Grade went from an A to a C over 3 classes!!!!!!!!!

Beary-nice · Apr 27, 2006

I don't blame you for being mad, however, there are many professors that base grades on attendance as well as work. I noticed this when I went to a state college in my area. It is evidently difficult for some to show up for class. What does your syllabus say about attendance?

One professor I know allowed 3 absences during the semester provided they were excused absences. If you missed only the 3 absences you would still get an extra 30 pts for attendance. There was another professor that as long as you told him ahead of time that you would be MIA, nothing counted against you, your grade was your grade. Another I remember said "Unless someone has died or you are physically tied to a hospital bed you better be here!" This professor even locked you out of the classroom if you were not to class on time...8 am...no exceptions.

That is just my experience. I think some of my professors got tired of people whining about their grades yet not being able to show up, and they were sick of disruptions. You seem like you put effort into work, but I know that attendance can be a huge issue!

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Apr 27, 2006

For a gen ed, that's surprising, as most of my gen ed teachers don't say much about attendence unless it is "flagrant." Three days, IMO, is not flagrant.

HeavenBound0530 · Apr 27, 2006

I've had teachers like Beary-Nice. I've had teachers that say unless something has happened you better be ther, then I've had some that will let you miss so many and then after that they start to take off points on your grade. Then I've had some (like my a&p) that could really care less if your there or not, unless it's going to be that you miss a test and then she only wants to know so she knows how many make ups she has to give out. I can understand why your mad, especially since you e-mailed the instructor ahead of time. The only thing i can say about your paper is don't get smart. Professor's (especially english for some reason) ahte when students get cocky with them and think their way is the only right way and argue with them.

JaxiaKiley · Apr 27, 2006

Good luck with the paper. Resist the urge to tell the prof what you really think. It's just not worth it!

Did you check his attendance policy?

stpauligirl · Apr 27, 2006

Here is the deal. I work full time and go to school full time. Between all the chaos I missed three English Classes. Each time I emailed my Prof. in advance and made it clear in the emails that i was aware of what would be due next class. I have never had a late paper or assignment and the lowest grade I have received was an 87%.
Anyways, last week we had one on one meeting with the Prof., and this was right after I received a paper back from him with one of the comments be that he felt I was to advanced for this class. During our meeting he said that I did have an A and now due to me missing three class I am now on a B-/C+ border. :angryfire
I am so pissed off!!!!!!!!! To bring up my grade I have to write a paper on why I should receive an A, and get an A on my final paper. Is this nuts?!?!?!?!? Has this happened to anyone else? I think grades should be based on work not attendence.... :angryfire

At our school you can be dropped from the class by the professor if you miss 4 class meetings.

HeartsOpenWide, RN · Apr 27, 2006

I had a Spanish class where the teacher said that attendance was VERY important. Students that got all A's on their tests but hardly came to class got C's. I got all C's on my tests but came to class every time and ended up with a B in the class.

I am in an English class now, and we spend a great deal of class in discussion. Although you do not get points off for not showing up to class you can miss out on a lot and there are a lot of little quizzes almost every class period. My teacher does not even want us to get up and use the bathroom darning class. I know it sounds harsh, but at least he is giving you the option to fight for your grade. Good luck.

I know at my college, after three absences your grade drops an entire grade every class missed after that.....

And my Micro teacher would kick you out of her class if your cell phone ever rang. You had one chance and any time it rang after than she dropped you from the class roster.

FoxyRoxy21 · Apr 28, 2006

thanks for all the responses!!!!

it clearly states in the syllabus that if you miss on class it's forgiven, two class 1/2 your participations points it deducted, three classes all participation pts. are deducted. (participation is 15% of the grade)

1st absence - i had family coming in from new york for grandmother's 70th birthday party. my aunt was supposed to be picking them up from the airport; however, she ended up getting the flu. i ended up being next inline to pick the relatives up.

2nd absence - the next week i ended up getting the flu. the day i had class i was running a 102.1 fever.

thanks for all the responses!!!!

i had class my english class tonight. i waited till after class to talk to my prof. and wanted to discuss how i felt about the whole situation. it clearly states in the syllabus that if you miss on class it's forgiven, two class 1/2 your participations points it deducted, three classes all participation pts. are deducted. (participation is 15% of the grade)

1st absence - i had family coming in from new york for grandmother's 70th birthday party. my aunt was supposed to be picking them up from the airport; however, she ended up getting the flu. i ended up being next inline to pick the relatives up.

2nd absence - the next week i ended up getting the flu. the day i had class i was running a 102.1 fever.

3rd absence - after getting the flu i just felt drained. i went to the doctor and he ran a blood test. (two years prior i had mono. from what i understand there are two viruses that cause mono are ebstin-bar virus and another i can't remember the name. anyways according to my doc the viruses never leave your body, when a person recovers from mono they stay dormant. however, when you get sick the virus levels raise and can cause you to get mono again.) the results were the levels were high but not high enough for it to be mono. thank god!!!! i couldn't imagine missing a month of school and work.

i know this is long, and if you are at this point thank you for reading. i just feel that these were excusable absences. i guess i was wrong.

FoxyRoxy21 · Apr 28, 2006

Sorry for having my absences in there twice. With changing the font I must of done something wrong.(User's Error) Can you tell it's late and I am tired.

Again, thank you to anyone who responded. I really appreciate hearing other peoples thoughts.

Much Love

Amanda

rayfocker · Apr 28, 2006

Sorry to hear about your predicament, Roxy. Look on the bright side, at least if you do what he says (writing the reason why you should get an A) you will still have a shot.

I know many unfair teachers and horror stories where people were ace-ing the class and to horrible on their term-paper and end up with a C. Although I am happy to say that I missed 2 weeks of class straight (legitimately) and still getting a 98%. Sadly, grades are sometimes not a measure of intelligence or hard-work but rather a teacher's leniency and judgement. :madface:

Best of luck to you.

-Ray

MIKelly · Apr 28, 2006

I guess the syllabus spells it out for you . I hope you might get at least some of your participation points back. I have only had one professor so far that required we email her and acknowledge that we had read and understood her syllabus. It's a really good idea to take them seriously after what happened to you.

bethg5 · Apr 29, 2006

I had a political science instructor who didn't care about attendance his first year of teaching and then the school came down on him, so now if you miss more than 4 classes even if they are excused you fail the semester regardless of your grade at the time. I have found that our school doesn't really set attendance policies but does come down on instructors that don't have some type of policy in effect. I had another instructor who constantly gave pop quizzes so if you were absent to many times the pop quiz grade would fail you.