Background: My name is Jessica. I am 17 and in my first semester of college and I’m taking 16 credits (5 classes). I decided to stay home and not go to any of my goal colleges for financial reasons so I attend a community college and plan on transferring after my second year.
I currently have an A in 4 of my 5 classes. In my European History class my current grade is a C. I got a B on the first two quizzes, not because I didn’t know the material but because I didn’t word things the way he liked. For example I put “The two nations were trying to out build each other, both constructing Dreadnought after Dreadnought despite the high cost.” and he said that was not equivalent to “arms race”. He said I didn’t say they were having an arms race, when I though I did. I included the example simply to show how he grades. The question was worth 25 but I got 15 because of not mentioning an arms race.
On my Essay I got a D+. I worked on it for two weeks and even gave it in early so he can revise it. He tole me I wasn’t clear and he dint know what question I answered. So I used plain sentences that started with “The Germans wanted,” “The Sufferagettes wanted,” “The Irish nationalist wanted…” etc and the question was " What did the people dissatisfied with European life in the 19th century want?" I literally had a different paragraph for every group of people and the other questions were completely different. I even asked my PoliSci teacher for help ad after reading my intro she knew which question I was answering.
On my midterm I got a C and I studied and made flashcards. I also basically wrote all the information he provided for the answers, he does lecture style and goes off topic a lot so I write down everything he says. He also doesn’t say years because he says they’re not important so he goes back and forth on the time line, but on my answers he’ll write things like “wrong year” or “out of order”.
Im sorry this is so long but i got the C and D+ grades today so I’m really upset. It’s like I can’t win. Hes always busy and even when I get a question in about how to make my essay more to his liking all he says is " Yeah I just don’t get it, make it more so I can get it" while I stand there thinking whats not to get I made it pretty straight forward just like you asked.
I dont know if I should drop it and get a W or stay in the class and keep aiming for a B. We have 2 quizzes left, 1 essay and a Final. If i get a C i wont be ab;e to transfer to the college I want to and its really bumming me out. Other people who didnt use as many details as me but wrote the same thing got higher than me. It just seems like I can do nothing write in his class.
The first midterm or quiz, you’re always flying blind with a new prof. You don’t know how they grade or what they focus on most until then. Learn from it and try to adapt accordingly. Chances are, you find yourself in a similar work situation someday, whether it’s a boss or a demanding client. You’re not going to be able to withdraw. You’ll need to learn what they expect and adapt.
IMO, it sounds like you may be getting too caught up in details when he wants you to be direct and to the point. If you had just mentioned an arms race, you probably would have been OK. Instead, you (thought you) described one in detail, but didn’t use the term. Don’t use lots of words for what you can sum up in two. He asked what people wanted who were dissatisfied with European life. You gave him a blow by blow description dissecting what each nationality within Europe wanted. What was the overall theme of what they ALL wanted? See the difference? Don’t take him too literally when he says years aren’t important. It doesn’t mean he’s not going to call you on it if you refer to a specific year and get it wrong. He may jump around in the historical timeline when lecturing, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t expect you to understand the sequence of events.
I once missed an exam question because I went into detail when all the prof wanted was the name of chapter. I didn’t even read the chapter names because I was so focused on learning the details of the subject matter. I missed the forest for the trees. Never made that mistake again.
It sounds like you don’t understand what the prof is looking for. Can you rewrite your paper and ask your prof if you now have it right? Emphasize that you don’t want him to regrade it, you want to learn. This will help you learn to provide what the prof is focused on,and it will make it clear to the prof that your goal is learning, not grade-grubbing.
Whether you realize it or not, when you argue that you answered it right when the prof thinks you didn’t, you appear to be “fixed” in thinking he has already indicated he thinks is wrong rather than open to learning what is right. You need to show that’s not the case.
You are obviously a good student so may not have much experience with this situation. If you handle this well,you’ll have learned more than history. Remember : you’very got this!
@1Dreamer That quiz really annoyed me because the term “arms race” wouldn’t come to mind so I thought describing it would be the equivalent. I see what you mean about the essay. I guess I’m not used to writing papers the way he wants and I thought the way I put it was straight to the point. I’m used to writing research papers and he said he wanted our opinion more than facts. I didn’t understand what he meant by that so when I asked what it meant he said “dont read too much into it” and I asked what that meant and he said “I don’t want a research paper”. So I tried to explain why the different groups wanted what they wanted but since I got a D+ on this paper I worked on everyday I guess I still didn’t do what he wanted.
Its hard with the years since he goes back and forth because he doesn’t say years unless you ask him to and when he doesn’t remember the years that when he says “it doesn’t matter”.
I don’t know if this is bothering me so much because its my first semester but I see that I was overthinking it now. It really overwhelmed me getting these grades back because history is my favorite subject and I really cant afford getting a C in a class. On his “revisions” he made it seem like I put no effort into the essay. I know I’m the only freshman who took that class and when I asked for help with the paper he didn’t have to but his help was just him repeating the assignment. I actually cried (i tried not to but couldn’t help it) an my friend in the class (who got a B+ on the essay and an A on the midterm) tried to make me feel better by telling me the story of him getting a C in Calc when he thought he wanted to be an engineer.
Sorry for the rant of a response, I am going to try and not be so detail heavy and more to the point
You’re a young college freshman and you’re doing well in 4 out of 5 classss. There’s nothing wrong with saying this last class isn’t a great fit for you and taking the W.
Hey there! No worries. You’re not ranting. I’m pretty sure everyone has had a prof or two where we are trying to figure out what in the heck they want. I know it’s frustrating, but try not to let it get to you. You sound like a great student and I know you can do this. Hang in there!
Do you have an accompanying text?
Generally, you go to the lecture to discuss the chapters you’ve read and outlined. Did you read the chapters or only rely on the lecture?
@“aunt bea” he gives us these printouts of textbook chapters but we don’t discuss it we have quizzes on them sometimes, Since we’re not aloud to do research for stuff in his class I read all the text and used the notes I took from his lecture.
When you take a course at a university, the professor is king and will run the class the way he/she wants to run it. The quizzes and tests will be the way they want, to check your understanding of the material. Remember that they have to have an “answer” for each question to give to their graduate assistants for grading.
If he/she wants minute details, it will be specified. Your job is to figure out how to study for his/her tests. He’s now given you that framework.
He is saying he needs “flow” in your writing and understanding of the material. You are spitting out a bunch of facts and splitting hairs, and he wants to see if you can meld it all together with an opinion. When you answered the question about what people wanted in the 19th century, you didn’t get that he wanted you to combine the information and find a common theme. You regurgitated statistics. He didn’t want a list of each group’s factors. He already knows the information, but how do you know it and feel it?
You can’t study for this course the way you study for the others. This course requires your interpretation of the materials. In college, you can’t always study just for facts, you have to study for a presence of mind. Otherwise, its robotic. When you apply for jobs, your employer will generally expect you to think on you own in order to problem solve. That’s what a good college is supposed to provide.