Dismissal advice

[yakkk]

I failed my class by 1 point, which ultimately lead to my dismissal from the nursing program. I asked to review my final exam, considering there have been instances quiz grades were not graded correctly. Likewise, after unit exams we are allowed to review and dispute questions if we can prove why they are correct as referenced in our textbook. However, I was told "students are not allowed to view final exams." This seems unfair considering we can view all other exams and I've read where students have been allowed to review final exams to dispute questions at other schools. Is this a school by school basis/policy? I've also done research and according to FERPA, exams are considered student records; therefore I should be allowed to review it. Any suggestions???

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Failing a class is essentially the sum of many parts. It is not just 'that one question' - it is ALL of the questions you missed over the course of the semester.

Handing over the final to a student compromises the integrity of the exam. As far as what you've read students at other schools do- it has no application to what YOUR school's policy is.

My best advice is that you do some serious reflection on how you can be a better student in the future, and begin the process of looking for another school. Dwelling on the past will only keep you from moving forward.

[Apple-Core, ASN, BSN, RN]

Although it sucks to hear, I have to agree with MeanMaryJean; It hurts to fail, especially by 1 measly point, but on the other hand that is a reflection of the overall performance, and not just the final exam.

Can you re-apply?

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

I am kind of surprised that they wouldn't allow you to view the test and answer sheet again, even in a supervised setting; we used scantron devices, and on a handful of occasions if you changed your answer it would still read the incorrect bubble as 'filled in' no matter how hard you erased. I don't see how reviewing the final would compromise the exam any more than reviewing a midterm (which we were always allowed to do).

However, I'm also surprised that they allowed you to dispute questions; nursing school seemed to be the one program/department in which my instructors never considered changing the original "right answers," with the NCLEX mentality that "every answer is correct, but only one is most correct."

Ultimately, your school has the right to create and enforce whatever policies it wants. I don't know anything about FERPA, but from a cursory review I'm guessing that they'd say you have the right to your answers, but not necessarily to the test itself. You can make whatever requests you'd like, but if the school refuses them then I doubt there's more you can do.

Does your program use scantrons? Perhaps you could ask to see your actual answer sheet and compare it to the report print out to ensure that your bubbles were interpreted correctly--that way you aren't actually reviewing the test questions themselves (and compromising the exam). That's usually how I caught my scantron mistakes.

I do agree with MaryJean and Apple; hopefully, you'll be able to reapply and use this opportunity to figure out where you're struggling so that you can improve.