What can I do about an extremely unfair grade?

baktrax
Wed, 11 Dec 2013 13:40:16 +0000

If you want to complain about it, go for it, but I doubt they will change your grade. If anything, the department may reconsider what classes this professor teaches in the future (unless he’s been in the department forever, and then it may just be what it is). Professors can generally do whatever they want with their classes, and at any school, there will be some professors that are considered harder than others. The students that have more challenging professors don’t get any “boost” to their grade, but they may learn the material better and be better prepared for later classes. As long as the entire class was graded the same way, I’d consider the class fair because the entire class was held to the same standard. Some students, I’m sure, did very well in the course, while other students really struggled. It’ll be like that in every class. It may not see fair, but life’s not fair. You may have a job in the future with a supervisor who’s really strict and unyielding, while you have a friend who has a supervisor who’s really lax and easy-going (even if you both work at the same company). It sucks, but it is what it is. Learn to work within the system and deal with bad or difficult professors or supervisors, but don’t expect a pay raise because you have to work with a difficult supervisor.

Think of it this way: one student may have gone to a really challenging high school and got poorer grades, while another student goes to a really easy high school and is valedictorian. They both go to college, and maybe the student with the poor GPA doesn’t get into his number one choice, but he still goes to a good university. The student who went to the challenging high school soars in college because they’re used to being challenged and working hard. The student with the perfect GPA who was valedictorian in high school, suddenly finds themselves really struggling because they’ve never been challenged like they have in college. You can’t always see the benefit that you get from taking challenging classes in your GPA, but the effect of it may come out later, either in other classes or in future internships or jobs.

So complain if you want, give the professor a bad rating if your school gives you a way to rate courses, but don’t count on them raising your grade. In the future, check out the professors if you can before you sign up for their class. I always looked into the professors when I was able to, and for the most part, I had really great professors–great teachers, challenging but reasonable tests, easy to approach and ask questions. Consider what type of education you want, and do your best to find a way to get it. It won’t always be possible, but you may be able to avoid the real duds, like this professor.