Reminded of a story from college. Was taking an electrodynamics class where there were two midterms and a final, with them weighted at 20%, 20% and 40% (the last 20% was homework). I had a bit of a mental health crisis right before one of the midterms, and my professor let me skip it with the understanding that my final would count for both the final and the midterm I skipped. This meant that the final exam counted for a full 60% of my grade. ...it was four questions long. Missing a single question would take my grade in the class from an A to a B-. Miss two and I was at a D. To say the pressure was on was an understatement. Easily one of the most stressful exams of my life. Focus: When have you been in a situation where everything was on the line and it was total make-or-break?
I had a similar situation in college. One of my undergraduate economics classes had no assignments that were graded except the midterm exam and the final thesis paper, for 40% and 60% of the total grade. I didn’t do as well as I wanted on the midterm so the final was going to carry my performance for whole semester. Consequently, it also had a large downstream impact for getting into the master’s program a year later. Bump.
Highschool geometry exam. I literally messed off the entire semester, didn't do a bit of homework. It was about the time I got a reliable weed dealer and beer buyer, so I was partying my ass off. I had to make a 94 on the exam to pass the class. I did it. Sailing. Bought a boat, sight unseen off ebay, having never sailed before. Had plans to leave the US in it, didn't know if I was ever coming back. That decision lead to some incredible travels and times in my life that I wouldn't trade for the world.
This was my, and a lot of slackers MO, fuck off on homework and midterms. Run the equation of what final test score needed to be to pass the class. Then continue to procrastinate and only cram the night before and come in to the test gacked out on coffee and adderall. It’s little wonder I ended college with a C average.
that’s what I did as well. Figure if I ace the final, essays and do okay on the midterm, what is the most I could get away with not doing on everything else. Usually that answer is “everything else.”
Saw this go down in flames once in college. Girl waltzed into the final exam an hour and a half late, went to pick up a test, and as she did the prof slammed his hand down on the stack of blank tests and said "who are you?" She responded that she was a student in the class, and he just laughed in her face as he let her take one of the exams. She was fucked.
yeah I guess the catch is you always gotta show up for class. Hungover? Sucks. Bring a Gatorade. Every professor knew who I was, and they generally didn’t give a fuck because I showed up, didn’t ask stupid questions, and did well on the exams. Plus less for them to grade I guess
Most of my diesel classes in technical school were like that; the majority of your grade rode on one big test/ lab. Ex: My first year, we had to disassemble an engine on a stand, identify and measure the components, and reassemble it. Then you had to start it. If it didn't start, you didn't pass. (I passed.) We had a few quizzes here and there, a written mid-term and final exam, but if you failed the engine part of it, you failed the class, regardless of how well you did on the other stuff. Some bitch-ass punks whined about this, but my instructors explained it like this: If you're out in the field, working on an piece of equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, you can't screw up. Actually, my whole job is a "make or break it" scenario, often literally: There are many parts that you only have one shot to install correctly, otherwise they are ruined.
This was the truly hilariously ridiculous part of this thought process. I didnt figure out the lowest grade I could get on the final to pass. It was, what was going to be my final grade for the class IF I scored 100%, every answer right, on the final exam. Like I was going to straighten up and study in a reasonable prolonged manner and ace the test. One time in college I had a chance to get every single answer right on a final. It was an open note and a girl in my study group had an old test a friend of hers had from the same class. So we all made copies. Turned out the teacher used the exact same test. It was a 200 or 300 level business statistics class so I figured I had to get at least one wrong to throw the teacher off. Three other people didnt and got 100 percent. Teacher? Never said anything.
Every deployment. It wasn't always make or break specifically for me but...fucking up had consequences.
Two examples from nursing school 1) The very first day you had to take a medication calculation test. Converting milligrams to grams and what not. Nothing beyond algebra 1 but the catch was that if you got less than 100% you were out. No retakes, nothing. 2) 86% was passing (it was a Masters program) and you were allowed one C+ for the entire program. I got my first C+ in the first quarter and was at risk for getting my second (and subsequently dismissed from the program) unless I literally got 100% on my pharmacy final. Which I did.
Same, same with explosives or working with ejection seats. Putting bombs together for the jets is a little more forgiving but you don't really want to drop the fuze.