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View Full Version : Final exam of Zero in Error at U of C.



albertGQ
12-28-2012, 01:33 PM
Hello Beyond. I hope I can get some quick help for this situation. A friend of mine wrote a final exam in one of her courses a couple weeks ago. For some odd reason, she is missing her final exam mark. She has a mark for mid term one & a mark for mid term two but the final exam mark shows a 0 with a final mark of only 64. She went in with an A but now has a C+. She assured me that she put her name & student ID number on her test as they reiterated this multiple times during the exam. They told all 600 students that if there was an error, then it would be the student’s fault and there would be no mark for them.

So what can she do now? I told her to call her professor. But we know how difficult it is to get a hold of professor’s sometimes, especially during the holidays. Does she has any other options? Is there a main line you can call for situations like this?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

D'z Nutz
12-28-2012, 01:54 PM
Is your friend a law student that happened to beak off a prof in an email?

"Main line you can call"? Seriously, what sort of answer are you expecting?

http://www.techpin.com/wp-content/the-batman-phone-batphone.jpg

Talk to the prof.

spacerz
12-28-2012, 02:09 PM
Is the C+ her "final mark" according to student centre or according to blackboard?

themack89
12-28-2012, 02:25 PM
Talk to the prof.

I doubt anything will be rectified. A similar situation happened to a friend of mine, he was going into final with an A+, scored 100% on every section that he completed in the exam and left 30 minutes early. He didn't notice that there was an extra section on the last page of the exam (not usually double sided printing) and the prof basically said suck rocks.

Even for the best students the rules cannot be bent.

leftwing
12-28-2012, 02:50 PM
Originally posted by themack89
Talk to the prof.

I doubt anything will be rectified. A similar situation happened to a friend of mine, he was going into final with an A+, scored 100% on every section that he completed in the exam and left 30 minutes early. He didn't notice that there was an extra section on the last page of the exam (not usually double sided printing) and the prof basically said suck rocks.

Even for the best students the rules cannot be bent.

I feel like these are two different situations. As in OP's case, student apparently wrote the test and received zero, while your friend did not write the section and received zero, sounds fair.

ExtraSlow
12-28-2012, 03:02 PM
If you have an undergraduate office for her department or faculty, they may be able to assist if she can't get in touch with her prof.

403Gemini
12-28-2012, 03:10 PM
I BELIEVE (It's been awhile lol) you can appeal scores in college/university where another teacher would mark it. I think this costs money, but worth it to change the score if it was an error. At the very least, it would bring more than 1 set of eyes to the issue and it may have simply been a clerical error.

albertGQ
12-28-2012, 03:11 PM
Originally posted by spacerz
Is the C+ her "final mark" according to student centre or according to blackboard?

I think just blackboard. I assume this is a better scenario for her?

WithTheLightsOn
12-28-2012, 04:23 PM
Originally posted by albertGQ


I think just blackboard. I assume this is a better scenario for her?
I wouldn't even worry too much if it's just on blackboard. It could be that's just the default score while they are entering the grades using some automated tool.

Still, I'd just fire an email to let the prof know what she's seeing. It would be a lot easier to fix an eventual error now, before the grade is official.

albertGQ
12-28-2012, 04:32 PM
Originally posted by WithTheLightsOn

I wouldn't even worry too much if it's just on blackboard. It could be that's just the default score while they are entering the grades using some automated tool.

Still, I'd just fire an email to let the prof know what she's seeing. It would be a lot easier to fix an eventual error now, before the grade is official.

Sweet! Thanks, I will tell her that!

diamondedge
12-28-2012, 06:29 PM
Originally posted by WithTheLightsOn

I wouldn't even worry too much if it's just on blackboard. It could be that's just the default score while they are entering the grades using some automated tool.

Still, I'd just fire an email to let the prof know what she's seeing. It would be a lot easier to fix an eventual error now, before the grade is official.



Originally posted by albertGQ


Sweet! Thanks, I will tell her that!

Also, at least in Engineering, the faculty had to photocopy all of our exams in the case of where you wanted to appeal a mark, you would get to see the copy of your exam when talking to the faculty director/your prof.

If this copy does not exist (which we doubt) then her mark probably hasn't been entered. Talking to the prof is the first thing.

sh0ko
12-28-2012, 07:22 PM
phone the prof.. easiest and quickest response

themack89
12-29-2012, 02:32 AM
Originally posted by leftwing


I feel like these are two different situations. As in OP's case, student apparently wrote the test and received zero, while your friend did not write the section and received zero, sounds fair.

Somewhat agree.

But now that I think about it.. I think the situation can be fixed because thats what they have the signature sheet for, to confirm that you were actually there to write the test.

swak
12-29-2012, 03:16 AM
Originally posted by themack89
Talk to the prof.

I doubt anything will be rectified. A similar situation happened to a friend of mine, he was going into final with an A+, scored 100% on every section that he completed in the exam and left 30 minutes early. He didn't notice that there was an extra section on the last page of the exam (not usually double sided printing) and the prof basically said suck rocks.

Even for the best students the rules cannot be bent.

Your friends an idiot.

I'd say no to him/her as well if he/she didn't complete a section.
I know they hear all excuses in the book.

bart
12-29-2012, 04:55 AM
back in cpsc455 i got a B+ on the final, i emailed the prof i said no way buddy

he wrote back to me saying sorry he missed to mark the last page of my exam lol

walpole!

ghomie
12-29-2012, 07:20 PM
It's sooo simple...Email the prof with the concern. They will look into the issue and reply back with the final result, whether it was an error or if the student did in fact make a mistake and the mark is correct. If the final grade is imputed wrong into student centre, the prof has lots of extra paper work to do to fix the mark, but they will. It's their job and they are expected to have the upmost diligence in their mark submissions. Also, marks do have to get approved before being finalized in student centre by someone else in the department. If the approver usually finds an exam mark of zero or lower, it raises a flag and the mark is flagged and requires further investigation.

My mom works for the University and she use to approve marks and this is the process. Just email the prof and they will fix the mark or tell your friend exactly why they got that mark.

themack89
12-30-2012, 02:57 AM
Originally posted by swak


Your friends an idiot.

I'd say no to him/her as well if he/she didn't complete a section.
I know they hear all excuses in the book.

Really? It was this incident why he didn't finish undergrad with a 4.0 amongst taking graduate level courses as his electives.

To complete the story he asked if he could write a deferred examination, the answer was also no.

Honest mistakes happen.

ExtraSlow
12-30-2012, 08:55 AM
I'd say no to themack98's buddy as well. I don't care what the reason was, he failed to write part of his test.

D'z Nutz
12-30-2012, 10:59 AM
Originally posted by themack89


Really? It was this incident why he didn't finish undergrad with a 4.0 amongst taking graduate level courses as his electives.

To complete the story he asked if he could write a deferred examination, the answer was also no.

Honest mistakes happen.

So? It's the prof's fault he didn't check all the pages of the exam? Why would the prof want to waste his time and write up a whole new exam for his deferral (not to mention filing the paperwork, scheduling it, and re-marking it) on account of his careless ass? Besides, the circumstances for getting a deferred exam are clearly outlined so he shouldn't have expected one because he certainly didn't deserve one.

If he's making mistakes like this, however honest they are, he shouldn't be finishing with a 4.0. Your friend was in university, not elementary, and this doesn't sound like a similar situation at all.

ExtraSlow
12-30-2012, 12:11 PM
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This exactly.

themack89
12-30-2012, 01:43 PM
Originally posted by D'z Nutz
If he's making mistakes like this, however honest they are, he shouldn't be finishing with a 4.0. Your friend was in university, not elementary, and this doesn't sound like a similar situation at all.

An honest mistake similar to not filling in your student ID and name properly? (This is probably what happened) I agree, this is University, not Elementary school.

I would like to see how this plays out or what the problem was.

Edit.. As a side note, this type of shit happens all the time, and the outcome is always different. A prof of mine says its up to the discretion of the prof to rectify student and ID names that were not filled out correctly. But like D'z Nutz said, why should the prof go out of their way to fix a stupid ass mistake or try to help out the student?

swak
12-30-2012, 01:57 PM
Originally posted by themack89


Really? It was this incident why he didn't finish undergrad with a 4.0 amongst taking graduate level courses as his electives.

To complete the story he asked if he could write a deferred examination, the answer was also no.

Honest mistakes happen.

Yeah, really.

You said your buds left 30mins early too... Maybe he could have used that time more effectively - by going over his answers or something - and possibly spotting the missed questions.

I've graded finals - i've seen this before - Its not my fault you missed it and 100+ other students managed to answer the question.

As well, as a grad student - before the end of this last semester before a very significant term paper was due - my unbacked-up harddrive decided to crash.
FUUUUUUUUUUUU...

Asked my research advisor (instructor for this specific class) for an extension, she said no. I wasn't impressed, but after thinking about it, while its not fully my fault that my computer crapped out, it most certainly isn't her problem.

Same idea.
Life Lesson: Your misfortunes are not your prof's responsibility.

themack89
12-30-2012, 02:04 PM
Completely agree swak. Your misfortunes are not your Prof's responsibilities, which is why I said in the first place if this student failed to fill out her ID and student number correctly, she will probably be stuck with the C+.

The point of the story was to show even for the best students stupid mistakes on behalf of the student are no exception. And because swak has personally marked finals you all now see why this is the case. Thank you swak.

And I bet this particular case the final exam was multiple choice, because the OP said there were 600 students (probably a 200 level split into a few sections, written in Science theatres or the Red/Gold Gyms) which makes it more likely that the student didn't fill out her Student ID and/or name correctly on the bubble sheet.

Tough bananas if this is the case!

icky2unk
12-31-2012, 01:18 AM
Originally posted by themack89


Really? It was this incident why he didn't finish undergrad with a 4.0 amongst taking graduate level courses as his electives.

To complete the story he asked if he could write a deferred examination, the answer was also no.

Honest mistakes happen.

Should be grateful he learned this early to be more cautious. Could be much worse if you forgot to check one page of many other documents.

swak
12-31-2012, 02:29 AM
Originally posted by themack89
Completely agree swak. Your misfortunes are not your Prof's responsibilities, which is why I said in the first place if this student failed to fill out her ID and student number correctly, she will probably be stuck with the C+.


Tough bananas if this is the case!

I am therefore confused as to why you brought up your buddies story then - implying he got screwed out of a decent grade

themack89
12-31-2012, 02:59 AM
Originally posted by swak


I am therefore confused as to why you brought up your buddies story then - implying he got screwed out of a decent grade

Read all of the responses lol

Prompting the subtle type of rage is a great way to get responses, everyone saying suck rocks to my buddy is basically saying the same thing to the OP's friend; I think the real reason it works so well is because people love to hate on smarty pants--not a single person said a positive thing when I framed it as "this person is superior", but when the OP frames it as "this person is a victim" all the responses are different

I honestly do agree though with most peoples responses, I just had to hold off for a bit

EK69
12-31-2012, 03:10 AM
I've wondered how sensitive the scantron things are about keeping te pencil marks inside the circles lol

swak
12-31-2012, 03:26 AM
Hah.. I read your post as your buddy is a victim as much as OP.
But you do make a very very good point!
I'm willing to bet there's some truth to that.

But keep in mind - past undergrad, noone gives a shit about your gpa.

ghomie
12-31-2012, 02:14 PM
Originally posted by swak
But keep in mind - past undergrad, noone gives a shit about your gpa.


100% Agree!!!! LOL

themack89
12-31-2012, 02:20 PM
A lot of graduate programs care about your GPA, 'tis a relatively small portion of the population though.

Gainsbarre
12-31-2012, 03:27 PM
Originally posted by themack89


Read all of the responses lol

Prompting the subtle type of rage is a great way to get responses, everyone saying suck rocks to my buddy is basically saying the same thing to the OP's friend; I think the real reason it works so well is because people love to hate on smarty pants--not a single person said a positive thing when I framed it as "this person is superior", but when the OP frames it as "this person is a victim" all the responses are different

I honestly do agree though with most peoples responses, I just had to hold off for a bit

So this means that this friend of yours doesn't exist? Makes sense to me because I can count on one hand the number of times I've left an exam at the U of C early (and I've taken nearly 70 classes there, lol) -- my experience has been that the first ones to leave the exam are the ones that don't have a clue what to put down and have simply given up.

swak
12-31-2012, 06:22 PM
Originally posted by themack89
A lot of graduate programs care about your GPA, 'tis a relatively small portion of the population though.

Not rly actually... As long as you meet the min. Requirements 99% of the time you'll be considered.

Life skills and a solid CV will PWN any GPA anyday.

gatorade
01-01-2013, 01:47 AM
The minimum being a b-?, my friend is in law school and he doesn't even proof papers half the time because all the marks are curbed to a b.

swak
01-01-2013, 05:38 PM
Originally posted by gatorade
The minimum being a b-?, my friend is in law school and he doesn't even proof papers half the time because all the marks are curbed to a b.

haha nice!
Shoulda gone to law school :banghead: haha...

MA - Spending 6-8 hours on papers worth 3% of course grade :nut:

gatorade
01-01-2013, 06:35 PM
Originally posted by swak


haha nice!
Shoulda gone to law school :banghead: haha...

MA - Spending 6-8 hours on papers worth 3% of course grade :nut:

God 3% papers, that is terrible, what is the point of having an assignment weighted that little.

swak
01-01-2013, 07:23 PM
Haha. I know - its a pain in the ass.. So useless.
.. But weighted less - you can assign more I guess haha