How do you deal with grade deflation and with looking at grades?

Question

I'm in upper years of physics and economics, as I've changed majors a few times and ultimately wound up coming back to physics, the subject that I love.

That said, back in my business school days (I was a finance major), it was quite feasible to work as hard as possible and to get A's or B's as a result. In fact, I could put in the work required for A's, and I only got B's when I didn't complete an assignment or I missed some participation marks or whatever. Basically, then, strong enough GPAs were perfectly attainable. And the less-strong GPAs were ones I could deal with because I figured, ah well, I don't need that course again.

Econ is a little harder than business school, in my humble opinion, but I can still put in efforts and expect a pass in the class type of thing. I get anywhere from A's to C's, depending on how hard I work, but when I need A's I can usually get them.

It is a 100% different minefield in physics and in STEM in general. Sometimes, class averages are really low, and sometimes those grades just aren't curved. I'll never forget the first time that I got 15% (literally 15/100) on an exam. Although I had seen that F coming from a mile away, it still scared the daylights out of me. Fortunately, that remains my worst grade to date, but because that fear is forever drilled into my mind, I literally cannot look at my grades. I usually try, once or twice a semester, to open up my grades when the timing is right and when I feel that I can handle seeing them. But that day virtually never comes. So, I have my ways of evading looking at grades entirely. On the website where we submit all the assignments, I just cover up the second half of the page, where grades are shown. When profs hand back tests or exams, I never look. I ONLY look at the final-final grades on my transcript.

Obviously, I should be taking feedback into more serious consideration. I should also be checking grades in case I'm failing any courses going into finals. What usually happens is that final exams are worth the majority of my grade, or I have to pass the final to pass the course. So, I figure, f*ck it, maybe I'm going in with an A or maybe I'm going in with an F. I always assume that I'm going in with an F so that I push myself to study properly for the final and not let my ego get the better of me. Still, I feel that there may come a day and time when I need to begin to face my scores head-on. How bad is seeing an F? A D? How do you guys cope with it? I know that it's far from unheard of for students to get F's on assignments, tests, exams, courses, you name it. But I've never been able to develop the thick skin for this due to my business school days. Any help or tips? Thanks.

Answer 1

Unless your physics professors are vastly different from myself, getting an F (or another low mark) on an assignment or a midterm is a signal that remedial actions are necessary. By ignoring such signals, you are not helping yourself. Whatever your performance, you should always look for feedbacks.

If the marking scheme is as you suggest, getting one bad grade during the term is not lethal, provided this is a one-off. There are multiple ways of getting a failing grade: from not grasping the concept to anxiety during the exam to simply sleeping badly the night before, so it is essential to meet with your instructor and rule out the first, or if there is a conceptual problem find a way to resolve it.

Not everyone is born to be good at manipulating lasers or have a knack for solving oscillator chains. Getting some bad grades is not the end of the world, provided you show strengths and/or improvements somewhere.