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• 11 years - 56 posts - Latest - RSS
• Thread: 18 Goods vs 5 No Goods

1. Economist
   59c4
   

   Got this from an MBA student who took my final exam. As background, this dude skipped one third of the classes and is firmly in the bottom 20%. The syllabus was two pages and the final was similar to quizzes and homeworks. I told him only options formulas would be given on the exam; I also only asked about topics mentioned in class (and thus on the slides) and covered in quizzes or homework.

   While I love the research I do and really like 60% of my students, douches like this are one reason we get paid more: it's hazard pay. Then again, the worst punishment I could mete out for this guy is the life he already has.

   ----

   I am writing you to express my sincere ingratitude about the final exam.

   For starter, there were no clear expectations as to the scope of this course or the final exam. The syllabus was a mere one page and had very little information about the structure of the class, the scope of the course, or its content ... and no information about the final exam, its structure, and its expectations.

   Secondly, on many occasions, you told the class to ignore the book and study the PowerPoint lecture presentations ... yet the presentations were concise and covered very broad and detailed topics that there was no way they would have sufficed on their own ... yet you persisted in telling us to ignore the book ... this cost dearly on the final exam because having realized the broadness of the course ... studying the book in preparation for the final exam became paramount ... yet no time was left to regroup and
   recoup ...

   Thirdly, you informed the class that you would provide us with a list of formulas as support to the exam ... yet many formulas needed to answer questions on the exam were not provided ... did you really expect us to read the whole book (minus two chapters or so) ... about 1,200 pages ... memorize all formulas in the book ... and then be able to recall such formulas out of memory during the exam? ... this was very deceiving ...

   And lastly, it really makes for a very poor distribution to have one final exam cover an entire semester and an entire book ... and make it worth 60% of the final grade … and not ever having presented not even a benchmark as to the scope of such exam ...

   11 years ago # QUOTE 34 Volod 1 Vlad !

2. Economist
   b018
   

   Spoken like a true MBAer.

   11 years ago # QUOTE 6 Volod 0 Vlad !

3. Economist
   52e4
   

   He is right. OP, you are indeed a horrible teacher and I hope you get fired for posting private emails on the interwebs.

   11 years ago # QUOTE 10 Volod 21 Vlad !

4. Economist
   1e56
   

   ^ f**k you. The name isn't included. GTFO FERPA nazi.

   OP, regular undergrad courses aren't immune to this either, but surely you deal with more of it. Just be glad you have the pay to balance it out. I'm assuming your school doesn't care too much about student evals? If they don't, just say f**k it, have a majoto and enjoy your winter break.

   11 years ago # QUOTE 16 Volod 0 Vlad !

5. Economist
   c628
   

   Just write him back and tell him you posted his letter on the web to showcase his douchiness.

   You know, as a professor, or at least a course instructor, there is no law against telling a student that he didn't study hard, or at all, and that he needs to grow the f**k up.

   Enjoy.

   11 years ago # QUOTE 16 Volod 0 Vlad !

6. Economist
   fdd3
   

   Dude, he paid like $400 per each hour of your BS class.
   The least he can get from such expense is to write you a nasty letter.

   Your have cushy job and no insults from supervisors he would get at his lousy job.

   Have some pity.

   11 years ago # QUOTE 19 Volod 2 Vlad !

7. Economist
   805c
   

   ^OP, I am a 3rd year AP and if you were in my university, you will be suspended for what you did.

   The student may be right after all and you are a unworthy researcher/teacher. I wish your adviser knows that you are posting student mails on the web.

   11 years ago # QUOTE 4 Volod 25 Vlad !

8. Economist
   4e01
   

   Get ready for a teardown on your evals. Won't be hard to guess who the worst review is from.

   11 years ago # QUOTE 1 Volod 0 Vlad !

9. Economist
   3394
   

   A one page syllabus does seem a bit brief. A syllabus is basically like a contract - I interpret a student as consenting to the contract if he doesn't drop the class after reading the syllabus and having me go over it on the first day of class.

   Thus, I suspect much of this disagreement here owes to an incomplete contract. The student didn't withdraw because he had different expectations about what was omitted from the syllabus.

   That said, there will always be students who are upset with you for one reason or another. You can't please everyone all the time. As with many things in life, it is best to try to find some constructive feedback in the email and otherwise try not to let it bother you. Feeding your negative emotions towards this person is not good for you or anyone else.

   11 years ago # QUOTE 4 Volod 1 Vlad !

10. Economist
    5f1e
    

    There will always be one student who hates your guts for no f**king reason. Maybe you looked at him funny or some girl in the class likes you. Always happens.

    11 years ago # QUOTE 8 Volod 0 Vlad !

11. Economist
    1e56
    

    Yes, you should be very, very detailed in the syllabus to avoid many of these headaches.

    But let's get real here. This is not an undergrad intro class. This is a MASTER's-level class. My PhD courses did not have lengthy, detailed syllabi with course expectations. That shit is for undergrads. If this douche had questions about expectations, he should have asked them. Seems he did and did not understand the answer or you didn't communicate it well. Either way, the shortness of the syllabus is irrelevant to everyone except a molly-coddled pants-wetter who shouldn't be allowed to have any responsibility for a business.

    11 years ago # QUOTE 9 Volod 0 Vlad !

12. Economist
    24d2
    

    Anyway, throw in some ungraded in-class quizzes next time to make them study a bit more next time. That provides better feedback.

    11 years ago # QUOTE 0 Volod 0 Vlad !

13. Economist
    dd11
    

    OP here, from my phone. Yeah, I know there will always be haters, and this guy knows he did not work hard: he admitted he missed multiple quizzes/homeworks. The syllabus was also two pages: short, but clear on expectations.

    Thankfully, my evals are very good. Before this douche, three students separately emailed me to say thanks for the course. One even said he hated my approach until he went to study for the final -- at which point he realized how much he had learned and how easy that made studying and thanks for that.

    So I guess my point was to bitch about some serious ingratitude -- and to point out that the few rotten MBA students really are jerks. Thankfully, the good students outweigh the bad.

    For the guy saying he paid $400/hr and at least deserves to write a pissy letter: I like that sense of humor. Good and funny perspective. Thanks.

    11 years ago # QUOTE 5 Volod 0 Vlad !

14. Economist
    ce3d
    

    its evident you don't care about teaching..

    11 years ago # QUOTE 1 Volod 9 Vlad !

15. Economist
    abdd
    

    Lots of PhD TAs fantasize into thinking MBAs are douchbags, until the time they start working for one when the job market bombs.

    OP, sour grape mindset. As an AP, I normally avoid TAs who show an attitude to the MBA class. I have had lots of issues in the past with TAs ruling the class ambience and then the problems escalated all the way to me and the dean.

    11 years ago # QUOTE 0 Volod 17 Vlad !

16. Economist
    dd11
    

    Lots of PhD TAs fantasize into thinking MBAs are douchbags, until the time they start working for one when the job market bombs.
    OP, sour grape mindset. As an AP, I normally avoid TAs who show an attitude to the MBA class. I have had lots of issues in the past with TAs ruling the class ambience and then the problems escalated all the way to me and the dean.

    1. I am an AP.
    2. I have worked in industry and was very successful.
    3. I learn a lot from my students and give them zero attitude.

    Pointing out bad behavior does not imply inexperience, ignorance, or irascibility on behalf of the speaker. Sad that you think otherwise.

    11 years ago # QUOTE 15 Volod 0 Vlad !

17. Economist
    28f1
    

    "... memorize all formulas in the book ..." This is very MBAish. These guys are awesome.

    11 years ago # QUOTE 4 Volod 0 Vlad !

18. Economist
    7c95
    

    ^ it works for the prelims too. seen it with my own eyes

    11 years ago # QUOTE 0 Volod 0 Vlad !

19. Economist
    d122
    

    I've had worse, douchier and funnier e-mails from undergrads. Half the times they write back after a few days to apologize after they cool down. Before some asshole says that I'm bad at my job I should add that I should add that I somehow manage to incite extreme passion in my students and get mostly raving evaluations and e-mails that adore me and then on the flipside some students write these scathing e-mails which they then apologize about. I still get e-mails from students that took my courses years ago.

    11 years ago # QUOTE 2 Volod 0 Vlad !

20. Economist
    6d15
    

    You idiots read student emails? I do my best to make sure that they go to a special folder where they are immediately incinerated by the mail server.

    11 years ago # QUOTE 5 Volod 1 Vlad !

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