# Damnit, THAT's how I lose my 4.0 GPA?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 12, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227 "2010-05-12T21:53:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/1 "2010-05-12T21:53:07Z")
So about a year ago, I decide to go back to school. I graduated with a B.S. in molecular biology back in '97, but my career wasn’t working out, so my 36 year old ass goes back to school to study nursing. I’m doing well. Just finished my second semester, and got A’s again… except for one damn class. Is it a hard class? Is it Anatomy and Physiology II? Is it Human Growth and Development? Nope. So what did I get a B in that broke the perfect 4.0? It’s fucking _bowling_! Bowling! :smack: Doesn’t mean much in the scheme of my academics. But still. Damnit! ---
**Author:** ![may\_be\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@may\_be\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/may_be_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/2 "2010-05-12T21:56:41Z")
I sympathize, because I’m quite possibly the worst bowler to have ever lived. I cannot do it, and I have more than once guttered it with the bumpers up. It IS possible. It simply bounces to the left or right just before it reaches the pins. I am so bad at it, it saddens me. But, your situation is slightly more unfortunate. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/3 "2010-05-12T22:05:33Z")
The thing is, I’m not that bad at bowling. The class was graded purely on attendance. I just didn’t show up enough. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/4 "2010-05-12T22:05:46Z")
What exactly was the grading scale in your bowling class? Why did you rate less than stellar? Were you not trying your hardest? Did you not study? 🙂 ETA: Just saw the answer to my own question. Now that _is_ sad. You have my sympathy, but as an avid bowler, I can’t really understand why anyone would skip out! ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/5 "2010-05-12T22:08:05Z")
To be fair, if you ever have to explain your grades to a potential employer, that ought to be worth a laugh. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/6 "2010-05-12T22:09:55Z")
Why take a class that you don’t show up for? ---
**Author:** ![Charley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/97f17d/32.png) [@Charley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charley)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/7 "2010-05-12T22:14:33Z")
Bowling? They have classes in bowling? How does a class like that get enough funding to keep running? Sorry about your average, though, that sucks. **appleciders** is right though, it will be a good story to tell. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/8 "2010-05-12T22:16:39Z")
> [@Charley](#): > > How does a class like that get enough funding to keep running? Shoe rentals, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/9 "2010-05-12T22:17:02Z")
I lost my 4.0 in an independent study that I literally begged for, because without it my graduation would be pushed back by a semester, and that was financially terrifying. The professor gave me a grade based entirely on four papers I wrote during the study. She never once returned a paper to me. She forgot to show up for meetings. When she did show up, her main criticisms of my papers was that I was too specific (I was writing about world history from 1600 on, and instead of making up bullshit about what was happening around the entire world in a given century, I’d have a thesis about related trends in a couple of different countries or cultures). I got an A- on every paper (in theory–never actually saw the grades on the papers) and ended with an A- in the study. Grr. Argh. No, I’m not bitter. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/10 "2010-05-12T22:31:48Z")
Had the same thing happen to me at night school. One senile Russian history prof was all it took, and I wound up with a 3.975. The guy had actually been alive during the Russian revolution in 1917 and saw his uncle murdered by the bolsheviks, so I guess I can forgive his thinking we were all 15-years old. Fucker. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/11 "2010-05-12T22:54:59Z")
Screw the 4.0 GPA. When I’m in the hospital, I’ll want a nurse attuned to patient care. And that means having a controlled hook and great action on the pins. A 200 average, minimum. I expect the OP to improve on a lowly B, even if it means taking Remedial Bowling. ---
**Author:** ![Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amber_in_Treasury)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/12 "2010-05-12T23:00:26Z")
Seriously, what does bowling have to do with nursing? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/13 "2010-05-12T23:08:49Z")
> [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](#): > > Seriously, what does bowling have to do with nursing? 😕 We can’t say. The first rule of nursing is… ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/14 "2010-05-12T23:25:40Z")
> [@Amber\_in\_Treasury](#): > > Seriously, what does bowling have to do with nursing? 😕 It’s called “core curriculum” and is set by the State of Georgia. The powers that be have decreed that even a 36 year old student working on his 2nd degree must take P.E. in order to receive the sheepskin. My B.S. was from Auburn, and the state of Alabama doesn’t give a shit about making their University students go through P.E., so I had no P.E. credits to transfer. I could have written a pit thread about having to spend my money to pay tuition for P.E., but I just find the whole thing kind of funny. But the State of Georgia can make it all better if they let me bounce a few dodgeballs off of whoever thought up the college P.E. thing. I’m still in shape. I can throw _hard_. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/15 "2010-05-13T00:08:12Z")
My one B in 6 semesters of college was because my papers “belonged in grad school” not HIS class. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/16 "2010-05-13T00:27:29Z")
I lost mine for an elective ceramics class. Went to every class, completed every project and yet I got a C. It seems I hadn’t put enough ‘spiritual energy’ into my pots. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sticks_and_scones/32/16951_2.png) [@Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sticks_and_Scones)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/17 "2010-05-13T00:53:27Z")
In high school I lost a 4.0 due to typing. Typing. What the hell does typing have to do with anything? (My high school self thought.) I cried and cried and cried about this. I laugh about it now because I have excellent typing skills and would be lost without having learned how to type back then. Also, of all the things that I learned in high school, it’s one of the few skills that I still use _actively_ everyday. In college we had the same stupid ‘core curriculum’ type b.s. here. I took golf. I was totally lousy at it but I still got an A because I was trying my best. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/18 "2010-05-13T00:57:14Z")
My husband graduated with a 3.49 because he failed Tai Chi in the last quarter of his senior year. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/19 "2010-05-13T01:25:06Z")
Are you left-handed or right-handed when you bowl? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227/20 "2010-05-13T02:52:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Bowling? They have classes in bowling? How does a class like that get enough funding to keep running? > [@](#): > > It’s called “core curriculum” and is set by the State of Georgia. The powers that be have decreed that even a 36 year old student working on his 2nd degree must take P.E. in order to receive the sheepskin. The State University of New York also has a mandatory PE requirement for all degrees. Which means that now that I’ve retired and am planning on going back to school, I’ve got to figure out an physical activity my almost fifty year old body can do alongside twenty year olds. Bowling will be high on the list. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damnit-thats-how-i-lose-my-4-0-gpa/539227.md?page=2)