How to beat a bad grade
I started to explain to my sister how to calculate her grade in a class she was having trouble in, and then I realized it was semi-complicated. It's a very important skill to know when you need to drop a class to protect your GPA, and it's not one they teach you in Freshman Inquiry.
To calmly assess whether you need to drop a class, you have to figure out your current grade to see if you can salvage it.
First, find your syllabus. Ask a friend if you can't find it, or look on the teacher's website. In our example, assume that the grading criteria is as follows:
- 30% midterm
- 30% final
- 20% labs and homework
- 20% quizzes
Assume it's the 6th week of the term, and you're not doing so hot. You've bombed a couple quizzes, done fine on the homework, and did OK on the midterm. So far your grade looks something like this:
- 30% midterm
- you got 75/90 on it
- 30% final
- not done yet
- 20% labs and homework
- the teacher collected one homework, which you got 16/20 on
- the teacher has given back one lab (you got 15/20 on) and has collected another.
- 20% quizzes
- there's been 3 quizzes, worth 10 points each, and you earned 15 points out of 30 total.
Now there's some guess work involved. How many more labs, homeworks, and quizzes will your teacher grade? At this point, please ask your teacher. Some teachers know exactly how many assignments they'll collect. Many teachers don't have a plan. In my experience, those who don't have a plan tend to collect a lot of assignments late in the term, when they realize they don't have a very good basis for your grade.
For now, let's assume your teacher will collect one more lab, two more homeworks, and two more quizzes. Our table of all possible assignments now looks like this:
- 30% midterm
- 75/90
- 30% final
- ?
- 20% labs and homework
- 1st homework - 16/20
- 2nd homework - ?
- 3rd homework - ?
- 1st lab - 15/20
- 2nd lab - ?
- 3rd lab - ?
- 20% quizzes
- 1st quiz - 3/10
- 2nd quiz - 5/10
- 3rd quiz - 7/10
- 4th quiz - ?
- 5th quiz - ?
Now we figure out how much of our total grade is assigned to each lab, quiz, and homework. We have 6 labs and homeworks which makes up 20% of our total grade. So each lab or homework is worth 20%/6 or about 3.33% of our total grade. Using the same logic, each quiz is worth 20%/5 or 4% of our total grade.
- 30% midterm
- 75/90 - worth 30% of the total grade
- 30% final
- ? - worth 30%
- 20% labs and homework
- 1st homework - 16/20 - worth 3.33%
- 2nd homework - ? - worth 3.33%
- 3rd homework - ? - worth 3.33%
- 1st lab - 15/20 - worth 3.33%
- 2nd lab - ? - worth 3.33%
- 3rd lab - ? - worth 3.33%
- 20% quizzes
- 1st quiz - 3/10 - worth 4%
- 2nd quiz - 5/10 - worth 4%
- 3rd quiz - 7/10 - worth 4%
- 4th quiz - ? - worth 4%
- 5th quiz - ? - worth 4%
Now we can figure out what our grade is right now. Of the assignments that were collected and graded, there was 30% + (2 * 3.33%) + (3 * 4%) = 48.66% of our total grade assigned. To figure out how many points we actually earned, we take the grade on each assignment and multiply it by how much of our total grade it was worth.
- 30% midterm
- 75/90 * 30% = 25%
- 30% final
- ? * 30%
- 20% labs and homework
- 1st homework - 16/20 * 3.33% = 2.6%
- 2nd homework - ? * 3.33%
- 3rd homework - ? * 3.33%
- 1st lab - 15/20 * 3.33% = 2.5%
- 2nd lab - ? * 3.33%
- 3rd lab - ? * 3.33%
- 20% quizzes
- 1st quiz - 3/10 * 4% = 1.2%
- 2nd quiz - 5/10 * 4% = 2.0%
- 3rd quiz - 7/10 * 4% = 2.8%
- 4th quiz - ? * 4%
- 5th quiz - ? * 4%
Add up all the known assignments (25% + 2.6% + 2.5% + 1.2% + 2% + 2.8%) and you get 36.1%. So you've earned 36.1% out of the 48.66% possible so far, for a "grade" of 74.3% or a solid C.
Don't despair yet! Let's see if you can pull a B out of the class.
There is still (100% - 48.66 = 51.33%) of your total grade that hasn't been assigned yet. That means that if you ace everything, you could get (36.1% + 51.33% = 87.5%) out of the class. That's the best scenario.
The worst scenario is that you bomb everything, leaving you with 36.1%, or an F. That's probably not going to happen. You've been doing better on the quizzes, and you're fairly confident that your last lab was at least B material.
Here's where you get into the realm of fantasy. "I can do better, I know it!" I tend to assume I won't do any better, and go from there. For this example, let's assume you continue to keep your quiz scores at 7/10, your homeworks stay at 16/20, and that your labs are solid Bs (18/20). Let's assume you get the same score on the final that you got on the midterm. Now the grade table looks something like this:
- 30% midterm
- 75/90 * 30% = 25%
- 30% final
- 75/90 * 30% = 25%
- 20% labs and homework
- 1st homework - 16/20 * 3.33% = 2.6%
- 2nd homework - 16/20 * 3.33% = 2.6%
- 3rd homework - 16/20 * 3.33% = 2.6%
- 1st lab - 15/20 * 3.33% = 2.5%
- 2nd lab - 18/20 * 3.33% = 3%
- 3rd lab - 18/20 * 3.33% = 3%
- 20% quizzes
- 1st quiz - 3/10 * 4% = 1.2%
- 2nd quiz - 5/10 * 4% = 2.0%
- 3rd quiz - 7/10 * 4% = 2.8%
- 4th quiz - 7/10 * 4% = 2.8%
- 5th quiz - 7/10 * 4% = 2.8%
Now what might your final grade be in this conservative scenario? Add up all the total scores and see. Your final grade would be 78.1%, which is a C+. If you come up with a percentage that is not a passing grade, I would recommend you drop the class. A W on a transcript is not the end of the world.
At this point, you can "fiddle" with your grade. You can see what effect bombing or acing the final might have. I don't recommend spending too much time on this. For me, it's only useful if I'm doing well in a class and stressing out about a particular assignment or test. I use it to prove to myself that I could funk the assignment and still pass the class. Playing with your potential grade doesn't change the fact that you need to get help with your class.
So what can you do to save your grade?
Step 1: Talk to the teacher
This should have been the first thing you did at the beginning of the term, but it is never too late to talk to the teacher. The teacher will be more likely to boost your grade if you're on the margin if you talk to them. You're more likely to get better grades if you understand what the teacher expects of you. A couple suggestions for this talk:
Be honest about doing bad in the class. Tell them what you're good at (like homework and labs) and what you're bad at (quizzes and tests).
Ask them how they think you're doing. This may be a difficult question, if they can't associate your name with your grade. However, the teacher knows how the class is doing as a whole. Most teachers (unless they're tenured) don't flunk an entire class. If you're doing OK in comparison to the rest of the class, you'll probably do fine.
Ask questions about the points you missed on quizzes or labs. If you can, rework your problems to get the right answer, to prove to your teacher that you understand the problem. Walk the teacher through your original answer and tell them where you think you went wrong. If it's a simple arithmetic error or the question was unclear, you might be able to get points back.
Now is the time to ask about concepts that you're confused about. Don't say, "Please explain everything from the first day." Instead, have very specific questions.
If you want to prove you're a "good student", ask the teacher to clarify something you already think you understand. As they explain it, give examples when they ask you questions and generally prove you know what they're talking about. Don't go overboard with this, or argue with them over details. This is just a "warm up" suggestion.
Find out what they expected of you. What did they want to see on that open-ended question on the quiz? Do they hate your spelling and grammar, and mark you off even though you get the concepts?
Ask about extra credit. Do this only once. My advice is to ask this after you've gotten clarification on several topics. At this point, they should know you're a smart student that is just confused. College teachers don't tend to give individual students a chance at extra credit. They have to be fair to the whole class, so they are more likely to offer the whole class extra credit.
Step 2: Find a tutor
Most departments offer free tutoring for beginning classes. At PSU, you can find math tutors in the Math atrium in the 3rd floor of Neuberger Hall (near the chalk boards in the middle of the room). Even if the tutors are there for something like calculus, they will probably be able to help you with other classes. They're most likely being paid for this, so use the resources your student fees are paying for!
Computer Science tutors are in the CS lounge in front of the CS office. If you're in a science class, ask your lab coordinator for help, or hang around the first floor study are of Science Building 2 and try to figure out who is a science tutor. The IASC student help services is a good place to get help with writing papers, but you should search elsewhere for more specific help.
Step 3: Find your (smart) classmates
Studying with your classmates will only help you if (a) the student doesn't get the material, but you do and just need someone to verify your homework with, or (b) if the student is a smarter student and you can figure out things together. So how do you know if a random student understands your class?
There are some tell-tale signs, even during the first week.
One of the better indicators of a good student is where they sit in class. Students who want to interact with the professor sit in the "T" of the classroom, meaning they sit in the front rows and middle of the classroom. People farther back in the middle are less likely to do well in the class. There are exceptions, of course. There will always be that smart, shy person who sits in the third or fourth row by the windows. That was my favorite spot. This arrangement also tends to get messed up if you're in a giant lecture hall or it turns out the teacher is a lefty.
Look for the people who stay after class to talk to the teacher. These are the people who wait patiently to ask questions instead of rushing off. As a bonus, you might learn something from their questions. At some point, the teacher has to leave, and you're left with the group of students who are in the best position to understand the class. Use this as an opportunity to form a study group.
Another tell-tale sign is if you see the person studying alone at lunch. If they're studying at lunch, instead of reading a book or talking with friends, they're probably a dedicated student. This is a great opportunity to sit down and talk about the class.
There are also signs that show up later in the term that you can use. One sign that a student understands the class is if they ask detailed questions, or bring up examples that the teacher hasn't thought of. Usually that means they understand the basic concepts and want to get a deeper knowledge of the subject. There's a fine line between the clueless person who just wants to argue, and the person who seeks knowledge. Look how the teacher reacts. If they pause to think about the question, or say something along the lines of, "That's a subject for another class," or "We'll get to that later," it's a good bet that the person is a "smart student."
If, on the other hand, you're a genius and you just need motivation to do the homework, I suggest you find a studious classmate. Find someone who obsessively takes notes in class or who you always see late nights in the library. Explaining the concepts to them and helping them through the homework problems will help you solidify your own knowledge.
For all my geeky friends, markdown rules. Livejournal was generating awful bulleted lists because it was automatically inserting paragraph tags in the middle of them. So I just typed that up in vim, with simple indented lists (starting with a dash) and ran it through markdown to get clean html. Now if only I could have an automated way of editing the markdown and regenerating the html. I'm certainly not going to get that from Livejournal. Yet another thing to look for in blogging software.