u/AdThese905

Posting this for my daughter because she doesn’t have Reddit, but this is her story and mostly in her own words. Also, if anyone has advice on whether there’s anything else we can realistically do after the grievance and appeal process, or if at that point we’re basically stuck accepting the school’s final decision, we would really appreciate it.

AITA for continuing to fight a college grade I think was handled unfairly?

I’m 17F and in 11th grade, but I take dual enrollment college classes. Last fall I took an 8-week Psych 1 course with both regular college students and dual enrollment students.

The class itself was honestly hard to follow at times because instructions, grading expectations, and assignment requirements were spread across different places and sometimes changed during the course. My parents told me that in college professors do not always follow the syllabus perfectly and that part of college is learning to adapt, so I really tried my best to adjust and keep up with everything.

The main issue ended up being the final group project and how my grade was handled afterward.

For the project, we were supposed to work in groups, create a presentation, and record audio explaining our slides. The instructions specifically said that ONE group member would submit the final project for the entire group.

At first my group had 5 people, and all of us were following the project instructions that were posted both in the syllabus and on Canvas. Later on, communication was sent out saying that all group communication specifically had to happen through the Canvas group system. My partner and I had used the Canvas group at first before exchanging phone numbers to make working on the project easier, but the other members of the group had communicated outside of Canvas more often.

Because of that, the other 3 students were removed from the project and automatically given zeros, even after attempts were made to email the professor proof that they had contributed work. The decision was not changed, so what started as a 15-question project for 5 people suddenly became a much smaller project that only 2 of us had to completely redo and finish ourselves.

My partner submitted the project for both of us exactly how the instructions said to do it. My work was included in the file. My name was on the first slide, and my voice is throughout the presentation explaining my slides.

After the semester ended, I checked my final grade and saw I had a D. When I looked into it, it seemed like the project had basically been treated as if I never submitted anything.

When I emailed my professor, things got even more confusing. First I was told I wasn’t even in the class. After I proved I was enrolled, I was told I never submitted the project. Then after I showed the instructions saying one person submits for the whole group, the explanation changed again to my work “not being identifiable,” even though my voice is clearly in the presentation and my name is on the project.

Around the same time, my family and I also found out my grade had been calculated out of 675 points instead of the 605 points listed in the syllabus. After we brought this to the dean, they admitted it was a mistake and changed my final grade from a D to a C.

But the project issue still wasn’t fully resolved. I eventually got partial credit, but I still never received a clear rubric breakdown explaining how the points were calculated or why the project originally received a zero. Since the project was heavily weighted, it affects my final grade a lot.

At this point my family and I have started the formal grievance process. I’m not trying to get a grade I didn’t earn. I just want my work to be graded fairly according to the syllabus and assignment instructions.

Part of me feels exhausted and wants to just accept the C and move on. But another part of me feels like if I stop now, I’m basically accepting a grade that still doesn’t reflect the work I actually did.

AITA for continuing to fight it?

TL;DR: I’m a 17-year-old dual enrollment student who got a D in a college Psych class after my final group project was treated like I never submitted it, even though my work, audio recordings, and name were included in the project file submitted according to the instructions. When I questioned it, my professor first said I wasn’t in the class, then said no project was submitted, then later changed the explanation again. My family and I also discovered my grade was incorrectly calculated using 675 points instead of the 605 listed in the syllabus, which the dean later admitted was a mistake and changed my grade from a D to a C. However, the project still hasn’t been fully re-evaluated, and we never received a clear rubric breakdown explaining the score. We’ve started the formal grievance process, but I’m wondering if I should keep fighting it or just accept the school’s decision.