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Pretty much the title of the blog
I'm in a finance/accounting program right now. I took 5 classes this semester. One A- and 4 C's (1 C+, 2 C, 1 C-). Now before you start insulting and criticizing me I want to say that these grades are not completely my fault (and usually is a result of teachers and their ridiculous grading policies and total lack of teaching ability and general incompetence)
So I'm just going to run down each class one by one:
Business Law (A-)
This class was pretty easy. Class grade was based on 2 exams and 5 homework assignments. However, on the first week of the semester, teacher actually kicked me out of class because she caught me texting on my phone. This is basically my fault because I hadn't noticed that she had a strict policy about no electronics in class except laptops. The good thing was this didn't impact my grade. On the first exam over half the class failed and had a curve of 24 points (I got a 68% without the curve so the curve brought me up to a 92). Because the exam was 50 multiple choice, each question was 2 points. There were 3 questions that I actually initially got the right answer but then changed my mind and picked the wrong answer (so if I hadn't done that I would have got a 98 on the test). I don't know how I did on the final but it seemed harder than the midterm. There was also some extra credit that I didn't do because I thought I had an easy A
Accounting (C-)
Professor was a major douche bag. He wrote the textbook. Has 50% essay questions and 50% problems on exams. And if you don't write word for word everything he says in his textbook as the answers to the essays, he takes off points. He leads the class to believe that the problems will be exactly similar to the homework problems, but often gives problems from the textbook that he didn't put on the homework. Very tough grader who doesn't care about student's GPAs. 4 exams and homework make up the grade. First 3 exams are 15% each and the last exam is 35% and 20% homework. So just to show how helpful this guy is, I go to his office hours before the final and say I'm worried about my grade. Prof says he can't help me at this point and I shouldn't be that worried anyway because I'm "probably not going to fail". Have this useless prof again next semester, hopefully it works out
Income tax (C)
Ok so the entire grade is based on 2 exams. Professor teaches tax like we're in law school but his exams have nothing to do with what he teaches in class. Exams are open notes and open book but it doesn't help at all. On top of that his exams are like tricky piece of hell exams on Earth. Half the exam is True/False and 99% of them seem like it could go either way. Other half is ridiculously difficult multiple choice. Here's an example: a typical multiple choice question he gives is like...choice a, choice b, choice c, choice d (more than one is correct), choice e (all of the above are correct), choice f (none of the above are correct). Typical bullshit. Says he curves but I doubt it
Finance (C)
Again, entire class grade based on 2 exams. First exam I got a 30% because guy says he would give partial credit but instead decides to only give credit if the answer is correct. I show all my work hoping he'll give me credit for the computations but it's all useless. Even worse is that every question he wanted us to solve on the calculator so I wrote down what I was plugging in to make sure I got points if I got the wrong answer. 2nd exam is more pencil paper type calculation, but with only 4 questions it's all subjective how he awards points. Several parts to each question but it doesn't matter. What happens is that if your first answer is wrong all the answers after that are going to be wrong because all the computations will be using the wrong numbers. I know how to do the stuff it's just so frustrating
Auditing (C+)
This woman is crazy. Grade is out of 500 points (100 points each for 3 exams, 50 points each for homework, quizzes, participation, and group assignments). First exam I got 2 points below class average. 2nd exam got 2 points higher than the average which was 67. On the last exam I got a 59 which was 4 points lower than the class average of a 63. So no one is doing well on her god forsaken exams. The homeworks and quizzes were online and my average on both was about a 70. But to be honest most people I talked to were doing badly on them. Group assignments I do my part and try to help others but no one seems to care. Participation well seems like only 20 percent of the class ever said anything at all. Total BS. On the final exam she gives an option you can bring a laptop to class and take the online exam or just take the paper version. Pretty sure everyone who took it on the computer was cheating because they had their notes on there and could look up answers online. She stayed at the front of the class and never walked around so she never gave an effort to prevent cheating. Thanks for wrecking the curve you cheaters
BTW haven't told parents about grades yet, it will be a Christmas present how about that...
 
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On December 21 2013 15:28 NeuroticPsychosis wrote:
I want to say that these grades are not completely my fault
This is wrong. If you're at the top of your class and end up barely passing it's possible, but if there are people ahead of you and you are unsatisfied with your mark it means you're not working hard enough. If you're happy with not putting in the work then it's not fair to blame the teacher. There are lots of external resources online if they don't provide you enough material, and if the exam is on "their" textbook then study "their" textbook.
Take responsibility for your actions.
I go to his office hours before the final and say I'm worried about my grade
What do you expect him to do, tell you the questions beforehand?
Also, people at uni tend to be quite lazy, hence the average is usually quite low, ie. not something to grade yourself against.
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I agree with Rollin, you should take total blame and responsibility for your grades, unless it was really something out of your power (sickness, deaths..).
I'm in a finance/accounting program right now. I took 5 classes this semester. One A- and 4 C's (1 C+, 2 C, 1 C-). Now before you start insulting and criticizing me I want to say that these grades are not completely my fault (and usually is a result of teachers and their ridiculous grading policies and total lack of teaching ability and general incompetence)
Why would we criticizing you for having 4C's? Yeah, maybe, it's not good, but personally, i had done worse before. Roll up your sleeves and work harder next semester. Do not take anything lightly.
He leads the class to believe that the problems will be exactly similar to the homework problems, but often gives problems from the textbook that he didn't put on the homework. Very tough grader who doesn't care about student's GPAs.
1. Unless he had said it explicitly and clearly, you can't gamble on what you think the exam would look like. You must study everything and make sure that you really understand the subject, thus, you can resolve any problems/questions, no matter the form.
2. It is a wrong mindset to have. Don't expect them to give you free A's and expect them to care about your grades. You must work for it.
. Half the exam is True/False and 99% of them seem like it could go either way. Other half is ridiculously difficult multiple choice. Here's an example: a typical multiple choice question he gives is like...choice a, choice b, choice c, choice d (more than one is correct), choice e (all of the above are correct), choice f (none of the above are correct). Typical bullshit.
If it seems that it could go either way, maybe you didn't fully understand the subject? Same for the multiple choices, there is nothing wrong with that. It doesn't matter if the exam was difficult or not. The important is that you must distinguish yourself from the average person and you are better than them. If I was you and didn't do well in the exam, I would ask to revise your exam with your teacher and see where you made mistakes. If the answer was seen in class or in your textbook/within the subjects covered in your course, there is no excuses.
Average doesn't tell you what the distribution of grades in your class looks like. Having 3-4 points above or under average doesn't really mean anything. If someone got an A/B/better grade than you, then i don't see any reason why you could have not done the same or better.
Personally, i don't rely on listening to my teachers to understand everything about the subject. Read your textbooks and ask questions. Learn to learn by yourself and don't expect the teacher to hold your hand. You're an adult and you are responsible. Information is also at the tip of your fingers : internet.
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If you have the same attitude later on in life, you will find yourself running into a lot of unfortunate events which are not your fault. Life doesn't operate within constraints and rules for fairness. When you start working, your job will be completely chaotic, and you will have to be ready for anything, not just your job description. Data loss, company restructuring, unethical business conduct, hackers, lack of resources, and many other unfortunate events can occur frequently. What really separates the qualified employees and the great employees are that the qualified employees can only get the work done if everything goes smoothly while the great employees can foresee and adapt to any situation. College is kind of like this, but a lot easier. Think of it like the tutorial level for a game called Real Life. Right now it seems like you are capable of getting a good grade as long as you are tested on what you think will be tested and how it will be tested. This will never happen in a real job. For next semester, I would suggest that you work a little harder to get a solid understanding of the course material, so no matter what is thrown at you, you'll get it correct. Good luck!
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To be fair, there CAN be multiple choice question which are impossible to answer. For example, I did an multiple choice exam two weeks ago with the beautiful question:
"How do you judge the theses Michael Mussa stated in his book?"
The possible answers consisted of the theses themselves, so how in the hell should one answer this?
Other questions where bs, too, very subjective, and the right answers where often times contradictory.
Anyway, aced the exam so I probably shouldn't rant too much about it.
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You should seriously consider transferring to a better school
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I gotta sympathize with you there. I got a lower grade than I wanted in one of my CS classes. I definitely enjoyed the class, and there were more than enough As (26%) to justify the grading methods, but I wish some things had gone differently for me on the tests, and I know I felt it was unfair at the time. I guess I'll just have to learn from this and study everything I possibly can in future classes.
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Been reflecting on these last 4 months on what I did right and what needs improvement. Thanks for suggestions
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On December 21 2013 16:48 Rollin wrote:Show nested quote +On December 21 2013 15:28 NeuroticPsychosis wrote:
I want to say that these grades are not completely my fault This is wrong. If you're at the top of your class and end up barely passing it's possible, but if there are people ahead of you and you are unsatisfied with your mark it means you're not working hard enough. If you're happy with not putting in the work then it's not fair to blame the teacher. There are lots of external resources online if they don't provide you enough material, and if the exam is on "their" textbook then study "their" textbook. Take responsibility for your actions. Show nested quote +I go to his office hours before the final and say I'm worried about my grade What do you expect him to do, tell you the questions beforehand? Also, people at uni tend to be quite lazy, hence the average is usually quite low, ie. not something to grade yourself against.
this dude nailed it. you told your prof before your final you were worried about your grade... what were you worried about the rest of the semester? put forth a little bit of effort and you might do better than average
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dude dont worry too much. c stands for correct.
is the grade really that important in the end to get a job?
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On December 22 2013 03:12 Kevin_Sorbo wrote:
dude dont worry too much. c stands for correct.
is the grade really that important in the end to get a job?
Yes... yes grades can be important for getting a lob. Employers sometimes differentiate between slackers who got a shit MBA and people who are actually knowledgeable about their shit and will be able to get the work done. Arguably, experience will go a long way and can make up for low grades, but good grades are always good to have.
Unis around here shit out a bunch of Poli Sci masters with little to no qualifications, same with MBAs in the states. You have to find ways to make yourself look better than the cesspool of incompetent people who get passing grades because they understand half of the stuff they'd need to understand to be even somewhat qualified to get shit done in the real world.
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from my experience, good grades only matter if you come from a good school....
if your university isnt really super recognized your better off getting relevant job experience...
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On December 21 2013 15:28 NeuroticPsychosis wrote:
Pretty much the title of the blog
I'm in a finance/accounting program right now. I took 5 classes this semester. One A- and 4 C's (1 C+, 2 C, 1 C-). Now before you start insulting and criticizing me I want to say that these grades are not completely my fault (and usually is a result of teachers and their ridiculous grading policies and total lack of teaching ability and general incompetence)
That statement shows immaturity. From what I read, and while they may not be completely your fault, the vast majority of the blame is on you, not your professors. Other people did well in those courses, showing that it was possible to meet the expectations of the professor, even though those expectations were not spelled out to you at the beginning of the semester. Unlike high school, college mimics real life a lot more. In the real world, you don't simply have a job description and anything outside of that is not worth learning, or not worth doing well..... If you went into a job with that kind of attitude, either you'll never move up to anything worthwhile or you'll get fired.....
Think of this incident as a life lesson. You aren't going to be spoon fed everything..... Success takes hard work and you have to have the ability to do more than what is expected of you.
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What level of school are you in? I can't think of a college that grades using letters. For that matter, a lot of high schools have switched over to the point system.
If you're not in a university system, then don't sweat it too much. You got "average" grades. Someone has to be "average" sometimes, or else no one is exceptional. Work a bit harder, study more consistently throughout the semester, and if you have any problems with material, don't wait for the end of the class or the exams to seek help.
If you're in a university system - still don't sweat too much. You're passing. Work on getting your grades up, but they aren't as important as getting the degree at the end. After a few years or a couple of jobs, your grades are irrelevant against your proven work history and that you did get that degree.
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On December 22 2013 08:39 felisconcolori wrote:
What level of school are you in? I can't think of a college that grades using letters. For that matter, a lot of high schools have switched over to the point system.
If you're not in a university system, then don't sweat it too much. You got "average" grades. Someone has to be "average" sometimes, or else no one is exceptional. Work a bit harder, study more consistently throughout the semester, and if you have any problems with material, don't wait for the end of the class or the exams to seek help.
If you're in a university system - still don't sweat too much. You're passing. Work on getting your grades up, but they aren't as important as getting the degree at the end. After a few years or a couple of jobs, your grades are irrelevant against your proven work history and that you did get that degree.
schools in Canada uses both
4.0 = A and A+ = 85+
3.7 = A- = 80-84
3.3 = B+ = 76-79
^ That's for UofT
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On December 22 2013 08:39 felisconcolori wrote:
What level of school are you in? I can't think of a college that grades using letters. For that matter, a lot of high schools have switched over to the point system.
If you're not in a university system, then don't sweat it too much. You got "average" grades. Someone has to be "average" sometimes, or else no one is exceptional. Work a bit harder, study more consistently throughout the semester, and if you have any problems with material, don't wait for the end of the class or the exams to seek help.
If you're in a university system - still don't sweat too much. You're passing. Work on getting your grades up, but they aren't as important as getting the degree at the end. After a few years or a couple of jobs, your grades are irrelevant against your proven work history and that you did get that degree.
My college (Umich) uses letter grades and points. Also, average here is a B-
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It's okay, I'm in math finance and I had to take this intro to quantum course in 2nd year due to our retarded program (eternalenvys classmate =D)
No knowledge of pdes, sdes, nothing. Prof sang in class, and did random as useless experiments. All problem sets computation bases.
Entire exam was proof based.
Got a 60% after a 20% curve or some shit. Not sure how ee sama did. He stopped going to class...
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On December 22 2013 04:46 Kingsky wrote:
from my experience, good grades only matter if you come from a good school....
if your university isnt really super recognized your better off getting relevant job experience...
It depends. Bad grades can slow a career down, because coming out of college, employers will want to look at GPA as a measure of how you performed in your previous "position" (which in this case is college). Have a bad grade, and you'll probably miss out on the top companies.
So you'll have to get another job, work hard at that position, and then climb the career ladder from a few rungs lower.
And OP....you're an idiot. Don't squander the gift of higher education, there are billions that would love to be in your shoes. You complain about bad professors today, and you'll complain about bad bosses tomorrow, and nothing changes.
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For me, some of the best and most relevant classes (where I felt I learned the most in) were the classes I did the worst in. As long as you're learning I wouldn't worry too much about the grade so long as you feel you're trying your best. Just move into the next semester with a fresh, can-do attitude and you'll be fine.
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Oh please. These classes are easy if you try even a little bit. Start working OP.
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EPT
