I'm in an English class, and every grade I've had in the class has been dismal, yet in the comments on my work, there are few to no indications of problems. I've proofed, re-proofed, and had others look over my papers so at this point I'm fairly convinced that that if there are any serious problems then she is the only one seeing them. I'm a pretty good writer, and have always gotten A's in classes like this, so I'm a bit shocked when everything baselines at around a B-. The instructor is sticking to her guns, despite me showing instances in nearly every one where the grading was unfair or inconsistent.

She told me that she's not going to change it and that I was free to take it to the department head to dispute, so here's my question -

Have any of you ever disputed grading, and if so, what are my chances of success? Is it even worth my time?

12/10/2007 12:08:40 AM

hey, you taught my E115 class


good luck with your english grades

12/10/2007 12:12:48 AM

kinna had the same problem in my eng 101 class. pretty much always aced papers but the guy refused to give me an A except the very last one he gave me an A-. i had him proof my papers more than once, if i'm not mistaken for all of the papers in that class. following his suggestions and re-working things never did much at all. you can try the dept. head but i wouldn't count on it, not to mention if you keep bringing it to the teacher you'll end up with some biased grading. unfortunately english, like others, is a judgment issue.

12/10/2007 12:57:54 AM

"had others look over my papers "


When you say "others" who do you mean? (like your friends, classmates in the same class, your parents....?)

Just wondering.

12/10/2007 7:30:05 AM

post the paper, you'll find out real quick whether or not you should've gotten an A

12/10/2007 7:33:58 AM

Good luck disputing it, English is very subjective and unless it's pretty blatant on the grading, you won't have much of a chance, especially if the professor has tenure. Best thing I've noticed is try to be a good student (go to class, don't be disruptive) and a nice person, and there's a chance professors will bump you up. I do know for a fact that a majority of professors HATE grade whiners and more times than not, that works against you.

Just keep things in perspective too, in 2-3 years, you're not gonna care about that grade you got in English. Take TOX 201 or something to even it out

12/10/2007 9:17:59 AM

^^^A couple of people who took the exact same class and got an A, one who even had the same professor.

I suppose it's not going to hurt to try - I didn't bring it up until recently because I didn't want to bias my grade, but she insists that "something could have been done" if I had said something earlier, but I digress - I'm just going to the department head, and I'm gonna try my luck.

I realize that this is an odd situation since this class is so subjective, but comparing my work with that of someone who got an A in the class and finding it essentially the same is pretty frustrating.

12/10/2007 12:10:20 PM

i agree that you should post the paper, or at least a section of it so as to give us an idea of the paper

12/10/2007 12:28:33 PM

fuck English teachers

luckily i didnt have to take english here but all my AP teachers in highschool were subjective bitches who seemed to both give girls better grades and also tended to give about the same grades on everything even when you showed improvement or whatever

12/10/2007 12:33:40 PM

Quote :

"I didn't bring it up until recently"

well now it just looks like you're pissed towards the end that your grade wasn't better, it doesn't look like a justified complaint

and "getting others" to look over something isn't the same as getting your teacher to look over it before turning it in

she probably would've helped you, too

Quote :

"I'm a pretty good writer, and have always gotten A's in classes like this, so I'm a bit shocked when everything baselines at around a B-."

Oh, and teachers grade differently. Just so you know.

12/10/2007 2:39:53 PM

Utilizing the Writing and Speaking Tutorial Center instead of just people in the class would have probably helped you as well. Most of the tutors have met with the 101 teachers and have a general idea of what the goals of the course are. When I worked there, I know that I had a number of students that would come by with graded papers wanting to either understand the feedback or how to improve for the next paper.

From the English teacher side of things: sometimes it's not a matter of mechanics (which proof reading implies), but a matter of the content of the paper. Consistently missing that A sounds to me like you may be missing a goal that the teacher is trying to accomplish with the paper and not an issue with the writing or writing style itself. I've given a few A+ writers Bs on their papers because they somehow just miss the content standards that I have set for an A paper.

12/10/2007 3:42:58 PM

12/10/2007 4:44:17 PM

you should have said something before the end of the semester. Besides at State the instructor is always right, the department won't give a crap...

12/11/2007 9:46:43 AM

^^Good ol Mr. Nguyen, I personally liked his Jimmy Mcperson paper the most... ah funny times.

12/11/2007 11:53:27 AM

that's the problem with one of those subjectively graded courses, there's really no way to prove tht you deserve a different grade

12/11/2007 12:27:58 PM

I disputed a grade and got it changed from a C- to a B+ (it should have been an A- but it wasn't worth disputing AGAIN).

The TA lost 2 of my lab reports and the instructor just gave me 0s for those grades. It took around 6 months to get it changed, but it was eventually changed.

If you want your grade changed I say go for it, but don't be surprised if after an entire year you've seen no progress or willingness to cooperate.

12/11/2007 3:14:55 PM

Well, it sounds like things are as I figured - like sides with like, and I'm probably not going to get any sympathy, so I'll send an email and hope for the best.

12/11/2007 5:13:23 PM

This sounds familiar. Care to PM me the instructor's name if you don't feel like calling her out in public?

12/12/2007 2:02:35 AM

Quote :

"every grade I've had in the class has been dismal"

i don't know about you people, but i hardly consider a B- to be "dismal"
good luck getting it switched though.

12/13/2007 1:19:25 AM