Note to self for the next two years of school

Do NOT check your grades until they are ALL in.

My school posts grades as they come in, rather than waiting for them all to be complete, and I have learned the hard way that looking at them as they appear is a recipe for an emotional roller-coaster of the bad kind.

Last semester, I got my best grades first, and each subsequent grade was a tiny bit more depressing than the last. So I went from, *Yippeeeee, I'm awesome!!!!*, to, *Well, okay, THAT was very average*, which put a little damper on the end of my semester.

This semester, my first submitted grades were the worst, and I got so freaked out, I couldn't bring myself to look at any of the rest until last night (when they'd all been complete for a few days). I was seriously convinced that I had completely tanked my exams, that my GPA had dropped at least 10 percentage points (and that this, of course, was the END OF THE WORLD). I even made NLLDH sit next to me on the sofa when I finally checked, so he could console me and tell me he still thought I was wonderful when I got the bad news.

And of course the later grades to come in were the best grades I've got all year.

The kicker? My GPA and class rank ended up being EXACTLY THE SAME both semesters. If I'd just waited till all the grades were in and found them out all at the same time, I would have saved myself sooooooo much angst (and let's face it, there are plenty of other things I need my angst for!).*

*And by the way, I am sort of amused at the irony of me, the former professor who knows how little grades really mean, freaking out over getting low grades. I mean, it's not like I'd have been magically transformed into a stupid person if the last grades had been bad instead of good, and in the kingdom of the almighty curve, grades are really just an arbitrary way to distinguish within a group of people who are all pretty darn smart and accomplished. But even if grades are arbitrary** and stupid, employers et al. pay attention to them, which means I have to, too.

**When I say arbitrary, I don't mean that people who do well don't deserve to do well, and I'm sure some people who do badly deserve to do badly. But really, almost everyone in a given school has the ability to do just as well as everyone else, and I don't think the means by which profs rank their exams necessarily reflect students' actual ability. Now, I'm sure all students who don't get straight As say this about all classes! When your grade rides on one 3-4 hour exam at the end of a semester, though, I have to believe that it measures only limited elements of your ability.***

***And I know, I know, nothing at all I've said here about law school grades is remotely original. I promise not to rant about this at the end of every semester!

Comments

[Seeking Solace]

Yay for good grades and a great class rank!!!

Yeah, nothing like one exam determining your fate. It's just preparing you for the Bar Exam. Two full days of testing hell.

[Student Mum]

I agree with not looking at grades until they are all in. I would add to that - don't try & work out the 'complicated' formula for the final degree grade (in UK it ranges from a first via 2:1, 2:2, a third then fail). Annoyingly, as I am part time I have all my grades bar the (double)one for my dissertation, I worked out months ago what I should get, but can't even bring myself to type it in case I jinx it! I am a grown woman FGS! It really matters to me what I leave uni with, and I am having nightmares about not getting it - although realistically I do know what I should get - if that makes sense! It matters personally and to fulfil my conditional offer of a MA place. My grade will be posted online on the 19th June. My final degree level will be posted via snail mail on the 10th August, when I am out of the country for two weeks!

[New Kid on the Hallway]

I worked out months ago what I should get, but can't even bring myself to type it in case I jinx it! I am a grown woman FGS!

Student mum, I know EXACTLY what you mean! It is kind of crazy, isn't it? Good luck with the waiting!

SS, the only not-so-bad thing about the bar (which is so very much outweighed by the bad things!) is that at least it's pass-fail - it will suck, of course, but at least I won't have to worry about doing any better than one point over passing!