which it is going to be when I walk up to them.</p>
<p>only upon discussion of exams, i don’t usually approach professors about academics.</p>
<p>i would just like to feel like there is not a constant liason between the class and the professor in this way, i would like to feel like i am able to communicate directly with the professor without it first having to be “deemed worthy.”</p>
<p>and i suppose this is the difference between a liberal arts school and a university.</p>
<p>elsijfdl,</p>
<p>I don’t know the specifics of your experience. But if the TAs are the ones that do the grading, then I wouldn’t be surprised the profs want you to deal with the TAs directly first. Maybe some of them just did’t care. But most likely, they just think it’s more efficient that way since the TAs are in the best positions to correct their own mistakes or defend their grading. That said, I don’t recall I was redirected to TAs when I talked to profs about any grading error but I was in McCormick.</p>
<p>yeah i read your post, and yes sam that’s why i said i was reasonably sure it was a weinberg-only phenomenon.</p>
<p>i think it’s important for institutions to, at least ostensibly, project an attitude of support and provision towards undergrads that i feel in some ways northwestern fails to do.</p>
<p>And everyone knows about the schools that don’t cater to undergrads, we’ve all heard how bad berkeley is in this way: gaining notoriety for not caring about your undergraduate students is not a good thing, and i think it would not kill northwestern to re-evaluate their approach to creating a more ‘liberal-artsy’ feeling at their university instead of the self-help, self-determinant vibe that is prevalent now. </p>
<p>Being immediately directed to the TA for any and all complaints for them to first be “deemed worthy” of the professor’s attention is just the external manifestation of the existence of this phenomenon.</p>
<p>Talk to your friends at liberal arts schools, find out how many are in nearly DAILY communication with the professors in their classes about all issues, large and small, grading and academic. I don’t think you can tell me that by virtue of being at a university this kind of intimacy is impossible or unrealistic, or, as other people posting have more vulgarly put it “completely dumb,” but rather i think it is important and a focus i wish was felt at northwestern.</p>
<p>elsijfdl, I may have you mixed up with another poster, but did you transfer to NU? If so, how is it different than what you experienced at your previous school in the “in touch with professors” department?</p>
<p>yeah, i went to a state school last year, i would say that professor accessibility as well as advising in weinberg is almost identical to that at my school last year.</p>
<p>the other schools are much better, however, in terms of professor accessibility and advising, this is only in weinberg.</p>
<p>i dunno if thats true for all of weinberg…my experience with professor accessibility has mostly been amazing. With the exception of my math professor fall quarter, who was horrible (at everything), I was able to comfortably approach all of my other professors. I hung out with my orgo professor a few times and we talked about academics/other random things in his office. I discussed philosophy with my russian lit professor…he actually agreed to participate in a cross-faculty debate for my dorm. I discussed papers with my history professor…the list goes on. I think it really depends on the professor and how you approach them. Nevertheless, with grading, since the TAs do the grading, I wouldn’t be surprised that the professor would refer you to the TA…that only makes sense. However, my professors would usually agree to look over the test him/herself if there are still mistakes.</p>