Grading error that saves a scholarship
- Kind
- Ethical dilemma
Prompt
Your final grade in a statistics course comes back as an A, which brings your grade point average to exactly the 3.7 you need to keep a scholarship worth $8,000 a year. Checking your marks, you notice that the professor added up your exam score incorrectly. You should have received a B+, which would leave you just below the cutoff, and without the scholarship you would need to work 20 hours a week during your final year. Earlier in the term, the professor under-marked one of your assignments by several points and refused to change it when you asked. The deadline for grade corrections is Friday. What would you do?
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After you practice: what this question tests and how to approach it
What this question tests
- Ethical reasoning
- Professionalism and integrity
- Self-reflection and growth
How to approach this question
This MMI station tests whether you'll report an error in your favor when honesty costs you a scholarship and the same professor once treated you unfairly. Name what's at stake: your finances and final year, the professor and the integrity of grading, other students competing for scholarships, and your own sense of who you are. Separate the earlier under-marking from the current error, and explain why one unfairness doesn't cancel the other. Weigh the real hardship of working 20 hours a week against the cost of keeping a grade you didn't earn. Then commit to a decision before Friday and explain it plainly. If the professor's reply leaves you uneasy, think about whether your responsibility ends once you've reported the error honestly.
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