Is it ok to email professor about final exam and grades

Click For Summary
SUMMARY

Emailing a professor to confirm grades, including homework and midterm scores, is acceptable, especially if there is evidence of a numerical error. Professors may prefer in-person discussions due to privacy concerns and often encourage students to attend office hours. While some educators find late inquiries about grades unprofessional, they typically base grades strictly on scores and established university policies. A courteous approach, such as thanking the professor for the semester, can help maintain a positive relationship.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of academic grading policies
  • Familiarity with email etiquette in a professional context
  • Knowledge of privacy regulations regarding student information
  • Awareness of the importance of office hours for student-faculty communication
NEXT STEPS
  • Research university policies on grade inquiries and privacy
  • Learn effective email communication strategies for academic contexts
  • Explore best practices for attending office hours and engaging with professors
  • Investigate how to document and present evidence of grading errors
USEFUL FOR

Students seeking clarification on grades, academic advisors, and educators looking to understand student-faculty communication dynamics.

Lagraaaange
Messages
82
Reaction score
0
Is it ok to email a professor asking them to confirm your grades to this point e.g. you send them all your homework grades and midterm grade in case of error and ask them about your final exam score? Would this be nagging and or condescending. Wouldn't want to hurt my image just before final grades lol
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I do not like that kind of questions, but I won't be hurting a student because of it.
It is just sad that so many students' questions are about that kind of stuff instead of questions about their understanding of the content of the course.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: cristo
PietKuip said:
I do not like that kind of questions, but I won't be hurting a student because of it.
It is just sad that so many students' questions are about that kind of stuff instead of questions about their understanding of the content of the course.
This is mainly to make sure none of my homeworks were misplaced.Also to include a "Thank you for the semester"
 
I have no problem with help making sure i get a student's grade correct, that is part of my job and i wouldn't want to get it wrong. I am very careful about that sort of thing myself though and am unlikely to have it wrong, if anything i am more likely than the student to have omitted some low grades to help him/her. once very early in my career though i gave a fine student a B who probably had never gotten a B before, because of some missing homework scores. I thought he had not submitted them but I have wondered since whether i lost them somehow. it would have been nice to verify with him.
 
Lagraaaange said:
Is it ok to email a professor asking them to confirm your grades to this point e.g. you send them all your homework grades and midterm grade in case of error and ask them about your final exam score? Would this be nagging and or condescending. Wouldn't want to hurt my image just before final grades lol

Unless your school's policy is different, I am not able to communicate any grade information via email due to privacy concerns. I always invite the student to come and discuss the matter with me in person; often they set an appointment. Then, invariably, they don't show up.

If you have evidence of a numerical error, bring it to the professor. Otherwise, if the student has not been even an occasional visitor for office hours, I find their too-late demand to complain about their grade childish.
 
Last edited:
I think I probably speak not only for myelf but also many others when I say that no matter how I personally feel about grade inquiries, I give the grade strictly based on scores and university and class rules, not my impression of the student's maturity. So complaints don't help unless based on factual evidence of error, but they don't hurt either. Some few people may of course react differently however.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: PietKuip

Similar threads

  • · Replies 15 ·
Replies
15
Views
3K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
3K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 45 ·
2
Replies
45
Views
8K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 23 ·
Replies
23
Views
2K
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
7K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
23K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K