TESC BSBA Students: Make Sure to Watch your GPA!

[Levi]

Well, I thought I had earned all 120 credits necessary to graduate with my BSBA in December 2010, but apparently I counted my chickens before they hatched.

Here's what happened.

For some reason, I was unaware that my GPA was less than the 2.0 required for graduation. The reason this happened is that I earned nearly ALL of my credits through CLEP, DSST, TECEP, or ACE. None of these programs offer a letter grade or GPA. Therefore, they show up on my evaluation as "CR" (credit received), with no letter grade.

The only course for which I received a letter grade was TESC's guided study course, Managerial Communications. In my ignorance (and my rush to meet the graduation deadline), I was only trying to pass the course, not get an A. Therefore, (and I'm ashamed to say this) I intentionally skipped the Final Project which counts for 20% of your entire course grade. :o

Even though I got a zero on the Final Project, my written assignments and mid-term scores were all high enough that I ended up passing the whole course with a C-.

Since Managerial Communications was my only TESC course, my overall GPA was.....yep, you guessed it. Less than 2.0.

So, it looks like my graduation date will be pushed back to at least March 2011.

To improve my GPA, I have two options: (1) Retake TESC Managerial Communications, or (2) take another TESC graded credit course and earn a B or better to offset the C-. Then I must resubmit my Request for Graduation and, I assume, pay the $250 fee again.

What a painful and expensive mistake. Hopefully my experience will be helpful for someone else.

[skyfall123]

If you just completed the course (ended late October) then write your mentor explaining the situation ....I know it's a hail mary, and you don't think it will work, but give it a try.

[HorseManiac]

Thanks for the post. Sorry that you have to deal with this. This raises a question for me. Does the GPA also apply to an ASBA from TESC? I was going to try and CLEP/DSST just about everything for an Associates. Will I not be able to do that? Will I have to take one course that gives me a grade? milelol: Also, will the course HAVE to be from TESC?

Another question. Does ALEKS give you a grade or is it like a CLEP and it gives you credit? Could this be used as my GPA if an Associates requires one? I'm just curious.

Hope everything works out with your graduation and that you can finish as quickly as possible. Good luck!

Horsemaniac

[cookderosa]

If you just completed the course (ended late October) then write your mentor explaining the situation ....I know it's a hail mary, and you don't think it will work, but give it a try.

:iagree: Yep. Tonight, email your mentor. The diff between a C- and a C is graduation!!! I'm not telling you to lie, but I'd be pretty darn creative.

Let me tell you this, for the 17 years that I have been a community college teacher, not a single semester goes by that I don't have 3-5 students begging for points. NOT A SINGLE SEMESTER. EVER. I've heard it all: car problems, baby sitter problems, computer problems, mental health problems, kidney stones were popular last year. Seriously, beg. I'm betting your mentor might allow you to turn in this project or something equivalent. Go after that 2% like your graduation depends on it!!

P.S. If it's not obvious, just a reminder NOT to discuss graduation roadblocks with your mentor, that ruins your sincerity. BEG!

[JBjunior]

:iagree: Yep. Tonight, email your mentor. The diff between a C- and a C is graduation!!! I'm not telling you to lie, but I'd be pretty darn creative.

Let me tell you this, for the 17 years that I have been a community college teacher, not a single semester goes by that I don't have 3-5 students begging for points. NOT A SINGLE SEMESTER. EVER. I've heard it all: car problems, baby sitter problems, computer problems, mental health problems, kidney stones were popular last year. Seriously, beg. I'm betting your mentor might allow you to turn in this project or something equivalent. Go after that 2% like your graduation depends on it!!

P.S. If it's not obvious, just a reminder NOT to discuss graduation roadblocks with your mentor, that ruins your sincerity. BEG!

I consider myself a very reasonable person but would find it hard to allow a complete dismissal of 20% of a grade from a Final Project (the culmination of the course) to result in any point increase. Further, if he had any legitimate issues I am sure he would have been in contact with the mentor the entire time (made up now or not). It definitely won't hurt to ask but with the catastrophe that resulted from this I don't see anything positive coming from it.

I would beat the OP up for this but he has obviously learned his lesson. In my first two MAML courses the final project was a 10-15 page research paper worth around 20% of the final grade. I definitely considered skimping on it due to the grades I had accomplished throughout the rest of the course and the depth of research I had to go through. Luckily I stuck it out to get a 98 and finished both with a 4.0....... wisdom to live by.

[skyfall123]

I consider myself a very reasonable person but would find it hard to allow a complete dismissal of 20% of a grade from a Final Project (the culmination of the course) to result in any point increase. Further, if he had any legitimate issues I am sure he would have been in contact with the mentor the entire time (made up now or not). It definitely won't hurt to ask but with the catastrophe that resulted from this I don't see anything positive coming from it.

Cook taught college courses for a couple of decades, so her perspective is invaluable. I have a son who gave me that (are you out of your mind) look when I suggested he contact his mentor when he missed a C by 1 point. He ended up having to retake the course from the same mentor (and recently passed) but it established a better understanding between student and mentor. In the OP's case, the mentor may review all of his work and find that he graded too harshly in the discussion phase and adjust his grade a point or two. Mentors have the ability to do that within the first week or two after finals....this is official TESC policy (appeal to mentor first) and is not unethical in any way. OP is asking for a review/audit. Although the OP learned an important lesson by not turning in the final, he can learn an equally important lesson by appealing to the mentor for help. The mentor may see a way that the OP doesn't. Although Cook and I may not have explained this to everyone's satisfaction....we both know that a hail mary is called for. Experience talking here....listen up.

[Maniac Craniac]

I think its insane that they would give you a GPA based upon a single course. I mean, a 2.0... when you nailed absolutely everything else you did? Or, looking at it the other way, If you got an A on what is basically a throw-away course, do you then get to run around telling people you got a 4.0 in college? What a joke :nopity:

[Levi]

:iagree: Yep. Tonight, email your mentor. The diff between a C- and a C is graduation!!! I'm not telling you to lie, but I'd be pretty darn creative.

Let me tell you this, for the 17 years that I have been a community college teacher, not a single semester goes by that I don't have 3-5 students begging for points. NOT A SINGLE SEMESTER. EVER. I've heard it all: car problems, baby sitter problems, computer problems, mental health problems, kidney stones were popular last year. Seriously, beg. I'm betting your mentor might allow you to turn in this project or something equivalent. Go after that 2% like your graduation depends on it!!

P.S. If it's not obvious, just a reminder NOT to discuss graduation roadblocks with your mentor, that ruins your sincerity. BEG!

The course officially ended on September 25, and I just found out about this debacle last night.

Do you think too much time has passed to ask my mentor for another chance to turn in the final project? Can the mentor even change the grade after it has shown up on my evaluation? I guess there's only one way to find out.

Also, if I do have to retake the same class, is there anything ethically wrong with turning in some of the same written assignments from the last time I took the course? I got an A on every one of those assignments.

[cookderosa]

The course officially ended on September 25, and I just found out about this debacle last night.

Do you think too much time has passed to ask my mentor for another chance to turn in the final project? Can the mentor even change the grade after it has shown up on my evaluation? I guess there's only one way to find out.

Also, if I do have to retake the same class, is there anything ethically wrong with turning in some of the same written assignments from the last time I took the course? I got an A on every one of those assignments.

Your mentor[B] does have the authority to issue a course grade change, or I'll bake you a batch of cookies.[/B] IN FACT, most schools brag that they stand behind the teachers (ie don't go above/around/behind their backs to do special favors for students). Your mentor has the power to fix this. Keep in mind, he'll have to submit paper work- a pain in the rear- so you need to be NICE. And I did mention begging right?

Last year, my A&P II instructor rounded grades in a funny way. By funny, I mean she made up the math laws that governed rounding :reddevil: a 5 was not always a round up, and sometimes even an 8 was a round down. I was rocking a solid A so I didn't care. I did both extra credit options which were to result in 1% overall each! So, going into the last couple weeks, school was backseat and I ended up with a low B on my final exam. After my teacher calculated everything, she gave me a B+. I needed an A- .

I recalculated, and by my calculations, I should have earned a 8X.xx (or something) which could be rounded up to an A-. I contacted her. She told me to kiss off. (nicely, but still). I went back and did a point by point break down- debating my lab grades and how they were rounded. She told me to kiss off. Using her own rounding system I managed to find several other math errors. She told me to kiss off. I have SIX emails that she told me to kiss off. Then, she called my home :eek: I was floored- and tried not to be a mumbling idiot. I was nicer than nice, more patient and calm than ever. She talked to me, I was sincere and thought I earned the A. I reminded her of my extra credit assignments, and some of the + comments she put on my work. Anyway, after 25 minutes of talking (not arguing) she gave me the A. That was my first grade protest EVER. Had I not seen students to it to me for "a couple of decades" I would probably have accepted it and moved on. BTW, my transcript shows "A" not "A-" either she was generous or an idiot. I'm sticking with my observation that she's not great at math. Anyway...


Did I swallow my pride? Yep. Will I ever see this woman again? Nope. Who cares what she thinks of my asking. I had everything to gain and nothing to lose. So, as you can see, I strongly disagree with JB. But whether or not you're going to put yourself out there and take the risk is more of a personal question than anything else. I'm just telling you a) it happens ALL the time and b) even I have done it.




WHOA!!!! I just caught one of my type-os!! I've changed it, it's correct now, but just to be clear. Your mentor DOES have the authority. Your mentor CAN change a grade. Likely your mentor is the ONLY ONE who will initiate a grade change. Gosh, I don't know how I misspoke earlier!!?! Just glad to catch it now.

[Levi]

Did I swallow my pride? Yep. Will I ever see this woman again? Nope. Who cares what she thinks of my asking. I had everything to gain and nothing to lose. So, as you can see, I strongly disagree with JB. But whether or not you're going to put yourself out there and take the risk is more of a personal question than anything else. I'm just telling you a) it happens ALL the time and b) even I have done it.

Thanks, Cook, for the encouragement and advice to appeal to my mentor. That thought did not occur to me.

I drafted and sent an email to her today explaining the unique situation, so we will see what happens. She was very courteous and easy to please during the course, and gave me a 100 on every written assignment, except for one 96. So, I'm hoping she will be merciful.... :o