5 students, of which 2 complaints

Not a horrible track record: I've had five students contact me about their grades. Only two—both girls, and both in grade-grubber mode—had actual gripes. The other three were relaxed about their situation, and after I explained why they'd gotten what they'd gotten, they didn't pursue the matter any further. Of the two complainants, one eventually got her grade changed, but only after I'd refused to yield to her during our conversation (I'd had a change of heart the following morning); the other was unable to get a similar benefit because of the cruel nature of the school-sanctioned curve. I felt bad for the second girl, despite her grade-grubbing: she had indeed had a "B" until I saw that too many people in the class had gotten "B"s, so I had no choice but to bump her down to a "C," along with two other students. I hadn't had to do that with any students last semester; everyone had fallen naturally into the curve. This time around, though, there were simply too many good grades, so someone had to get the chop. Thanks to that damn grading curve, college is red in tooth and claw.


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