Hey,
I know this may sound typical, but I really screwed something up and now I’m very scared about the future.?In one of my classes which I actually really love, I am scared I am not going to pass.
Now my attendance has been excellent and I’ve done well on all other assignments, but I am really nervous about an essay I just handed in. I don’t know what happened or I don’t want to explain it all here, but I know I did badly. It is worth 20%. The test is coming up (the final) but I am really confident with that, and it’s 30%. The essay was just a big stupid, huge mistake on my part.
Do you think if I do horribly on the essay but relatively well on everything else, I will pass? I really need to pass, and I know, don’t we all but what can I do? If I don’t pass, how soon will I know? And when I know, if I get let’s say a 48% can I plead the professor to bump me into a passing grade? Any advice on how I should go about this?
Feeling vair vair stupid for my mistake.
?????????
hey there,
ok, well i’m not your professor, so i don’t know if they’ll pass you. some profs are cruel. most aren’t, but some are, and there’s no point in me speculating on the generosity of your anonymous prof.
however, if you’ve done poorly on an essay worth 20%, that’s not so bad. let’s do some damage-control math, shall we?
ok, you said you’ve “done well” on all your other assignments – for argument’s sake, i’m going to make that a 70% in the other 50% of your course. now let’s say you get a 40% on your essay. now let’s say you get a 70% on your exam.
70 * 0.8 = 56
40 * 0.2 = 8
56 + 8 = 64%
Even if you get a forty percent on the essay, a seventy average in everything else means you’ll pass. even if you get 0%?on the essay (which wouldn’t happen unless you plagiarized), you’ll still pass with a 56%. now obviously i don’t know if you’ve actually got a 70% average on the rest of your work, but these kind of calculations usually calm me down if i’m worried about an assignment.
if you still feel you’re in danger of failing, it’s always worth a shot to ask your prof about opportunities to do extra credit work, or just flat-out begging them to pass you. sometimes some good old-fashioned pleaseeeeeees are all you need. if you don’t pass, you’ll know over christmas break, but obviously if you’re worried about passing, talk to your prof about it before then – after it’s on your transcript, there’s almost nothing you can do. finally, if you’re almost certain you’re going to fail and your prof isn’t helping you out, you can withdraw late from the course until wednesday, december 4th – just go talk to your college registrar about it. LWDs are usually a better option than a failing mark, so do consider it.
and don’t feel stupid. just because you’re problem’s “typical,” doesn’t make it bad. we’re all in this together, so take comfort in the fact that lots of people have been in your position before. we all make mistakes sometimes. it’s part of life. and if it happens you, that just means you’re living…there’s some aska wisdom for ya. did you know it counts as one of your five daily recommended servings of vegetables? yep.
good luck,
aska