What to do with undeserved GOOD grades?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the feelings of receiving undeserved good grades, particularly in math, and the implications this has for self-assessment and future academic pursuits, such as applying to math graduate school. Participants explore the emotional and psychological aspects of grading, as well as the validity of their academic performance in relation to their perceived effort and understanding of the material.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express concern about receiving grades that do not reflect their perceived effort or understanding, particularly in challenging subjects like math.
  • One participant suggests that feelings of undeserved grades may stem from a lack of confidence in their abilities rather than the actual grading process.
  • Another participant proposes that if one feels they do not deserve a good grade, they should seek additional practice and understanding of the material.
  • Several participants argue that a grade reflects performance relative to peers and does not necessarily indicate the difficulty of the work involved.
  • There is a suggestion that students should communicate with professors to gain clarity on their understanding and performance expectations.
  • One participant emphasizes the importance of changing the mindset that equates high grades with easy work, suggesting that a challenging class should still allow for high achievement.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally express a range of feelings about the implications of receiving good grades, with some agreeing on the importance of self-assessment and understanding, while others emphasize the validity of grades as a measure of performance. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the emotional impact of grades versus their academic significance.

Contextual Notes

Participants' views are influenced by personal experiences and perceptions of grading standards, leading to a variety of opinions on the relationship between effort, understanding, and academic performance.

Abraham
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Hello. On fear of hijacking it, I didn't want to merge this with a similar thread earlier.

Have you ever received an undeserved GOOD grade? Such as an A+ in a class, when you feel you should have received a B, or B-?

I'm suspicious I'm getting better grades than I should. Yes, I am indeed complaining about this.

I expect A+'s from my Poli Sci classes, easily. But math? I think math is so much more difficult, and an A+ just doesn't reflect the agony I went through. An A+ makes it look like it was easy work, when it really wasn't.

I want to go to math grad school, and don't want to be disappointed if my abilities really aren't enough.
 
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I'm afraid people might be lying to me with the grades they give, that's all.
 
Go to the dean and complain that you don't deserve the grade you got.
 
I felt this way too about one of my courses. It happens. There are courses I've felt I deserved a better grade in so it balances out. Perhaps you could speak to your professor about it.
 
What should you do? Start with shutting the **** up, then move on to counting your blessings ;)
 
Abraham said:
I want to go to math grad school, and don't want to be disappointed if my abilities really aren't enough.

It's not about your abilities. Rather, it's about your level of interest.
 
diligence said:
What should you do? Start with shutting the **** up, then move on to counting your blessings ;)

Hey I'm not bragging, guys. Who doesn't like a good grade? But would you be ok getting a salary without having done any work? Free money is nice, but after a while you would feel like something is wrong. I feel that something is amiss. It's like a trap to gets your hopes up with possibly false good grades, only to be disappointed later. That's my concern. Thanks for understanding. Btw, this is post 69. Heh heh heh. Sorry...
 
Last edited:
Abraham said:
Hey I'm not bragging, guys. Who doesn't like a good grade? But would you be ok getting a salary without having done any work? Free money is nice, but after a while you would feel like something is wrong. I feel that something is amiss. It's like a trap to gets your hopes up with possibly false good grades, only to be disappointed later. That's my concern. Thanks for understanding. Btw, this is post 69. Heh heh heh. Sorry...

The solution is simple. If you didn't understand the material well enough to deserve a good grade, keep practising until you feel like you *do* understand it well enough. Ask for a few practice exams if you feel it's necessary. That way, you can first of all be happy with your good fortune of getting a nice grade, and second of all be satisfied because you have now mastered the material.
 
A grade is just a grade. An A+ doesn't imply the work was easy for you. It implies that you managed to score high enough on the tests and assignments that you were lumped into the highest grade bracket when marked relative to the others in the class.

It sounds to me more like your real concern is that you're worried about understanding the material, which is perfectly valid. Talk with your professors to get an idea of where they think you should be at with respect to you understanding of the material.
 
  • #10
Your grade reflects how well you answered the questions. It does not reflect how easy or hard it was.
 
  • #11
But math? I think math is so much more difficult, and an A+ just doesn't reflect the agony I went through. An A+ makes it look like it was easy work, when it really wasn't.

This is exactly the attitude you should ditch and ditch immediately. If an A+ WASNT agonizingly difficult, the class was too easy.
 

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