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I didn't copy & paste his letter. I did voice to text on my computer while reading what he sent her. I did go back and correct a few things but wasn't to concerned about grammar for showing people here.
And as far as him showing how little he values her class. He made the point that she's basically made the same point about classes in her past. I guess you missed the part where he specifically states that he is always on time while others are not. He can sit there & lie or be honest.
You and your "friend" have an excuse for why literally nothing is his or your responsibility in any situation ever. It comes thru clearly in "his" letter, a letter you had electronically but instead of two mouse clicks you transcribed into your computer...
BTW, what fault does your "friend" actually have in this scenario?
You know there's such a thing as civil court, right? And I think OP was basically saying he thought they had solid logic in their theory.
And no court in the land is going to force a teacher to change their grade over one student's interpretation that a dropped grade means they can skip exams. So he would have to prove what monetary damages he is out. Good luck with that.
Sounds like your opinion.
If you get a 0 for that test & the teacher says out of all the tests your lowest score gets dropped. Well, that 0 is part of the other test scores. So you get to drop that 0 from the equation.
I'm going to repeat this:
I doubt seriously the instructor will be forced to allow students to skip tests with impunity--that's going to be the attitude of everyone higher up in the system.
Sounds like your opinion.
If you get a 0 for that test & the teacher says out of all the tests your lowest score gets dropped. Well, that 0 is part of the other test scores. So you get to drop that 0 from the equation.
EXCUSE ME. Didn't you come here and post expecting to read opinions?
Honestly if I was your friends professor and you came to me with your excuses I would just ignore you.
Your friend is coming at this this a million reasons for why they should get the test dropped. I was sick, I couldn't last through the test, It's too hard a subject, It's not relevant to my career.
From the professors view all I would hear is; I wasn't prepared, I didn't study enough, I don't want to do the work to pass the test, I can't be bothered to even try, I want a free pass.....Your friend is trying to find the easy way out from taking this test it seems.
Want the grade (or no grade) then take the test. It doesn't matter what you or your friends feel the value of the class has on your future, these classes are required because you and your friends need to prove that you truly are educated at a higher level. That requires proving that you can grasp all concepts because guess what...in the real world we have to interact and work in so many areas that overcross we need to be prepared to use the knowledge others aspects us to hold as higher educated individuals. Your friend may not find the subject relevant to their field but how do they know the field their in wont ever overlap with other subjects. I'm a Political Science major but I've used my education from college Biology to help understand policies and work done by science research and that's placed me in spots where I got to be the lead simply due to the fact I was able to use my education in an area that wasn't primary to me but still important as a whole. Today I'm in the music industry but still use my political education in work everyday.
If your friend tells the professor they would be willing to make up the test and they say no I would take this to the department head. But to expect the professor to drop the grade without any attempt to take the test in the first place is stupid and reeks of someone who isn't looking at their education as seriously as they should. Trying to pass college on technicalities and doing as little as possible is not going to help you further your education or prepare you for a fulfilling career. Tell your friend to study for every class (regardless if they view the material as relevant to their future career...which is silly, no one can know for sure where you will end up landing in the future and most careers aren't simply closed/limited to one major/subject) and simply ask to retake the test. They do have the right to take the test, but the professor has a right to call your friend out on wanting to take the easy way out on their education and insist they at least make a fair attempt or suffer the consequences of trying to find the easy way out and getting caught.
Welcome to college and the real world is about all I can say. I never missed a single class during college because I knew what professors do when people cut class. I had some guys in some classes that would keep track of how many class days they could miss per the syllabus and they would cut class on some days (typically Friday or Monday.) It never failed that the professor would either give out an assignment that was due the next class or assign some reading to be done before the next class and then give a quiz at that next class or sometimes they would give a quiz at the end of class on that particular day since some guys cut class. They do this to beat their grades up for cutting class. They give you so many excusable absence days in case you get sick or have an emergency, not just to pick days to cut.
The same thing applies to dropping a test score. I had classes where the professor would drop the lowest grade. I am not aware of anybody completely blowing off a test and taking a zero expecting it to be dropped. I however, did have a few in my class that blew off studying for a test thinking they would just take it as their dropped grade if they made a really bad grade. They did make a bad grade on that one but what they didn't figure into the equation was the professor made the last test exceptionally difficult. The end result was that those of us that worked hard and put in the effort for every test and throughout the semester got to drop our grade on that but kicker test at the end of the semester.
The moral of this story is professors didn't make it through getting a PhD being stupid. They are obviously pretty smart. They give the slackers just enough rope to hang themselves when it comes to dropping test scores and excused absences. I often thought to myself that they did it just for their own entertainment but later I realized they were trying to give those guys life lessons along with their education. They were basically trying to teach them that hard work and dedication leads to success.
So to the OP, My interpretation of "the lowest grade will be dropped" was that I take all the tests and whichever one I make the lowest grade on gets dropped. I would say that even if your friend goes to the department chair and gets the grade dropped, that last test is going to be ugly. I would imagine the professor will then create a curve for the grades that ensures your friend fails that test. My advice would be to drop the class, mark it up as a lesson and don't be a slacker the next time.
The day of the test he over slept & woke up sick. He was going to still go into take the test but honestly he said the hell with it when he had to sit on the toilet 3 times in a 15 minute time span. You all get the picture I'm sure. The reason he decided not to was because of the reason above but also he knew that he this test would likely be the one that gets dropped & what's the point of taking a test and getting a 60 vs a 0 if both can be dropped?
Things even themselves out.
I was a TA for an undergrad course when I was in grad school and we had one student who handed in her homework every week and it was beautifully done and she did a great job on the presentation.
For some reason, she bombed the Final Exam and the professor made it out so that she would get a B+ because a big component of the class was participation.
So, if your friend is a good student, it'll even out. The professor will give him a higher grade, or he'll raise his GPA with another class.
If he's a poor student, well then failing another class probably won't bring down his GPA all that much. So it'll even out too.
Let's say he does get an F. He's probably not getting into medical school, but I'd say he wasn't on that path anyway.
Will he be able to get a job, go to grad school, buy a house, have a wife and kids. You betcha. Failing the class would be nowhere near as disastrous as you might think it is at the moment. And for that matter, somehow miraculously getting an A+ in the class is nowhere near as helpful as you might think. And I say that, and I was a TA...
Another thing I'll just say as a blanket statement. If you're not motivated to do the classwork or you are no good at, then drop out until you find something you do want to do or are good at.
He's not very diplomatic, is he? Especially that ending, which was quite impolitic. Something more like:
"Dear Professor Whatever,
I'm writing in regard to the exam I missed on [date], which is now in the gradebook as a zero. I had misunderstood, and thought that since the syllabus says '[quote whatever it says]' it meant that if I stayed home sick and missed one exam, that exam could be dropped. I was very ill that day, but had I known that only exams one sits for can be dropped, I would have attempted to handle the situation differently. Would it be possible for me to retake this exam, or make up for this error in some other way?
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Statz2k10's Friend."
Is much more likely to get a positive response, for future reference. Too late now, though.
Here's the thing, though: three As and a zero is still a C. Three Bs and a zero can still be a D, which is probably still worth credit in a non-major, non-core class. If he's going to fail the class on that zero, he must not have been doing so hot in the first place, especially if there are grades other than those four exams going into the calculation. So it's not as though he's can or should blame his entire failing grade on this one zero mark.
"While I respect your class it is not a class that has any bearing on my career. It’s a class I chose to take because I have to fulfil graduation requirements. I am taking 2 other classes that are directly related to my major & require me to spend more hours than I have to study & prepare for those tests. I never planned to take your class for granted but I can only put a certain amount of time into studying when you take into consideration the other two classes. I work 40 hours a week & as I explained above commute a total of 1 hour to/from class. I mention this not as an excuse but I remember you saying how you hated taking a certain class in your college days because it had nothing to do with what you planned to do."
You really said that in your email to the professor? When you're in a hole, stop digging.
That's worse than the girl who sent the message to "professor what's his nuts." At least she realized how inappropriate that was, even if accidental, and apologized profusely for it. If I were her professor, I'd have a laugh and give her the benefit of having learned from her mistake and growing up about it. What you need to do is learn from yours, apologize and ask for a chance to take the test.
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