To Contest or Not to Contest: 5 Tips for Contesting Grades in College
News flash: College instructors are not perfect! Even though they may have intimidating titles and wear tweed jackets and appear to be super geniuses, they do sometimes make mistakes in grading. Sometimes they are tired or in a hurry so they may not give the full attention to your paper, speech, project that they should which then leaves you wondering why the grade is lower than you expected.
There are times when you should be your own advocate and check in with your instructor to clarify the grade you have and when necessary to challenge that same grade. Here are 5 tips to remember when contesting grades in college.
5 Tips for Contesting Grades
1. Have your facts straight.
Before you approach that instructor about a grade that you feel is off or inaccurate, make sure you have double-checked the assignment instructions, the grading criteria/rubric, and any comments that were given to you.
If you are trying to make the point that you are a good student, nothing hurts you worse than to approach the instructor to “correct” him/her only to have it pointed out to you that there was a significant piece of the assignment that you overlooked or failed to do.
2. Timing is everything.
Instructors are people too and so sometimes they are running late or they have had a bad day or they are stressed about something completely unrelated to your class. Be aware of this and make sure you have your timing down if you are going to contest a grade. Catching the instructor as they are running into class or as they are hurriedly running out the door to another class or meeting will not set you up for success.
I would strongly recommend setting up a meeting during regular office hours (each instructor should be keeping regular office hours) to inquire about the grade. You can either approach them at the class meeting time to set up an appointment or send them an email.
Let them know what you would like to talk about—not in great detail but to give them a little prep time in their thoughts. It can be something like: “I had a question about my grade on the recent paper and I would like to set up a time where I could get some more insight on it. Is there a time that works best for you?” You are showing respect for their time and not starting the conversation in a combative way.
3. Prepare for the meeting.
This may sound incredibly obvious and elementary but it really is important. I do not mean to prepare for the meeting by planning how you are going to tell the instructor how wrong, mean, unfair, etc he/she is. Rather you should prepare for the meeting by looking over the assignment, the grading criteria, your paper/grading sheet. As you are doing this compare what the assignment asked for and what you did and where points were deducted. Then go into the meeting with an inquisitive spirit/approach, not a dictating approach.
You truly do want to understand why the instructor felt you earned the grade you did. Once again there may be something you are simply not seeing. But if you understand where the instructor is coming from then you can explain your perspective and have a greater chance of success.
4. Language is key.
I can tell you from first-hand experience that when a student approaches me in a respectful, humble manner I am more than happy to listen to them and possibly reconsider a grade. However if a student approaches me in an arrogant, combative manner I am much less likely to listen to them and probably will not reconsider the grade unless it is objectively clear I made a mistake.
First of all never ask an instructor why they “gave” you the grade they did. Instructors do not “give” grades, students “earn” grades. A better approach is to ask: “Why do you feel I earned a C on this paper?” this allows them to walk through the comments they gave and the thoughts that went into the grade. Secondly do not tell the instructor they are “wrong” or make them feel “wrong” as this typically leads to a defensive position on their part. We all want to be right so I will fight back to prove I am right—and then nothing is accomplished.
Finally when given the chance state the facts followed by your opinions. I once had a student challenge his speech grade because (and I quote): “All of my friends in high school told me I was a great speaker. They said I should probably be in politics or something. So this grade is unfair.” This statement is clearly not based on facts or even sound logic, but rather emotion. I have had multiple students bring the assignment directions up and show me how they felt they did meet the requirements—and I often would agree with them and change the grade.
5. Don’t wait until finals.
It is amazing how many students do not seem to care about their grades until finals week and they realize that pretty soon mom and dad will be seeing those grades. Keep track of your papers, projects, assignments throughout the semester. When you get a grade back and you feel there is something wrong with it, set up a time as quickly as possible to discuss with your instructor.
Back to the timing point—finals week is usually busier for instructors than it is even for students. Often they have multiple classes for which they are grading tests, projects, papers plus figuring final grades and very often some type of end of semester or end of year reports. And, believe it or not, your instructors look forward to breaks as much as you do.
So keep a short account on your grades. It is good practice to know where you stand in each of your classes anyway so you can make improvements along the way and it will set you up for greater success if you feel you need to contest a grade.
A parting word of advice: do not be quick to contest grades and at the same time do not be afraid to contest grades. If you approach the issue in a humble, respectful manner your instructors (at least the vast majority) will listen to you and consider what you have to say. This demonstrates to them that you are an engaged student and do care about your grades and every instructor loves to have that type of student in class.
