"Can you round my grade up?"

Students will ask about rounding a grade up often. Sometimes they are less than a point away from the next grade. Other times, they will ask you to add an additional 5, 10, 15, or even more points to their grade. Either way, what you are telling your professor is “I know I didn’t earn this grade, but can you give it to me anyway?”

No matter how close you are to earning the next grade, you didn’t earn that grade. Grade cut-offs are there for a reason. Some professors may examine borderline cases and round them up if they feel it is appropriate. However, asking for this grade bump will pretty much guarantee that your grade does not get rounded up. In addition, why are you so special that you deserve a grade bump, but no one else in the class does?

This question often (although not always) comes with a story of how the student will lose a scholarship, not be accepted into some program, or lose their student visa. But one class will not affect these things. If you are on the verge of this, that means all of your classes are consistently low. These sorts of programs look at overall GPA, not individual classes. If you know you are on the verge of losing a scholarship, or not being accepted into a program, you should be reevaluating how you are performing in your classes, and why you are getting lower grades rather than begging for points that you didn’t earn. These things aren’t a surprise at the end of the semester. It is something you have been aware of before the last week of class, or after final exams are graded. If you are really concerned, meet with your professor early and often to make sure you earn the grade you want in the course.