I've said it before, and i'll say it again - i'm proud of my BS degree from CMU, and i'm proud that i did as well as i did, regardless of whether it was easy for me to make Dean's list or not. I'm happier to have that degree than the perfect dean's list streak degree i may have been able to get else where.
But sometimes i think CMU should give us little letters to accompany our transcripts explaining the grading policy a little bit.
I'm sorry MIT is dumb. They should be sorry they are dumb, too. *hug*
"But sometimes i think CMU should give us little letters to accompany our transcripts explaining the grading policy a little bit."
They really should. Having a 22-year-old kid trying to explain to a prospective employer that CMU doesn't do grade inflation is somehow not terribly convincing for most employers (though I suppose it did work on my first boss, seeing as how he did hire me. Best boss I ever had, too...)
I am reminded of a time when I nearly throttled a manager at my previous place of employment. We were at lunch, and he telling me about how he went to the University of Louisiana at Baton Rouge for his B.S. He very fondly told me how he'd go to New Orleans every weekend to drink and party all weekend long, and he still got straight A's.
I was about ready to kill him on the spot. I _earned_ my grades, even if they weren't all good, damn it.
Is there any way for you to submit an appeal to the decision by writing out the above a little more formally and including some official documentation or perhaps a letter of explanation from someone high-up in one of your CMU departments?
I agree, that's about the comment I was going to make. What we were in college and what we are 10 years later can be vastly, vastly different. Even what we are as a freshman in college and what we are as a senior can be vastly different.
Credentialism drives me nuts. It's an intentionally thoughtless way to make decisions. (It's supposedly more objective, but it really isn't. Rather being wary of how the system can be gamed, it rewards those who do. *sigh*)
Hopefully, you'll be able to make them see the light before classes start. Good luck.
Sorry I was being lazy: the answer is in your previous lj post on the topic. That class is required for the master's degree program in the MIT ORC, and it is taught by one of the ORC's co-directors, so I think it is safe to call it an ORC class :-)
Given that several Draper folks are on a first-name basis with both co-directors of the ORC --- partly because Draper staff have been supervising ORC students for years and years, and partly because both of those co-directors have ongoing Draper-sponsored UIR&Ds --- I think it very likely that a couple phone calls could straighten out the situation. For example Dr. K could phone Prof. Bertsimas, who could then go to grad admissions and beat someone senseless with a clue-stick. In fact you or I could go directly to Bertsimas or Barnhart but we're not so weighty as Dr. K.
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But sometimes i think CMU should give us little letters to accompany our transcripts explaining the grading policy a little bit.
I'm sorry MIT is dumb. They should be sorry they are dumb, too. *hug*
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They really should. Having a 22-year-old kid trying to explain to a prospective employer that CMU doesn't do grade inflation is somehow not terribly convincing for most employers (though I suppose it did work on my first boss, seeing as how he did hire me. Best boss I ever had, too...)
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I was about ready to kill him on the spot. I _earned_ my grades, even if they weren't all good, damn it.
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I don't even really care about CMU's grading. I'm just pissed that a number from 10 years ago was used to judge who & what I am today.
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Hopefully, you'll be able to make them see the light before classes start. Good luck.
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Sorry I was being lazy: the answer is in your previous lj post on the topic. That class is required for the master's degree program in the MIT ORC, and it is taught by one of the ORC's co-directors, so I think it is safe to call it an ORC class :-)
Given that several Draper folks are on a first-name basis with both co-directors of the ORC --- partly because Draper staff have been supervising ORC students for years and years, and partly because both of those co-directors have ongoing Draper-sponsored UIR&Ds --- I think it very likely that a couple phone calls could straighten out the situation. For example Dr. K could phone Prof. Bertsimas, who could then go to grad admissions and beat someone senseless with a clue-stick. In fact you or I could go directly to Bertsimas or Barnhart but we're not so weighty as Dr. K.
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