Grade Entitlement Whores

[Greenday]

There are just some people who think they should receive good grades for showing up to class and doing the work. And most of the time, I see them coming from two distinct majors at my college: pre-med and education of any type.

Let me start with pre-med. To get into med school, you need AT LEAST a 3.5 GPA. This is no easy task, as pre-med is lumped in with all the other chem majors. God forbid that person doesn't get a 3.5 in a class, they will flip out! Just recently, the teacher who does Physical Chemistry (one of the most ridiculously hard classes) actually FAILED some pre-med students. Tons of bitching and moaning ensued. They thought because they were pre-med, they should just be given at least a 3.5 or higher, because after all, they need that 3.5 to get into med school. God forbid you actually have to EARN a grade. Welcome to the chem department! No curving for you! As my first analytical chem teacher said, "You can try your best in my class, but if your best isn't good enough, tough."

And now for education majors, whom I despise so much. If it wasn't for the fact that I had to listen to all the bragging about the amazing GPAs these people have, I might not be so bitter. I still say my 2.5 GPA in my major is worth a 3.5 for yours. Apparently, my school, since it is a state school, has been told that education majors must maintain at least a 3.0 to graduate. Well, a lot of teachers hear about it from the heads' of departments whenever an education major doesn't get a 3.0 in their class. So this brings a lot of grade inflation to people who take those classes because they have to have that precious 3.0. Maybe, just maybe, if a person didn't earn a 3.0, they just shouldn't be teaching instead? I mean, I've had some REALLY crappy teachers in my life. Maybe some of this type of grade inflation is what allowed them to become teachers. I'm sorry if I have no sympathy for you because you have a REALLY hard test on fractions and decimals. My major requires that I take Calc I and Calc II. I don't even get a choice. I've taken classes in my first year of college that I had to pray to get a C- in just to pass and you whine that you didn't get a B in a class? Suck it up already. Stop being an entitlement whore and earn a damn grade for once.



I know not everyone is like this. I know we have education majors on the boards. I have friends that are education majors. My sister was one. I'm dating someone who is pre-med. And not once did any of them ever bitch about a teacher not bumping up their grades. The ONLY time my sister bitched about being given a lower grade was when her psychology teacher gave her a 72, ONE point below a C, which is the minimum she was allowed to get in any class. That I could understand. But to bitch about not being handed a B on a silver platter when you got an F in the class? I don't give a crap. Enjoy your grade that you actually earned.

[CancelMyService]

I'm so glad both my wife and I had majors that did not have GPA requirements (other than passing the courses). I'm not that good at algebra and she's not good at history due to her dyslexia that makes all those dates impossible to remember. We had a saying when we had a class that was required to pass, "D is for Diploma"

[horror]

I have to admit, in college I was one of those people who would hyperventilate if I got anything below an A-. However, I wouldn't piss and whine to my prof for better marks, stating I deserved them for one reason or another.
Instead I worked my ass off to do better the next time around.
To me college has always been a massively serious subject. If I personally ever had an overall average of below 3.0 I would be crushed.
Not because I'm a grade entitlement whore, but because this education will inevitably affect my future and this is no time to fuck around and allow myself to be satisfied with mediocrity.
I'm going back to college soon for an entirely different major this time around, and while my marks were okay last time around (3.2 average) I'm going to haul ass to get get even better ones this time.
At the risk of sounding too "internet", college is serious business and I totally understand why people freak out about bad marks.
Now demanding or expecting better marks based on their majors or their own ego is a completely different story.
Those people should just accept that if they can't earn it they're not going to get it and STFU.

On a related note I had one girl in one of my classes who would never do work, never pay attention, always slack and hand in shit assignments she threw together last minute.
Her marks obviously reflected this and she was always on my case because my marks were nearly twice as high as hers.
Even though I practically spelled it out for her she could never comprehend the fact that my marks were a reflection of the effort I put in. Nope, she just figured she should be able to sit on her ass and they the A+'s roll in.
Yeah, fat chance.

[tropicsgoddess]

I learned the hard way (I'm stubborn like that) that whatever you put into something you get out of it. A good example: mediocre grades. I also was taught that if I failed in class, it's my fault for not putting in more effort like I should've and to try again and do it right.

[BlaqueKatt]

. I still say my 2.5 GPA in my major is worth a 3.5 for yours.

hey you earned that diploma-and you got it just like those that had a higher or lower GPA-I had a 3.8GPA in HS, haven't been to college, husband was homeschooled has made the dean's list every semester. As long as you are content with your GPA being 2.5-why should anyone else care?

I look at it this way:
Some people have to really struggle to get a passing grade.
some people put in just enough effort to pass.

as long as you pass, does it really matter which of those groups you're in?
Both have shown they know the material.

[Boozy]

I have to agree with BK here. The quickest way to unhappiness is constantly comparing yourself to others.

You worked hard for your 2.5, and you know that means something. You should be proud of yourself. To hell with how everyone else is doing.

I'm currently learning to drive a manual transmission car. It came very easily to both my husband and my brother, who are teaching me. I am not picking it up quickly. But in the end, I'll know how to do it, and we'll all be on the same footing. If anything, I'll have a sense of accomplishment that they do not, because I achieved something difficult for me.

[Pedersen]

as long as you pass, does it really matter which of those groups you're in?
Both have shown they know the material.

No, it doesn't matter which group you're in, until ...

If anything, I'll have a sense of accomplishment that they do not, because I achieved something difficult for me.

Unless they look down on you, because what was so difficult for you was so easy for them.

And, if they use the GPA itself to measure who is smarter? Well, they got a 3.5, Greenday got a 2.5. Who knows the material better? Who walked away with the better understanding? And who (likely) had an easier time understanding the material?

And what's more, they can prove it. After all, Greenday only got a 2.5, they got a 3.5. And that can be used as a measuring stick to show that they are the smarter (and better) person.

No matter how much we might hate the idea that people will do such a thing, there are people out there who will claim that Greenday is the lesser person, even with everything else he's mentioned. After all, unless he's got proof, doesn't it sound like he's just whining that somebody else did better than him? And that, too, will be used against him.

He's got a point. A very valid point. And you're denigrating it by saying "Hey, you graduated, why do you care?"

All of which reminds me of this ages old joke: What do you call the person who graduated medical school at the very bottom of the class? Doctor.

[Boozy]

Unless they look down on you, because what was so difficult for you was so easy for them.

So what if they do?

I don't live my life worried about what other people think of me. I know who I am.

[AFPheonix]

I have to agree with BK here. The quickest way to unhappiness is constantly comparing yourself to others.

You worked hard for your 2.5, and you know that means something. You should be proud of yourself. To hell with how everyone else is doing.

I'm currently learning to drive a manual transmission car. It came very easily to both my husband and my brother, who are teaching me. I am not picking it up quickly. But in the end, I'll know how to do it, and we'll all be on the same footing. If anything, I'll have a sense of accomplishment that they do not, because I achieved something difficult for me.

If you're anything like me, I learned how to drive a manual best after I learned how to ride a motorcycle. I just had trouble with the timing on the clutch and gas. Setting a bike up on a slight incline and rocking back and forth opening the throttle and clutch and rolling off gave me the feel for it really well.

[Boozy]

Cool. Wanna lend me your bike?

[Pedersen]

So what if they do?

What if one of those winds up your boss someday? What if those same people find ways to exclude you from having a social life in your own neighborhood?

I'm glad you're capable of completely ignoring whatever negative thoughts everybody else in the world might have about you. Most of us aren't capable of doing that. When negative emotions are directed at us, we wind up having a negative emotional response. The fact that you're that much better of a person than the rest of us just means we have a ways to go.

Until then, though, maybe your compassion could use some tweaking. After all, since the rest of us are much less, you should at least show enough pity to say "Yeah, maybe it does suck to have other people work less, and get seemingly greater rewards."

And then, when your compassion is capable of saying that, you'll be better than the rest of us in all respects, not just everything but compassion.

[AFPheonix]

Cool. Wanna lend me your bike?

You'll have to come down here

[Boozy]

And then, when your compassion is capable of saying that, you'll be better than the rest of us in all respects, not just everything but compassion.

I'm not being callous when I say "Who cares?". I hope Greenday understands that. A part of me was hoping that he might read that and say, "You know what? She's right. I don't care. I'm happy with my life and that's all that matters."

It was compassion that made me say what I did. Greenday decribed himself as "bitter". He's making himself miserable by comparing himself to others. It didn't sound like a good situation for him.

Notice in my first post that I said he should be proud of himself. He should. He's in a difficult program and is working hard to learn the material. What good does it do for him or his sense of well-being to focus on other people's grades?

[BlaqueKatt]

I'm glad you're capable of completely ignoring whatever negative thoughts everybody else in the world might have about you. Most of us aren't capable of doing that.

um there are 6.5 billion people on this planet-I'm not going to get all butthurt when one(or one hundred) tell me they don't like x about me. I don't get my validation as a worthwhile human from others.(that's why self-esteem is called that, it's not "whatotherpeoplethinkofmegivesmevalueasaperson-esteem)

And from the original post Greenday is in a totally different subject than the people with the 3.5-so no their grades can't be used to prove "they're smarter"


example
Student in remidial english(think dick and jane) gets an 'A'
Student in advanced English(think college prep)Gets a 'B'

who is smarter the student with an A?

You can't just look at grades you have to look at the classes. I'm sure the student with a perfect 4.0 with a degree in "how to read the personalities of Venezuelan bedbugs in a thunderstorm" will get soooooo much further in life than the student with a 2.0 in business management.

What if those same people find ways to exclude you from having a social life in your own neighborhood?

and this-I have personal experience with this-kinda-one of my co-workers started spreading rumors about me at work to get people to stop talking to me-I decided I didn't want people who beleived unfounded rumors as friends, and I was better off for it-they turned on him quicker than a rabid raccoon once a rumor got started about him.

[AFPheonix]

Frankly, I live with the understanding that I can only be responsible for myself, not anyone else. I do the best I can with what I've got, and in general, people respect that.