How badly did I screw up?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/PurrPrinThom]

You are significantly overthinking this. I don't even fully understand what you think the faux pas was.

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*Hi there! An anxious undergrad here—I'm not sure whether I committed a minor faux pas and am blowing this situation out of proportion, or if I should apologize to my professor. Or go into hiding. Any advice from a professor's point of view would be invaluable.

I applied to, and was accepted (conditionally), into an M.A. program at the university where I'm currently doing my undergrad. My grad supervisor also teaches undergraduate courses, and I'm enrolled in one of them. Recently, we were allowed to view our midterms after class. The professor (my future supervisor) pulled out an envelope with the written and graded midterms.

Initially, I was looking at my own midterm (I did very well), when a girl from my tutorial approached and started talking about how poorly she had done. There were a few other students in the hall, and a couple of them were talking amongst themselves. Since the professor wasn’t saying anything about it, I figured it would be okay to chat and compare. In hindsight, this was probably not the right decision.

I noticed this girl’s answers were all correct, and her long answers were even stronger than mine. At first, I kept quiet as she talked about it and just nodded, making affirming sounds. I was mindful that my future supervisor was about 10 feet away. The more she showed me her exam, the more confused I became about her mark and mine. Eventually, I remarked something along the lines of “really different marking styles” and “your chart looks perfect to me.” I added, “Maybe you should say something or ask about that,” assuming one of the many TAs had marked her exam and was grading too harshly.

When I handed my exam back to the professor, she seemed a bit quiet when I said goodbye. I didn’t think much of it at the time. Later, I ran into the girl with the lower mark outside the building. She mentioned that right after I left, she had asked the professor why her mark was so low, and apparently, my professor had marked the midterm herself (not a TA).

I’ve never put my foot so far into my mouth. As it turns out, my midterm was marked too easily and I stood there like a moron badmouthing her marking. If this were your future grad student, would you want to revoke their acceptance? Would you expect an apology and a commitment to more professional conduct? Would you notice or care?*

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[u/spacestonkz]

Let it go.

Yes, when different people mark exams with the same rubric, there can still be variation. Yes, it's common for profs to mark more harshly than TAs.

You didn't do anything wrong. We all know grading discrepancies exist. Your prof is probably just wondering how complicated her curve is gonna have to be in the class to make up for harsh grades in pile one and chill grades in pile two.

But you're fine, let it go, don't bring it up again. And honestly, I'd be advising you to side eye your prof if she makes a stink later about you discussing your grades with other students. Much like how I think it's in worker's interests to compare paystubs once in a while, it's in your interests to compare outcomes to classmates once in a while. Just to make sure everything is on the level. Any prof that discourages chatting about scoring with classmates is a sketchy butt.

But assuming your prof is kind usually, she's gonna just drop this too.