Grading Standards - Academic Integrity

Lisa CCU RN, RN · May 7, 2007

Well she still earned a higher grade than you--a B, so even if she hadn't have gotten the extra points.....

Every professor has the right to grade as they see fit and I don't think it's unfair. Life is just like that. I also don't see why getting extra credit is unfair--extra credit is something that is earned; I've also always seen curve as a fair way to even out the class stats for tests.

The best thing to do when you are trying to get into a competitive program is to get the grade you need and not to rely on extra points anyway.

I know you may disagree, but it is always better to focus on you and not look at others situations.

Honestly, if you had been in that class and had received the 10 points, would you be upset as you are that someone else DID get the points?

duckzoom75 · May 7, 2007

I really don't see your point, and I am not sure you understand what I am saying. Thanks for your opinion and I realize it is just that. And thank you for the recomendation to "get the grade I need" --very helpful. You must get a lot of extra credit yourself.

To clarify - she got the B WITH the extra credit AND the curve - which is not what I am debating here. If extra credit is offered to some - it should be offered to all - we are all paying the same tuition.

If you actually read what I wrote you will se that I am not debating the merits of extra credit AT ALL - I simply feel that students taking the same course should be held to the same standards.

RN BSN 2009 · May 7, 2007

Different professors have different syllabi and course offerings. They have the right to offer extra credit and have different exams as they please.

Lisa CCU RN, RN · May 7, 2007

I really don't see your point, and I am not sure you understand what I am saying. Thanks for your opinion and I realize it is just that. And thank you for the recomendation to "get the grade I need" --very helpful. You must get a lot of extra credit yourself.
To clarify - she got the B WITH the extra credit AND the curve - which is not what I am debating here. If extra credit is offered to some - it should be offered to all - we are all paying the same tuition.
If you actually read what I wrote you will se that I am not debating the merits of extra credit AT ALL - I simply feel that students taking the same course should be held to the same standards. Yeah, that just proves my point that if you had gotten the points, there would be no issue, so why begrudge another student their points

Again, I say that different professors have their own grading policies and they have that right. You aren't in nursing school yet, so the policies are not geared towards making it fair for nursing students any more than classes would be made "fair" for pre med students. You just get what you get and they grade how they grade.

I know you would like and accept the extra credit if given to you-- who wouldn't? And no I don't get any extra credit that I don't deserve. Right now in our program, we don't get any extra credit until we are passing the class.

If you want to get extra credit, then do some research and get that professor next time.

When you do get into the nursing program, you'll find that the policies are across the board, but it is not gonna be that way in pre-reqs.

That's just life and if you want an A or a B get the points from your own work and don't rely on extra credit. I'm not trying to be smart, I'm just saying it because it will save you a lot of frustration in the future.

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · May 7, 2007

If you want to get extra credit, then do some research and get that professor next time.

Or next time, work harder at what you have to do so that you don't have to rely on extra credit. In my Nursing program, there is no extra credit! And there was no curve. If you had less than a 77%, you failed. Period. No matter what your circumstances were.

Did you ask your instructor about extra credit? Did you schedule a meeting with him to determine your grades? Instructors appreciate motivated students who are willing to do this.

Don't compare yourself to others. It never makes people happy.

The fact is, you can't compare the same class with different teachers. They are different classes. Were the tests the same? For all you know, this other student's class was way harder than yours. And unless you laid eyes on all of their exams, and sat in on their lectures, then you would not know. Perhaps her 87 was harder earned.

duckzoom75 · May 7, 2007

Although I still don't think it is fair (yeah yeah I know life isn't fair) I do see your point. People who got the other professor were just lucky I suppose. I will do more research in the future as to what professor to take a course with.

You do not need to preach to me about earning your own grade though. I do have a decent GPA (3.75) and have worked hard for that. I have never relied on a curve - never had a prof who did them.

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · May 7, 2007

Can you re-take the class? At my school, you could re-take the class, and they take the score of the higher class. You will still have both classes on your transcripts, but only the higher calculated for GPA...

Lisa CCU RN, RN · May 7, 2007

Yeah, do like cardiac said and take the class again with that professor if you want. Good point too about the classes being on two different difficulty levels. Her tests could have been way harder.

I seriously was not trying to be insensitive to your ordeal. I'm just warning you it gets worse in nursing school. Nothing will be "fair" there at all.

MB37 · May 7, 2007

Have you tried looking up your profs each semester on ratemyprofessor.com? It's by nature subjective, and probably more disgruntled students evaluate people there than satisfied ones, but since I found out about it I use it as one of many resources to prepare for each class. For example, I just finished Nutrition, and earned a high A. There is only one teacher at my school, but you can choose between online and live in a 3 hour block once a week. People on ratemyprofessors had written that it was highly recommeded to take her live, as she tests almost exclusively on lecture material. That's what I chose, and I went to class every week, and it worked. For my upcoming pharm class, several people advised recording lectures, as the prof doesn't provide powerpoint notes and apparently talks very fast. I've ordered a voice recorder already so I'll be prepared when class starts on Monday. You can learn a lot of interesting things, even if you don't know anyone yet ahead of you in the program.

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · May 7, 2007

I'm just warning you it gets worse in nursing school. Nothing will be "fair" there at all.

Oh man, that's the truth!

justme1972 · May 7, 2007

Good afternoon fellow (pre)student nurses. I have a bit of a delema I was wondering if anyone might have an oppinion on the following:
I recently found out that a fellow student will be getting an A in Physiology - good for her but she actually earned an 87 with 10 points of extra credit on each exam and was graded on a curve. I am not debating the merits of extra credit, we all can use help in difficult courses, however my issue is with the fact that if this is true and if she is taking the same course we should be held to the same standards.

At mid-term I had a solid B with an 85 on two out of three exams. I received a C for the class. What my final exam grade was has not been communicated to me. I am not happy with this grade but that is what I earned. My class was not given extra credit options and was not graded on a curve. There were many students in my class who had to withdraw from the class because they were not meeting the standards required for admittance into the nursing program. However if they had the other professor then they may have ended the class with B's or A's. How can this be justified?

My GPA is now 3.75, which is not bad. However with the grade of a C in Physiology I can forget about being accepted through the merit based system. Another student who in reality earned a lower grade than I did but based on a curve and some extra credit will be allowed into the program before me or other students in the same situation. I believe there should be some uniformity to the standards of grading if the school is to expect the same integrity from it's students, especially if this affects a student's chances of admittance into a very competitive program.

Take the class over with the other professor this Summer..that is an option for you.

That is why so many students are very "in tune" with who teaches what at schools. Teachers are allowed to make up their own rules unless it's a school that is on a standardized testing system...which trust me...does NOT work to your advantage, because it assumes that all of the teachers go over the same material, and they do not.

I'm taking a computer class for nursing. My professor gave EVERYTHING open book right down to the final exam. A friend of mine, all of her assignments for the same class, different professor, were closed book. She got a B, I got an A....who do you think had to work harder? She did...no question about it.

That is just the freedom some professors have. My Chemistry professor that I keep venting about in the pre-nursing forum...he is grading the entire course on a curve. Whoever has the highest grade gets an A, and everyone is graded in a percentage against the best performing student.

Then again...you find out real quick why he does it, because you need it.