511 over 164

I have completed all my coursework at Long Beach State. I took five demanding courses, after a number of counseling sessions at the College of Business Administration's Academic Advising Center, and these were the last courses I needed to get my Bachelor's.

One course I was repeating/deleting, and that was IS 380, the Database Management course that I had a D in last Spring. This Fall, I had done remarkable better, and I ended up with an A. According to the university's repeat/delete policy, I am entitled to repeating the course if I receive a D, F, or a WU (unauthorized withdrawal), and since I got a grade better than a D, that grade will count in the overall GPA. Unfortunately, the D will remain on my record. I don't know if I will be able to successfully remove that class from my transcript. I suppose it can't be helped.

The capstone class, MGMT 425, Business Strategy, was one where I nearly paid the price for plagiarizing my colleague's SWOT analysis. Nevertheless, I completed the course, and on the Final Exam, I did remarkably better than my other two midterms, and my score was well above the average. I finished the course with the grade of a C, but it could have been better, or worse.

I received a couple of B grades. In MKTG 437, the Internet Marketing course, I did well on just about every assignment, but I will regret bombing the last exam of three, having a paltry 64 out of 100. Because of this, I ended up finishing the class with a B, even with the curve. In IS 445, the ASP.NET course, I did not do very well on the midterm, but I rebounded on the final assignment, and finished the course with 865 points out of 1000 for the second B of the semester. This was the first course grade recorded.

So far, I have an A, two Bs, and a C. Dividing course credits by credit hours, as well as making adjustments, leaves me at 511/164, or a 3.11 GPA. But that leaves one course whose grade I have yet to hear, as of the time of this blog post.

That course was IS 484, the Electronic Commerce course. Ironically, my track as an Information Systems major is Electronic COmmerce. All my other professors have sent out their final grade. My instructor for IS 484 is the only one who did not. I've e-mailed him twice regarding the lateness, even though technically he has until January 4 to submit our grades, and I haven't received any thing from him. I've even e-mailed Twintel's good ol' Will Scogin, one of my group project colleagues, regarding the delay, and even he hasn't heard from the instructor regarding the final grades.

This is problematic.

It's agonizing because if I received a D or an F from this course after waiting days after the fourth course grade was recorded, I have to repeat this course, and I would have to delay the graduation date another semester. At the same time, I am hopeful that I did very well on the final exam to get at least a grade of a C, if not better. It's also galling because one would expect an instructor to put closure on his or her students by posting the grades well ahead of the deadline. Some students may be celebrating their presumed graduation, thinking, "Hey, I passed four of my five classes with one yet to go, and I know I also passed the last." And then, in the middle of the revelry, it comes to a screeching halt when you find out on Beachboard, MyCSULB, or e-mail that you did not pass the course with a C or better.

I am still waiting for the grade. I want to be 520 over 167, or 523 over 167. Instead, as of now, I am still stuck at 511 over 164.