Is it worth emailing my professor about an A-?
I know that usually it’s not, and I truly am not the kind of person to beg for an A or something like that. However, this is an instance where I feel like it might be warranted?
For some context, this is a super small (~12 person) psychology seminar and I’m a psych major. I’d taken two classes with this same professor before, and gotten A’s in both.
I got an A- in the class, which I would be fine with normally — I know it’s a good grade! But, I’m confused as to why exactly I got the A-. For this class, 80% of our grade was determined by five papers we handed in over the course of the semester, and 20% was participation. We got the first paper back after about two weeks, and I got great feedback on it, so when I went to write my second paper, I tried to keep what the professor had praised while still exploring some new ideas. Here’s the thing, though: we didn’t get the second, third, fourth, or fifth paper back. The professor had told us that she’d get the grade for the second paper back to us toward the end of the semester, and to please give her some grace because it was a tough time for her, but we didn’t end up getting that paper back at all. So ultimately, the only feedback I had over the course of the whole semester was one essay, which was pretty universally positive.
I always did the reading and did my best to participate a handful of times every class. I won’t pretend like my understanding of things was always perfect, or that I was paying 100% attention 100% of the time, but I did really put my best foot forward, took notes, tried hard on the papers, and really learned something from the class. I feel like i put in more effort, and became a better writer and thinker compared to the two times I’ve had this professor in the past. I even had a couple conversations with her after class, and she always had lovely things to say about me, and even said I would make a good professor myself.
I know that I’m not owed an A and that professors have all sorts of mental calculus going on — I really just want to know whether it would be worth it to email the professor asking about the grade, or if it would be seen as grade grubbing. I won’t lie and say that I wouldn’t be happy if the professor decided to change my grade to an A, but I’m mostly just surprised and hoping to get some clarity.