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How to know if I satisfy an equivalent 3.8 US GPA?
I graduated with a bachelor of math advanced (honor) with first class honor from an Australian university with a WAM (weighted average mark) of 93. My university does not have any GPA system.
I am applying for a graduate program in math in US and somewhere in their application, they say:

If you have a GPA less than 3.8, then do not apply.

I do not know if I fall below 3.8 or not. All my grades are HD (High Distinction) per the Australian system. My lowest mark is 88 (out of 100) for a course in real analysis. Other grades vary between 90 and 99. In the Australian system, if you get a mark between 85 and 100, then you get HD grade for the subject.

Just ask that university for advice. It would be better advice than you can get here. And it will be accurate. The US does not have a national system, so each university can make its own determination of qualifications and equivalents.

would this calculator help? https://www.scholaro.com/gpa-calculator/

Out of curiosity, what area of math are you interested in and might I ask what University is this? I will be applying for grad schools maybe next year so was just curious. Feel free to ignore my questions if you wish.

Since you don't know whether you have a GPA less than 3.8, you can apply with a clear conscience.

Several sources around the web seem to converge that your equivalent US GPA would be 4.0: an HD is equivalent of at least an A in the US system. I find an arbitrary GPA threshold of 3.8 to be a bit of a silly system given the heterogeneity in grade assignment, but alas, sometimes systems are silly.

The difficulty of achieving a 3.8 GPA varies widely in the United States, both from university to university, and even from program to program within a single university.
This means that the 3.8 GPA standard is not an absolute measurement of academic excellence.  Instead, it is a measure of your academic dedication relative to your peers within your program at your university.
In many American universities, an A is the highest possible grade, and is worth 4.0 towards the GPA.  An A- is often worth 3.7, a B+ 3.3, and a B 3.0.  (Some American universities ignore plusses and minuses for purposes of GPA calculations.)
A generation or two ago, it was common for a 3.8 GPA to only be achieved by a small fraction of students (much less than 20 percent).  In the past generation, there has been considerable grade inflation.  I have heard of highly regarded programs where As and A-es are common, and grades lower than A- are unusual.
Is your quantified average grade higher than 80 percent of your classmates?  If so, this program might deign to consider your application.

As the comments have suggested, you should consult the specific university for advice. They likely have conversion tables for most countries and major universities.
However, one way to convert a ballpark estimate is to use a grade distribution, if the university publishes one. For example, the University of Washington publishes a guideline to earning Latin honors (.* cum laude), which are based on GPA. They're a good place to check.
A math degree is in the College of Arts and Sciences, which has the following distribution (by percentile)
90th | 96.5th | 99.5th |
3.76 |   3.87 |   3.97 |

Assuming a roughly normal distribution, we find that a 3.8 GPA is the top 93.7th percentile. (This is higher than Jasper's suggestion of the 80th). If a WAM is equivalent to a percentile (or you can convert to one), it at least sounds like you're close enough to apply. I would be surprised if a university rejected a converted 3.79, since GPAs and conversions are noisy enough anyway.

I was allowing for a lot of grade inflation, and erring on the side of encouraging the original poster.  My naïve guess would have been above the 90th percentile.  By the way, the UW's College of Arts and Sciences' grading standards vary greatly between programs.

@Jasper I know, but a 3.8 at the 80th percentile seemed like allowing for a little too much grade inflation, so I wanted to calculate an actual value. And I'm sure they do, but this is the granularity of data I could find. I wanted to point the OP to a method of calculating it themselves, if they can find the data. Latin honors cutoffs are fairly consistently published, vs. distributions for individual departments. I don't know whether Australia has Latin honors, so now they know what to Google when they look at US universities.


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Which foreign academic job markets most favor (monolingual) American PhDs?
I am pursuing a PhD in one of the physical sciences. I attend a university that is top 10 or so in my field and has a recognizable name (Ivy league). My adviser’s past students have had somewhat good luck finding professorships, but even so several have left the field for jobs in computer science. Since I enjoy traveling, to increase my chances of finding a permanent academic position I plan to also apply abroad. Unfortunately, I only speak English.
Do you have any suggestions of where a monolingual American PhD can find an academic job abroad? If I need to complete a postdoc first like in America, would it be better to do it in America or said foreign country?

One suggestion: once the Covid-19 pandemic has (hopefully!) passed, attend as many international conferences as you can. This way you get to meet people and make connections, and also ask about how the local job market works.

Good advice - I agree this is the best thing I can currently do to help my chances. Hopefully my adviser is supportive, I imagine he would be.

The working language of European physics is English. But you're better off learning the language of your new country if you can, you'll enjoy the experience a lot more and will feel much less isolated.

I'd argue that the places where it is easy for you to get a job are exactly those where people generally do not want to go, otherwise they would apply and it wouldn't be easy. So take your pick: Autocratic governments, hard to get work-visas, bad salaries, bad funding, bad weather, bad students, or even all of the above and the list goes on. Though most of that could also be found if you instead look for bottom-tier places at home.

Here it might also be useful to consider Ivy satellite  universities. There has been a trend among brand-name universities to open satellite campuses in the Middle East and China and these may be interesting options.

If you are a US citizen, you should be aware that the US taxes your income from foreign countries (except when it does not).  In certain corner cases, like Australian retirement benefits, you may be required to pay tax but have no way to compute how much tax you owe.

Pakistan, we have education system in English (many primary, secondary schools have books and exams in English), and the undergraduate, post-graduate education is also in English.
Although teachers teach the class in a mix of Urdu and English, all the material is in English: books, exams, assignments, papers are in English (except a few subjects but except languages, they also have the option of choosing the language). The mode is entirely English if the professor or one or more students are foreigners.
Having credentials from the US is a big plus, they will work to your advantage, having a US postdoc will help more. Nowadays we have a lot of people getting Masters and PhDs from the west, and coming back as faculty in our universities.
Although the answer doesn't meet your criteria of favoring US degrees, practically you will get the advantage.
And as far as I know, most of what I said applies to India as well.

Obvious answer is other English speaking countries such as Britain, Ireland, South Africa or any other Commonwealth country such as Canada or Singapore.
Non-obvious answer is the countries that have some schools teaching in English. It is actually harder to find a fuller picture in that regard. English is rarely the teaching language in Germany or France whereas it is more common in the Netherlands. I am sure there will also be schools in "second world countries" that teach in English.

“Second/third world” countries were actually my main interest in this question, thinking they might generally value a PhD from a well known US school.
My previous impression was that Canada and the UK had more competition than the US and generally preferred their own PhDs. The Netherlands and South Africa actually have some great research institutions in my field although I am not sure if that helps or hurts - I will ask some Dutch friends at least.

@NotmyRealname how much political unrest can you handle? Also related: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/106800/is-the-academic-job-market-in-developing-former-eastern-bloc-countries-welcomi/

That is an excellent discussion, thank you for pointing me to it!

Singapore stopped being a British colony in the 1940s. It’s a pretty insensitive way of phrasing what I hope you meant to say.

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Should I ask my advisor to please pretend that he is happy with me until the end of my contract?
I am a post-doc in the UK. Today, In online lab meeting, my boss said that the name of my two postdocs are in two different grants and our technician is in both but he did not take me into account as his postdoc. He then asked me, are you going back to your country? I told no please don't kill me and everyone simply laughed. I am in 18th months of my employment as a postdoc with him and my contact is until December 2021. His today statement has been a huge pain by which I have lost myself totally. I admit that after few months of my employment, from his body language and all reactions I realized that he is not happy with me, he is not taking me seriously, he is not eager to listen to me...
Do you think it is logical if I ask a private chat with him and request him at least he please pretend that he is happy with me until the end of my contract? because by each lab meeting I become such a frustrated and desperate that I have found myself in a pure darkness of hopelessness. In the morning turning the Teams app to see my colleagues who they are all happy gives me a feeling of death. I can not change myself, I can not increase my intelligence, seeing them when boss cherish them makes me hate myself and all my day like a nightmare
Update
From all of your comments I can say, my boss is not happy with me. I have started to find a job, I hope I find somewhere needs me. This job is really cruel and you would be eliminated from the system if you are not good enough. Thank you everyone for giving the time to help me.

If you are feeling distressed, you need to speak to a mental health professional about your feelings.

Comments are not for extended discussion (nor answers, nor mental health diagnoses, ...); this conversation has been moved to chat. Please review this FAQ before posting another comment.

I would ask for a meeting, but not for the reason you suggest. You may be misinterpreting messages. I'd ask him if he was pleased or not with your work and what you can do to improve it in his opinion. If it seems like a good idea when you are having such a conversation mention that you think he is displeased and don't understand why.
Don't overthink that they laughed at your comment. It was a somewhat strange thing to say even if you were panicked.
And you should certainly talk to a personal health counselor about your emotional state. That isn't healthy, but professionals can help you deal with it.

I agree with this. Asking to "pretend that he is happy" is somewhat unprofessional, it is better to ask for his opinion about the progress and what he would suggest to improve.

This is a subtle point but, in situations like this, the specific choice of words can make a big difference:  I would leave off the "in his opinion" part.  That can be misinterpreted as implying that you're just trying to accommodate to his opinions regardless of whether or not they're correct.  The way you say a phrase like that can make a big difference in how it's perceived so, unless you're very confident with the language, I would leave it out.

They laughed at your "please don't kill me" because that's something you would say as a joke/icebreaker. It would be more impolite not to laugh...
To me it sounds like you are struggling with English and Western culture. This seems to be a misunderstanding, you just gave an anxious retelling of a conversation that would happen among a group enjoying each other's presence.
You should surely not attempt the communication you are considering. That sounds awkward and out of place.

"some comments suggested seeing a psychologist. I would not say you seem that troubled to me" What? He doesn't seem troubled? Maybe reread his message? "bad at Western culture" Western culture is not defined by bullying. Terrible answer.

This answer is highly irresponsible.  You cannot determine if someone needs psychological treatment over the internet.  The advice should always be to check with a professional who can make that determination.  Very many people need mental health treatment but do not get it.

@bzomh why do you see bullying? Yes, the OP interprets it as that, but the answer suggests that this is a misunderstanding based on interpreting Western culture wrongly. And I rather agree; how would you (assuming you are from a western culture) react, if someone says the thing of "don't kill me please"? Sure, the tonality of it matters a lot, but I don't know of an appropriate reaction on such a sentence either. It's academia, people usually change jobs after a few years, no one talks about killing.Don't you suspect OP is misinterpreting this?

@AnonymousPhysicist ok, I deleted the controversial part.

@bzomh reread the texts. It's pretty plausible (and it's the simplest explanation) that all of these perceived problems are because of misunderstanding the professor and group.

+1. OP had me up until "he is not eager to listen to me". No 45yo is eager to listen to a 20yo. Maybe I'm reading too far into it, but they laughed because they're in a position of power over you, and you called them out on it. They had to laugh; the alternative is them not sleeping well at night. Because depending on your country of origin, deportation could quite literally mean death.

I had a similar experience in my PhD so I will try to give you advice based on that.

As others have said, it would be good to set up a meeting with him and directly tell him that you are feeling that he isnt happy with your work and ask him how you could improve it. This is a professional way to deal with the bosses who arent happy with the employee's performance.
When there are cultural differences involved (as you said, everyone is from the UK and that Greek-German lady is somewhat local already), sometimes when you are the "different" one, it makes you feel so lonely and isnt easy to tell people about your feelings and plans. Have you ever told anyone about your plans to stay? Have you ever expressed directly an interest to participate in a grant? If you havent, maybe you could try to tell your professor that you would like to stay more in the UK and ask if he has any offer for you.
When you are saying "I am not good enough to be kept and wherever I go I would end with the same sad story," it shows that you have self esteem problems and they will interfere at any moment of your life. Please try to take care of that, in any way that you can, be it therapy or not.
Is there anyone in your lab who is friendly towards you? Not necessarily a researcher but maybe some secretary, HR, etc? Maybe you could try to talk to someone and express your feelings about feeling excluded as you are from another country? (Not complaining about the professor but asking for some assistance as you have some cultural differences.)
Also, can you talk to any other professor whose work is somewhat to yours and who probably would be willing to take you into some of their projects later on?

I agree that OP should talk to supervisor to clarify the situation and comment. Note that Western culture often permits a level of sarcasm/irony which is not common in other countries, and where it is considered highly aggressive communication. Nonetheless, OP's supervisor and group are supremely insensitive. Clarifying the situation makes sense. OP should consider changing groups/topics/workplace. This is not a nice group to work in.

No idea where this is coming from. Asking when you are going home is considered extremely vulgar. At least in Germany

@SSimon I feel that there is some background that we are not told, because the whole situation is almost the caricature of a bullying situation as you would see in a movie. Without knowing more about what is going on here, how it came to the situation, etc., I am careful to make a judgement - it might be possible that OP undergoes some cultural misunderstanding that may have a less malign interpretation. I do know of cases like that, so I'd rather not advise under the assumption of a fully antagonistic situation. Check other responses of mine, I have no tolerance for established bullying.

Dears all, I did not feel any bullying from his statement yesterday at all. Basically, he is a cool and charismatic professor. When I joined the lab as a data analyst he was very caring and welcoming but by the time I have shown I am not what he expects. Two current postdoc are really deserved to be cherished. Now, my concern is that everyday feedbacks from his body language and ignorance is a killing pain for me. All of last night I have been a numb body by remembering why I could not be good enough to be evaluated. I know life is not fair but accepting the reality is hard at the moment.

@SSimon it was "if" not "when" and that's a reasonable thing to ask.

Sorry @Titus the problem is not the question he ask when I am going back to my country. I got hurt when he mentioned the name of two other postdocs ignoring me as his postdoc showing he does not have money for keeping me employed. But generally, every moment I can read from his face that I am an unwanted member. I wish you all could see our lab meeting and how he eagerly listens when another lab members speak. I realise that he is indirectly saying you don't have any place with us but his conservative manner hides everything until yesterday when he directly uttered what was in his mind.

Maybe he has been already discussing with the other people about the future plans for a long time and he has decided to start some projects with them. It doesn't necessarily mean that he is ignoring you intentionally. If you would like to be included in a grant, it would be better to ask him directly, explaining what value you could bring to those projects. If you never express yourself openly, you would always feel left out and "different".

@MahtaMira Do you have evidence (beyond trying to read body language or loose-tongued statements) that he is dissatisfied with your work? If this is the case, is this something you can improve by either working differently or moving to some other group? If there is limited funding it is clear that some people won't get it. It does not necessarily make a statement concerning your general performance. Do you publish? Do you have grants?

@CaptainEmacs once in a presentation he got exited at me and told instead of using technology and different software to analyse your data, learn how to present and structure your results. He then told you would not get any credit until you learn how to structure your data. From my joining to this lab, I have been in 3 of his papers as a bioinformatician. I am under a fixed term contact as the other members are but yesterday he mentioned their long term employment by saying their name one by one, about me just said that are you going back to your country?

@titus yes you can ask when you are going back to Germany. But asking foreigners when they are going back from where they came from is big NO

@SSimon Germans, living/working in other countries, are also foreigners. So asking a German when he is going back from where he came from, to Germany, is exactly that. In which sense are Germans different to other Nationalities? Titus surely did not ask a German in Germany when they will go back to Germany; that really would not make sense.

@SSimon that's quite context dependent. Sure, you can make it sound like "when do you leave us in peace and go back home to the place you crawled out from?" but equally it can be a matter of nice empathy or personal interest, i.e. given the corona crisis and more remote work many people studying abroad use the time to do a home "vacation" as it doesn't make much of a difference. But the same question can be innocent curiosity either (going home over any vacations) because OP dropped anything they considered a hint that OP might. Or it might be sarcastic because OP is safely funded until 2021

@SSimon and the others aren't. There is lots of room for interpretation as we don't have the conversation verbatim and OP seems to have difficulty interpreting everything correctly as the whole situation comes across as a bit weird. Btw. starting your name with SS, how vulgar and extremist! You see, context matters! (if you don't know the reference I'm getting at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schutzstaffel)

Actually, Simon has a point. In the UK it seems to be ok to ask where someone is from, but in Germany, it has a smell, because a question like that often is assumed to have (and sometimes has) a xenophobic undertone. "When are you going back" is therefore not equally innocent in Germany as it might be elsewhere. Now that we know the context (supervisor made a number of remarks about OP presentations), OP's interpretation may be right. If OP believes that they can do better, they should look out for a different group or even country.

@MahtaMira is it possible that your boss just has trouble understanding you? Your question and comments here are a bit confusing, and the feedback he gave on your presentation suggests he doesn't feel your communication is clear. It can be tiring to interact with someone when communication is a struggle, so that may be all it is.

Dear @ maybe I see everything dark because I am emotionally not feel well. But, I believe that he generally does not take me serious, for instance our monthly private meetings with him take more than 30 min for each lam member but for me just took less than 3 min. Or, today online lab meeting, he assigned two postdoc to comment on a manuscript in peer review step but did not mention me I then asked, and me? he replied especially you but I felt that was a forcefully reply. However, thanks for sharing your point of views

When he asked "are you going back", he may have been trying to show (to you and to the others) that the reason he didn't mention your name in the plan was because you might not be there anymore.  I think it is very unlikely that this was intended as an insult.  Just the opposite.  He was showing that he was also considering your future, same as the others.  He just (incorrectly) thought you may be returning to your home country soon, like many people do.  Clearly you haven't discussed your plans with him, and he doesn't even know that you plan to stay in the UK, so it is definitely unreasonable to expect him to make plans that depend on you staying.
I agree with Buffy that when you said "no don't kill me", it was a joke.  Maybe you didn't mean it as a joke, and maybe it was a very painful moment for you, but everyone will assume you were intentionally making a joke.  Even if you just said "please don't fire me", it still wouldn't make any sense to think you are serious when you say that, unless it is normal for him to suddenly fire people during meetings.  Assuming that is not how he operates, it must be a joke.  They laughed to be nice, to show that they appreciate your funny comments and that they appreciate your ability to keep a sense of humor even on difficult topics.  You should understand that they support you.  If they did not like you, they would not laugh at your jokes.
I think you should ask to talk to him.  Tell him you are thinking about your future and you would like his advice.  This is a completely normal request.  During this conversation he will learn about your plans, and you will learn what he thinks your best options are.
Also, assuming you are right that he has been avoiding interaction with you, having a normal conversation will help to normalize your relationship with him.
During the conversation, I would stick to the topic of what you should do with your future.  I would not try to discuss your relationship with him.  That can quickly become more awkward and/or more confrontational, and there is a risk that he might avoid you even more if the conversation gets weird like that.  I would also not ask about the possibility to keep working with him.  You should not stay somewhere that has made you miserable.
You feel horrible right now, and when you feel horrible it is natural to interpret other people's words and actions in overly negative ways.  Talking to him directly will give you a chance to learn what he actually thinks.  The truth is probably not as bad as all the bad things you are thinking right now.

Thank you @Matt, very clear points for me you mentioned. In my June monthly meeting with him, I would try to convey this message to him that I love my job and which value I can bring to any future research project. When he mentioned the name of two postdoc he stated that in the grant there is money for these people that means no money for you that is why I got hurt

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How to respond when insulted by a grad student in a different department?
I'm a lecturer at a small university. In a class I taught last year, one grad student disagreed with his grade and complained as high up in the university as possible. The result was the grade stayed the same.
I see this student on campus from time to time, and he usually ignores me, which is totally fine. However, this week I saw him on campus and as he walked by he said something insulting. Nothing awful but certainly disrespectful (along the lines of "you suck"). The student was also disrespectful during class. I'm thinking about discussing this with the chair of his department. Is this an over reaction? What would an appropriate response be (if any)?

It would help if you quote the student’s exact words, otherwise it’s impossible to assess whether you are overreacting or not. I can certainly think of scenarios where it would be appropriate for you to talk to the department chair, and others where the best thing to do would probably be to ignore the incident.

Check with your academic affairs office to see if there's a procedure for this. My university has a way for me to report in and out of classroom issues like this so they can see if there's a trend of problems for a student. If not, I would definitely email the department chair with a friendly "how do you suggest I handle this?" question.

Are there any indications that this person may have an unstable personality and might go "postal" at some point?  I'd be inclined to ignore a one-off verbal comment, but at the first hint of escalation I'd suggest contacting campus security.

It is crucial to make a complaint immediately. Students like that one (obviously extremely rude) are potentially extremely dangerous.

I'd definitely document it like Bryan said. Depending on how I imagine the comment, it could be kinda scary, in an unhinged way.
If it wasn't that scary, though, allow me to project a bit onto this guy. I've been in classes before where I felt I didn't have a fair chance to do well, and been mad at the professor about it. If this guy has been harboring resentment and every time you pass each other, you awkwardly ignore each other, I could see that resentment growing, especially if the student is having a rough go of it in life (which, being a grad student, he probably is).
In fact, I've had that experience too. There's a professor whose class I disliked my first year who figured out that a rather criticism saturated student evaluation must have come from me. (I was really trying to be constructive.) He didn't take it well, and to this day still never acknowledges my existence when we see each other around, despite working in my research area, and even living on my street. I'm not really mad about the class anymore, but this still annoys me. You know me, man-- can't you at least give me the nod?
My point is, you might be able to de-escalate things just by acknowledging him. If you make some friendly small talk and show him that you didn't take it personally, it's possible that he will cool off and not make things so tense. Of course, it's also possible that my reading is totally off and he will just be rude, so be prepared for that possibility. But it may be worth a shot before going to his chair.

I'd probably document it (make a dated note to yourself someplace noting what occurred and exactly what was said, while you still remember it) and then ignore it, unless it becomes a pattern. The purpose of documentation is to start a record in case the behavior turns into something more regular.
The exception I would make is if you have any reason to believe this student is abusive/insulting to anyone vulnerable or deserving more protection. For example, if the commentary is racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. If it's more of a "(expletive) you" I'd let it go.

This seems like a good idea. I think I'll also mention it to a colleague who was a part of the grade complaint, that way the documentation isn't simply a word document I made.

@user114675 Sounds like a good plan. In any case, you didn't deserve and shouldn't have to be subject to behavior like this. Still, it says a lot more about the other person than it does about you.

Not taking the student's side, but from what I read here he's not "enraged" and maybe he's not even the bad guy in the grade story (read again: in the grade story)... So that's not answering OP's question, but I wouldn't go further and draw conclusions regarding the student.

@Buffy I would not like to let something like that behaviour through, but you are right, in these days, it can be dangerous if you do not know exactly what you are doing. I removed my comment.

@CedricH. Many people may not be happy with their grade, and perhaps even the prof is a jerk. But, independently of the grade story (on which we know very little), insulting a teacher to his face is unacceptable. I have rarely encountered that (as student or teacher), and, without exception, by people who themselves are bullies or seriously lack manners.

Let me note that confrontation, even passive aggressive confrontation, can be dangerous if the other person is, somehow, enraged. I've been in places where making eye contact with a stranger can result in an attack. I was once attacked (physically but mildly) for no apparent reason. I suspect that, as an academic, I was just lost in thought and my eyes were pointing at someone who interpreted it incorrectly. I was also once yelled at for watching a stranger cross the street. These were both in big cities. But a personal situation (student) could be worse, perhaps.

@CedricH. Regardless of the merits of the grade dispute, tossing an even minor insult towards someone on the street like that kind of surrenders their benefit of the doubt. It's enough to give me the prior assumption that they probably didn't have the best judgment in their grade dispute, either.

Since the OP is a lecturer and the grad student is a student, is there not an imperative to teach about respect and composure? I would expect that the student's advisor should be made aware of the behavior.

@aherocalledFrog If the student were an 8 year old instead of a graduate student, yes, there would be some imperative for instruction.

@user114675 I suggest you mention that to your colleague by email, so that should the need arise, it's not just a personal file, but an email that is clearly dated. It also means your colleague can check the email for the exact words you were called, rather than needing to recall the insult you mentioned three months ago. (This doesn't preclude telling him informally in advance, of course)

Normally you can simply ignore such things. People like that mostly harm themselves and other students are unlikely to support them in their bad behavior. I was once publicly, but anonymously insulted and didn't respond. My students jumped in to explain to the miscreant why they were wrong. Problem solved.
However, you have a right to respect in the classroom. If they behave incorrectly you can ask them to leave, especially if it is disruptive. I think that you would get wide support for ending disruptions, both with the other students and with administration.
But, yes, as Bryan Krause says, document it.

Often I am sorry to lose contact with former students who graduate. But occasionally not. Document if you like, but try to ignore it (+1).

Unless he is actively stalking you outside of classes, I would just ignore his comment on the campus. The problem will go away when he leaves college (either voluntarily or involuntarily), or when he grows up, whichever happens first.
On the other hand if his behaviour is unacceptable in your classes, you are in a position of authority and you need to maintain that authority for the benefit of all the students.
If he does it again, I would give him a public verbal reprimand, and remind him (and the rest of the class, of course) of what powers you have - I assume that includes the right to remove him from the lecture room either temporarily or permanently.
If he is bone-headed enough to escalate the situation, let nature take its course - evidently he didn't win his first battle, and the details of that will already be on the record somewhere.


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Postdoc interview - somewhat positive reply but no news?
I am Canadian, and I had a postdoc interview in a Canadian university on-site late May. It was two days long. I gave two presentations and a 6 hour long hands-on lab demonstration. Prof. seemed satisfied with the results and said "thank you for the successful demonstration." During the interview, the professor also explained that she doesn't have a money problem but  a people problem, as in finding the right people for the job.
Fast-forward to a month later, no news. So I send a follow up and get this reply "yes, we are positive on you for a position and we are still checking for some internal part for further official process." prof also send some questions about when is the earliest I could start and if I can abide by this and that lab rules, etc...
This was almost two months ago. Still no news. Did I get it, did I not? What's the hold up? I am very confused.
Update: I emailed the prof based on comments here and relayed my concerns over the lengthy process with no updates. The professor responded with a "conduct document" that I had to sign, which I did, but it seemed like I was being strung along. I decided to write off the position and continue searching for other jobs. Long story short, I have got the job after all. I am informed that an official job offer is being prepared for me right now. I will likely accept it, as I really like this research group and what they hope to achieve in their field. I would like to thank everyone for their replies. I believe it actually helped. I really think if I didn't follow some of the advice here (particularly about being patient and respectful), I wouldn't have gotten the job.

"6 hour lab demonstration"!? Did you gave away in that and presentations and discussions a lot of experimental/methodological secrets?

In lab demo, certainly not. It was a routine synthesis but the prof and her team's background is very narrow while mine is very multi disciplinary. So what I did was still impressive for them. I did one presentation to the department and that was your routine expected stuff talking about what you have been doing. But they also asked for a mockup research proposal presentation, that one had original ideas. They don't strike me as idea thiefs tho.

The PI told you that you got the job, so you should contact them again. I'd suggest you start being more pressing, something along the lines of "I would like to know when the contract will start, since I have to make arrangements..."
It's quite common for the internal hiring process to take a long time so there's no reason to be alarmed, but you've been quite patient already. In case you have other opportunities available you can mention it, it might speed things up if they worry that they might lose you.

I am planning on sending an email and ask about status of my application.

From the material in the question, it's not clear that the PI has offered a job. The phrase "we are positive on you" (Stdoggy -- is that a quote?) could mean either "We are certain about you" ("Are you sure?" "Positive.") or "We view you favourably" ("We have a positive opinion").

Yeah, it was a direct quote. I am not interpreting her reply as a job offer but more like an intention or desire to hire. But something is holding back the process. I will still email to find out. 3 months is a long time to wait.

In my experience it's unlikely that they would organize 2 days on-site interviews (expenses paid I guess?) without being 99% sure about the funding. And I interpret "we are positive on you" as a job offer: I agree that it's a bit ambiguous but I would expect an honest PI to be more careful if they are not sure or haven't decided yet. My guess is that the contract is simply stuck somewhere in the administration pipeline, it happens a lot.

@Erwan "...an honest PI..." - Here's the catch. The PI in OP's case might be overly opportunistic.

@erwan yeah, expenses paid. I just dont want to jump to a positive conclusion without seeing an official job offer. That's why I interpret that way.

@lighthousekeeper Or might not be a native speaker. Or might be a native speaker who didn't notice that "we are positive on you" could be taken two different ways.

Prof is not a native speaker, but should have good enough English. Because.. Let's just say she is graduate of one of the top 5 universities in the world and lived in states for a long time.

I interpret "we are positive on you" as a job offer Maybe, but it could also be a strained attempt at letting them down gently. Especially since this is Canada, where attempts at politeness sometimes get in the way of clear communication, I think it's possible the intended message was "We liked you, but not enough to offer you a job".

My money is still on the job offer interpretation because experienced academics are usually straightfoward if not blunt; it's a necessity when you're busy and deal with many people all the time. In any case it's very easy to clarify any potential ambiguity with an email.

I have posted an update about this. Ambiguity is still there even after email communication. The prof basically refuses to give out information.

@Stdoggy sorry I didn't see before I posted my comment, and sorry to hear that it turned out this way. I think you're right to look elsewhere then, it's not honest of them and in this case I would be wary to work with them even if turns out to be possible.

@erwan no need to apologize. I posted update after your comment. I am just new on the website, I wasn't sure if commenters would see the update. So I mentioned it in a comment as well.

One possible scenario is that they have a preferred candidate, who has not yet accepted or rejected their offer.
Another possible scenario is that there is an uncertainty about funding. For example, they may be  trying to hire you using some complicated scheme in which your position is co-funded by a third body. It takes time to organize such things. Or they may be waiting for an announcement of the outcome of their grant application submitted long ago. They may have decided to hire you anyway, but may not yet know which grant to fund your position from. Or they may have been unable to hire you in the intended way and may be looking for an alternative method to hire you.
It is rather a bad sign that they did not take the initiative to contact you and keep you updated, and such a delay seems to be too long to be caused by any official process unless this process is related to an application for some funding.
If I were you, I would be rather pessimistic and would send a frank email expressing my concern. I would ask them to frankly explain what is going on and to tell me the probability of me getting an official offer. I would also ask them when I should expect to receive an official offer. If I did not receive a convincing and credible response, I would immediately start looking for another position.

I am inclined to agree that official process shouldn't take this long. I will send the prof an email when I get the chance and ask about the status of my application. I have already started applying around.

My advice is: Assume the worst and make a strong impression in your email that you consider yourself not to have gotten the position. Make an impression that you are giving them a chance to prove the opposite. I think this is the best way to find out the truth.

That's a good advice. I will formulate my email in way.

I've never heard of a preferred candidate being given two months to decide: if you allow your first choice that long, and they say no, there's a good chance that your second choice is no longer available. For comparison, I was recently offered a job and, on the same day, had a preliminary Skype interview for another position. The first position wanted a decision within two weeks; the second was going to take at least a month. While I could probably have negotiated a small extension to the two weeks, I'm not convinced about one month, and certainly not two.

@DavidRicherby Yes, it is unlikely that they gave someone two months to decide, but it is possible that they, for example, accidentally found a better candidate just one-and-a-half month ago. The candidate might be sending them positive signals, but be unsure about when he can start. Overall, the professor may be uncertain about two different things: the candidate choice and funding. I tried to make my answer exhaustive by mentioning both possibilities.

That seems even less likely: finding a better candidate 1.5 months ago would require them to have (a) basically done nothing for two weeks after the asker's interview, for no reason; (b) be prepared to give the new candidate six-plus weeks to decide, even though they have a candidate that they like.

@DavidRicherby I agree, but the whole situation is pretty weird and abnormal. Any possible explanation assumes something that is not normally done (e.g., giving a preferred candidate too much time to decide, or not having enough funds, etc.). I cannot even exclude that the professor is still unsure whether he needs a postdoc at all.

I am in a weird situation that I don't really know what this means.

Weird, perhaps, but not entirely uncommon. Something similar happened to me (for well over 3 months actually).

I had a postdoc interview on-site late May. It was two days long. I gave two presentations and a 6 hour long hands-on lab demonstration. Prof. seemed satisfied with the results and said "thank you for the successful demonstration."

If that was the peak of his/her reaction and engagement following your visit - s/he wasn't very impressed, or had some issues with you, or is kind of a cold fish (the latter is quite possible).

"yes, we are positive on you for a position and we are still checking for some internal part for further official process."

That sounds like "we're trying to get somebody else but we want to keep you on stand-by", honestly.

prof also send some questions about when is the earliest I could start and if I can abide by this and that lab rules, etc...

So, this sounds more positive, but then:

This was almost two months ago. Still no news. Did I get it, did I not?

Looks like you haven't gotten it. But - it's not certain. Sometimes academics, and academic institutions, act weirdly. So, you need to pester the Professor and/or the relevant administrator. Don't worry about the impression of you checking - it's perfectly acceptable. Be polite, of course. Also, when you ask for an update, ask more specific questions, either already on the first email or as a reply to their vague update.

I appreciate you answer. But, was she supposed to do a backflip as an appreciation of my demonstration? I have synthesized two different kinds of piezoelectric nanomaterials and showed that they function as intended in a 6 hour span. Thanks for a successful demo is pretty important as it could very easily fail when you are synthesizing in a rush.

@Stdoggy: I would expect something like a follow up like "why did you do X?" and "have you tried Y?" "does this also work when Z?" Also, note there was no praise in the feedback - no "impressive", no "I think the team really liked it" or anything like that.

I had got such questions, comments like "impressive", "wow" and etc... But I didn't mention it here as her declaring the demo "successful" feels more important to me.


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Can a letter of recommendation be rescinded after submission/acceptance?
I have been working in a research position in a DOE lab in the United States for the past year or so, and my mentor wrote me letters of recommendation for my graduate school application. I have been, to put it bluntly, worse at my job recently than I had been when he wrote the letter, and I would quite like to leave soon as:

It has always been a poor fit for my interests, and I am rapidly losing the motivation to continue;
I have not been challenged/learned anything new for months, and I do not have the discretion to change this;
I am not vital to any of the ongoing projects in my group;
I have saved enough to support myself through matriculation.

I am very worried that, given my recent job performance, if I leave soon, my mentor might try to contact graduate programs to which I submitted applications 1+ months ago to give an update on his impression of my character/abilities/etc. Is this a real possibility? If so, how would graduate schools react, receiving this so long after submission, or if they've already accepted me?

Anything is possible, of course, but (warning - opinion coming), I think it would be very unlikely. First, I doubt that your mentor would do that, though I don't know the person so can't be definitive. I would not, anyway. Second, if you have been accepted (and told them you are coming) you have at least an informal contract that is unlikely to be broken. In some places it would likely be against regulations to withdraw an offer after acceptance. But again, I suppose it is possible that it would happen.
However, you might be questioned by your mentor or others about this, so be prepared to give an honest reply. People learn as they live and they change their minds about things. Other people generally understand that and accept it as long as it doesn't cause disruption.
But I think your worry is probably based on very little. (Sorry about all the "weasel words" here.)

Is this a real possibility?

I can only speak for myself, but I would have to be VERY angry before I would take the time and do something as drastic as this. At worst, I can imagine someone rescinding their letter without sending an update, but even that would be far beyond something I would consider doing for an average case.

If so, how would graduate schools react, receiving this so long after submission, or if they've already accepted me?

If the new letter described some really egregious conduct (e.g., fraud, stealing), this would certainly affect the decision. For the sort of minor matters you describe, I think it would reflect poorly on the sender, though whether it also reflected poorly on the student (particularly to the point of changing the decision) is hard to predict.

I have been, to put it bluntly, worse at my job recently

Unsolicited advice: consider leaving soon (or rededicating yourself). It's possible the problem hasn't even been noted yet, and people are unlikely to be offended by your decision to pursue other paths. But if this continues for months, you will likely burn a bridge.


text:
Is it normal for an instructor to refuse to tell students their current grade?
I want to know what my current grade in a particular class is. The professor says she refuses to tell us our grades. The syllabus mentions the same policy.
Is this normal? What should I do?

This is sufficiently odd that I've never heard of such a policy. Have you checked the syllabus to see exactly how the policy is stated? This is reasonable if it is of the form "I am not going to calculate a provisional grade for you - you have all the grades you've gotten on assignments and can calculate it on your own". Some courses also don't even have provisional grades, only the grade from the final exam. We'll need to know a bit more to be able to advise you.

This sounds like an undergrad-focused question, and I have voted to close it as such.

@jakebeal The undergraduate policy on this site has long been changed, and a question focused on undergraduate studies is no longer off-topic per se.

This is so focused on one student, course and professor though, I think I have to agree with Jake...

If you have the grades for your assignments submitted already and, hopefully, graded then you should be able to work out where you are, ie assessment completed compared to amount left to do etc.

Some universities require that the grading policies be laid out in advance (e.g.: 40% final, 30% homework, 30% project). If you actually have the assignments you've done, you might be able to compute this for yourself. Other universities have no such regulation, in which case you might be stuck.

You may get a better response if you work out your grade for yourself based on everything you know, go to the professor, show her what you worked out and how, and ask her if it appears to be correct.

If you want to know what is "allowed" you'll have to consult your university's own regulations.  There is no universal set of laws for education.

@NateEldredge that would be really annoying to me.  Undergraduates should not need help checking their arithmetic.

@solarmike I view this as a question about pedagogical technique, which is definitely on topic.

@AnonymousPhysicist yes, I agree with pedagogical technique, but so focused on one course one student and one professor that it has little general benefit...

@SolarMike I do not see why you think only one professor has this in their syllabus.

@AnonymousPhysicist perhaps because the OP is specifically mentioning the professor as to asking for the grades and being refused them.... That does not preclude other professors having the same or similar policies....

@AnonymousPhysicist: Annoying, yes, but much less annoying than working it out for a student who can't be bothered to even try it for themselves.  I suspect the latter is what the professor may be trying to avoid with such a policy.  I think it would be less about checking  the student's arithmetic, and more about checking their understanding of the grading policies.

Is the professor providing feedback on your assignments? If so, you can probably guess or calculate whether you are doing well, and it will be hard to overrule the professor's decision (modulo some university-specific policy to the contrary). If not, that seems like a basic function of the teacher's job that you could legitimately complain about.

Does he give you the grades of your homework, coursework, tests, exams?

I've been that professor several times. Much to my own chagrin, there often is no such thing as "the current grade". On a typical day during a typical semester, there are scores for homeworks, quizzes, midterms and whatever other assessments have been completed so far, and there is a formula in the syllabus that computes a "final score" from all the assessment scores, but:

the formula assumes all scores to be known, not just the first few. Extrapolating is not trivial, particularly if the rules include things like "the lowest homework score will be dropped" or "later midterms will be weighted more" or "the first homework will be dropped if the next ones show improvement".
the cutoffs for the grades are rarely decided upon in advance; they often are determined by looking through students's work (the final midterm or exam is particularly good for that, being fresh in the lecturer's mind) and clustering students into categories (e.g., if you see someone doing really good work, you put that student into the A-cluster, so the cutoff for A will be no higher than their score). Some lecturers also curve based on pre-determined ratios (something I avoid, but I've heard of lecturers forced to do this by the admininstration), but again it is impossible to predict the final relative position of a student just based on their current status, as some students improve heavily during the semester.

So computing a "current grade" is a nontrivial exercise in forecasting -- and a thankless one, as the reward curve is biased to the negative (getting students' grades right will net you some thanks; getting them wrong will cause trouble all the way up to disciplinary action). Teaching is hard enough without it.

getting them wrong will cause trouble all the way up to disciplinary action Come on, really? You don't think both the students and the administration understand that having an A average with 50% of the work completed doesn't necessarily mean that the student will pass the course? And you really can't place even a reasonable upper bound on where the A cutoff will fall?

@ElizabethHenning: Understand perhaps, but that doesn't mean they would react well, particularly if they can blame me for basing my estimate on guesswork (and guesswork will be part of the estimation process, due to the cutoffs being undecided). As for upper bounds on A cutoffs, I usually can tell that some students will have As -- but these are normally not the ones who would ask me where they stand. The much more common question is C cutoffs, and these depend upon lots of things.

"...getting them wrong will cause trouble..." One could give a range (confidence interval) for the current grade instead of a single value.

Some students have learned particularly aggressive negotiation skills from certain types of parents that make them extremely hard to deal with.  Think of the worst type of customer, then throw in the idea that your entire future now hinges on this grade, and you will get a glimpse of what said potential student will be like.  It is best to avoid it if you can.

There may be an actual reason for the policy. In particular your professor may take more into consideration than can be captured in any intermediate "average". For an example of what can happen, I once took a physics course that had five exams, the last being the final. My grades for the exams were, in order: F, D, C, B, and A. My "average" all along the way was pretty dismal. The final grade I was assigned (I won't say earned, I guess) was A. I was a happy camper. The prof actually had a reputation as being very strict.
Without knowing more it is impossible to judge whether the professor is being rational or not.
For what it's worth, the reason for the first F was that I "crammed" and stayed up all night before the exam. Well, one reason, anyway. It was open-book, also.

The professor says she refuses to tell us our grades. The syllabus mentions the same policy.
Is this normal?

Normal is relative. From my perspective, having grades per class isn't normal. Your situation is clearly different, but you haven't given any information which would help us know what it is.

What should I do?

Accept it and move on with your life.

Personally I think an instructor ought to maintain a running grade count, but it is conceivable that one might not.  Might only do the data entry and calculation at the end. Or maybe wants to retain ability to finesse the grades a bit (will only be done in your favor unless a snake, though).
I doubt there is a policy requiring the prof to give interim grading instruction, but of course you could check.  There is a big difference between "required" and optimal.
For what it is worth, I went to a school that had formal, published interim grades every 4 weeks, during 16 week semesters.  Most people hated this more than like it since it could create academic sanctions...

You sound like you are very concerned about your past grades.  Students who pay a lot of attention to their past grades tend to believe they cannot control what they learn, because it is a fixed number.  Psychologists call this an "external locus of control."  External locus of control can reduce the amount of effort students put into learning.
Students who pay a lot of attention to what they need to do in the future in order to learn have an "internal locus of control."  They believe their decisions determine what they will learn.  These students tend to put in more effort and study more efficiently.
It is a legitimate pedagogical approach for professors to refuse to discuss grades with students.  When doing so, it is important to guide students to thinking about things they can choose to do which will help them learn.  This can help students view their futures as being something they believe they can control by making good choices.  Such beliefs lead to good choices.
Of course, it's possible your professor does not want to discuss your grades because they do not know what they are.
Regardless of the reasons, it is unlikely your professor is required to provide grades before the end of the course.

Some institutions require assessments are graded and returned (with grades and relevant comments) within a certain time frame such as 2 weeks....

How should a student know how well they do if they do not get an idea what their grade is? Students are notorious for being totally off in estimating their own performance (either over- or underestimating it drastically), so having an idea how they fare would be really the minimal requirement once you give grades at all. Of course, revising to the grade should be discouraged, but still, if you are not prepared to give feedback, you shouldn't be giving grades in the first place.

@CaptainEmacs the locus of control theory implies that students should not know how well they are doing.  Instead, they should know what areas they need to improve in, and how their choices result in improvement.  You incorrectly imply that grades are good quality feedback - on the contrary, they can be discouraging and cause some students to learn less.

It's true that grades can be discouraging, but there are ways to address that without creating a lot of frustration and anxiety because the professor insists on retaining the locus of control about how the student is actually doing.

the locus of control theory implies that students should not know how well they are doing. I never heard of this theory before but I strongly suspect it implies no such thing. Students need to know how well they‘re doing for entirely practical reasons having to do with prioritizing competing tasks. If a student is taking several classes and has limited time to study, it‘s rational, desirable and healthy for them to make decisions about how to allocate their study time between the different classes to optimize the overall grade distribution. To do that, they need to know their grades. Simple.

@DanRomik I don't believe that optimizing grades is a good goal.  That goal leads to selecting courses that require the least learning.  Students would be wiser to optimise their actual learning directly, rather than using grades as a low quality proxy.

In an ideal world, I suppose you’re right. In the actual world where failing a class can result in losing a fellowship, getting kicked out of school, even losing your visa and having to leave the country and other bad consequences, and where the difference between an A and an A- can mean not getting into your grad school of choice, the system essentially forces students to solve such optimization problems all the time as a survival strategy. You may not like that the system works that way, but it does, so I don’t think withholding grade information from students is a viable approach.

@DanRomik Exactly. It's actually worse than that: the students whose learning benefits most from having regular, consistent feedback overlaps heavily with the students from marginalized demographics, which also overlaps heavily with the students who have the most on the line with good grades. I personally believe that this is one of the common, unquestioned practices in STEM that contributes to keeping it heavily white and male.

@ElizabethHenning good point. But can you clarify what specifically is the “common, unquestioned practice” that you’re referring to?

@DanRomik The practice of professors failing to explicitly make their expectations known and failing to provide timely, regular, and nonjudgmental feedback about whether those expectations are being met. This includes things like not providing and/or sticking to a syllabus (for example) in addition to making students play guessing games about their grades.

the difference between an A and an A- can mean not getting into your grad school of choice — [citation needed]

@ElizabethHenning I do not think grades count as nonjudgmental - another reason not to emphasize them so much.

I mean nonjudgmental about their abilities, attitude, or work ethic, not the quality of their work. They're paying you to judge their work.

There is another perspective: In Germany, it used to be the case with the old study system that, in the second half of the studies, there were no grades anymore (except for the final oral exam), only 'pass'/'fail'. This permitted students to concentrate on widening their education and explore and develop their skills in difficult, and advanced topics without worrying about the precise grade. With the introduction of the Bachelor/Master system under Bologna to unify European education, this academic freedom was lost. Many felt it was damaging academic education quality.

What you call "locus of control" is a game-theoretic technique defensive tactics in warfare or antagonistic boundary-setting against hostile/toxic people: you keep the other side in the unknown where your precise boundaries are and therefore permanent on the edge as how far they can go; it can also be used for bullying, the other side never knows what is up with you. Teaching/learning should be a cooperative, even if challenging, endeavour. In this sense, your theory of teaching has a quite antagonistic tinge to it. In addition, transparency makes it harder for unhealthy practices to fester.

Addendum: I should have said in my comment that in my examples "locus of control" has switched completely to the other side by keeping the boundary or motivation in the dark. Similar in your teaching scenario: by keeping the grade in the dark, the teacher quite likely may achieve the opposite of giving the student locus of control, but rather make them feel helpless and without orientation. There must be great trust between student and teacher for this not to happen.

@JeffE "Numerus Clausus" limits the admission to certain topics to certain grades in some countries in Europe (e.g. Germany). Ok, it's not grad school, but undergrad school, but still...

@CaptainEmacs No, that is completely wrong.  "Locus of control" is an individual's belief, not a tactic.  This is a very well known psychological concept.  8e6 results in google scholar.  I am suggesting that instructors should tell students exactly what learning strategies they should choose.  Instructors should not tell students where they screwed up in the past (by telling them where they got bad grades).  Giving advice on making good choices is the precise opposite of antagonistic.  Grading is antagonistic.

@AnonymousPhysicist I am aware of the term. Still, withholding grades that have been given is precisely the opposite of providing - in your terms - locus of control. Grades matter. Especially, technically weak students need structure in learning and they need to have a precise understanding where they fail, and being mechanically defined as per grades provides orientation. Only once a minimum modicum of self-confidence is regained will the student be helped by focusing on deficit areas. I have extensive practical experience of tutoring failing and near-failing students to success.

Probably your professor doesn't believe in computing grades in intermediary stages for the subject of your class. Depending on the topic, the only interesting thing might be how qualified you are at the end of your class, when you can try to put all things together.
Let's look at a (fictitious and ridiculous) example. If you are able to work with 100% of all concepts taught in the first 88% of the class, your "intermediary grade" might look like a solid "A" at that point, right? Now imagine a future obstetrics doctor who only has learnt everything about the first eight months of gravidity.
And there is this saying even in finance: "Past Performance Is Not An Indicator Of Future Results". So you should concentrate on improving (to achieve optimal "future results"). Don't attach too much importance to intermediary grades. Not everything in academic studies is made of little portions you can check off one by one; sometimes you gotta catch 'em all before they start making sense ;)

Past performance is not an indicator of future results in financial markets because it's impossible to make any reliable predictions whatsoever about financial markets. If this is the way you run your courses, I feel sorry for your students.

@ElizabethHenning would you please explicate "the way" you are referring to? As far as I can see, I did not mention the way I use to run my courses at all. - I we indeed have met, and are you unsatisfied with your grades, you might want to take the discussion to a different place.

I've actually seen this a lot, and I think it's completely reprehensible. The reasoning is ostensibly that the only "grade" is the final grade, which cannot be accurately determined until after the final exam.
Unfortunately, you're not going to get anywhere with this instructor trying to get her to budge on this. You might have more luck with asking her a more noncommittal question, such as "How am I doing in the course?" or by asking her for advice about how you can do better (even if you're already doing well).
As someone who's TA'd for professors with this ridiculous policy, I can tell you that badgering the TA won't help. The TA doesn't know either. Really.

Can you please clarify what is the “this” that you have seen a lot and think is reprehensible? The reason I ask is that OP’s question is ambiguous. One can interpret it either as @darijgrinberg did, as describing a professor who gives out grades for assignments and a grading policy but refuses to answer the perennial “can you tell me my chances of getting a B” (etc) questions from students (in which case I will disagree that it’s anywhere near “reprehensible”); or an alternative interpretation is of a prof who simply refuses to give out any grades until the end of term, which I agree is bad.

@DanRomik "What are my chances of getting a B?" is an essentially unanswerable question. "How am I doing in the course right now?" is not. In some of the responses here, there's a conflation going on between making predictions about the final grade and letting students know where they stand as the course is in progress.

darij grinberg also says that it's "nontrivial" to compute a current grade. This is nonsense. It's completely sensible to tell a student that up to that point they have been doing B work, because it accurately implies that if the student continues doing work of that quality they can expect to earn a B. If it doesn't imply that, then the instructor needs to reconsider their grading policies.


text:
How to follow-up after doing a bad job on a "role play" interview question for grad school admissions?
I recently interviewed for a very competitive clinical mental health counseling Masters program(didn't know how competitive until the day of the interview). During the interview we were asked to role play a quick counseling session. Channeling all the confidence I had, I went first. Big mistake. I didn't do what I needed to in terms of empathizing, I mainly asked questions to gain more knowledge on the clients situation before the interviewer quickly ended my turn. I got through the rest of the interview feeling good about my answers. It's been about a week since the interview, I sent out thank you letters a few days after the fact. Now I have a coworker who went to the school (different program) insisting that I ask for a second chance. I don't think I want to do that, but is there any way that I can still email them addressing the situation? It is a very close knit relationship centered program, which my coworker pointed out, and they are trained counselors.
I've been reading other experiences where after a bad interview people emailed asking for feedback, or addressing things they wish went differently. Is it too late since I sent out the thank you letters? Not sure of what my next move should be. Thanks in advance.
I spoke to another candidate who is close with the current students and he said they were specifically looking for the candidate to show empathy - which I know I didn't do well enough.


text:
What is the typical flow chart for college mathematics courses?
I know that college mathematics typically start at Calculus I (Differential Calculus) and then Calculus II (Integral Calculus). Then after Calc II, it starts to branch off a little. One option after the first two semesters of Calculus is Calculus III (Vector/Multivariable Calculus). Another option is Linear Algebra, and then the next course is Differential Equations. I know that other, more advanced math topics exist like Number Theory/Abstract Algebra, Discrete Mathematics, Partial Differential Equations, Geometry Topics and Topology. I was wondering what order the above mentioned math topics go in and what their prerequisites typically are. If anyone can provide me with a flow chart, then that would be great.

Mathematics is done differently at different colleges.  Further, the emphasis is different when you are learning applications (engineering and applied math) or learning theory (computer science and pure mathematics).  For prerequisites, consult the course catalog, the department, and individual instructors as needed.

You might want to consider asking over on matheducators.SE as well.

Before you step into the abyss of higher mathematics, take a course that teaches you how to read, understand, and construct mathematical proofs.

@ChrisC StackExchange does not allow cross-posting. The  OP may ask for this to be migrated to math educators, or delete this question here and then post it there, but should not post it there "as well"

There is no one system in any country, let alone across the whole world. Do you have a particular country in mind, even?

This depends heavily on the student and his/her interests. You will need almost all of these courses, but it's a bit murky after linear algebra, multivariable calculus, and differential equations. Did you learn proofs in any of those courses? If not, then maybe a proofs course. This all depends on the department that you're in and how they arrange how they teach mathematical maturity and theory.
Since you asked for a flow chart, I can give you an example of one department's flow chart for their courses.

What the numbers all mean can be found here.
Hopefully this gives an example of what one department's flow chart looks like. You can clearly see there's a lot of choices to take and a huge 'choose-your-own-adventure' part to it.

Heavily depends on the university. For Germany, Calculus is already covered in high school.
However, since you are probably not going to study in Germany, your mileage might vary. I would suggest looking for specific programs at universities you are interested in - there you will be able to see the exact courses offered (as well as the different concentration, e.g. pure mathematics).
This would be a good example.
On there, you can find road maps for the general undergraduate degree in Mathematics (for many different concentrations). Hope this helps!

The link is broken.

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As a master's student, I found evidence of blatant cheating during take-home assessments. Should I report this? How?
I am doing my Masters in Mathematics at a reputable university in the UK. I am taking a statistical programming class. There has been a lot of cheating so far.
Due to Covid, we have two forms of assessment:

Coursework
Open-book, open-internet, two-hour exams

Throughout the first semester, I had multiple students reach out to me for help with their coursework — I would give them some tips or maybe refer them to a section in the lecture notes. This wasn't really an issue. As the semester progressed, there was more evidence of serious cheating. For example, during one of my group coding assignments, within 15 minutes of the assignment being released, an international student sends the group the entire solution. Hundreds of lines of code in 15 minutes, something that would usually take us a week to do. This is just one example. Surely the professors know that this is going on?
During my undergrad, after leaving the exam room, I would have a good estimate of how I did. If I answered 80% of the questions, I would get ~80%. There is no room for guessing, you either know the answer or you don't.
As part of my revision for the winter exams, I did all the past papers and found them fairly easy. The exam, however, I found extremely challenging and not closely related to our lecture notes. This makes sense, it was an open-book, open-internet exam — they wouldn't ask questions that could be answered by looking through the lecture notes.
Fast-forward a couple of weeks, the professor sends out an email saying that the average grade was 2% higher than previous years' grades. This surprised me. How did students score higher on a substantially more challenging paper?
Last week, I was invited by a coursemate to a discord group. Most of the members were international students and they were speaking Chinese so I couldn't tell what was being said. As I started scrolling through the messages, I found an entire exam paper (the actual exam, not a past exam!) was uploaded to the discord group chat and they were sharing answers!
Should this be reported? How would I go about reporting it (what should I say, and to whom)? Would anything be done? Do the professors really not know that this is going on?

The answers to this question are relevant.

I think this is opinion based. I would personally report abuse by the staff. But it never came to my mind to report a student fellow cheating on exam. Personally, I found this a scary attitude. But, as I said, is matter of opinion. If cheating would occur while competing for a position or a job, that would be a different and directly impacting situation. Conversely, the world doesn't get worse because a random person got a 10 mark instead of 5.

@Alchimista I kind of have the same feeling, but we are competing for degree classes/PhD opportunities. It wouldn't bother me if people got 5 extra marks, but I think its more substantial than that.

@Alchimista Many universities grade on a curve, so, yes, in that case you are directly competing with them.

@Alchimista If OP reports anonymously, they do not need to name the perpetrator, only evidence that cheating took place. This makes it easier to identify the cheating, and it's not on OP's conscience to have snitched.

@CaptainEmacs viable alternative indeed.

@FedericoPoloni Which actually is a reason for universities to not grade on a curve ;-)

Depends if you can benefit from it or not. Personally I prefer open everything exams, reporting cheating makes it more likely the format gets changed which I wouldn't want. I will say foreign students are kind of notorious for cheating within groups made up of people from the same country. I have witnessed it among many chinese .

It is unclear to me whether grading is competitive or not. Is there a "curve"? Is there a quota for different levels? Anything like that is competitive. The opposite situation is that your paper is judged on what you write independent of what anyone else write. Which is the situation you face?

I'm in agreement with @MassimoOrtolano on this, I think. Grading should not be competitive. Also, it is unclear to me when the discord group was created. If after the exam then there might not be any issue, especially with the uploaded materials.

@Buffy Why should grading be competitive? What is it good for? Grading can be feedback, but if a good grade is necessary for getting a degree and later a job, then it loses that function

When you say “open book, open internet” you really need to specify what is allowed and what isn’t.

@gnasher729 You can use any book or webpage, but you cannot ask others for help. That includes coursemates, friends, family, forums, etc.

You should report this immediately, but be sure you collect evidence.
Edit: The reason that you should collect evidence is that you are accusing your fellow students of gross academic misconduct that would result in serious consequences. Not only will it be impossible for anyone to pursue the matter without evidence, but making baseless accusations could result in negative consequences for you.
Screenshot correspondence (if it’s in Chinese get it translated or find a native speaker among the faculty who can translate). Emails, text messages etc should be saved as well. If your university is reputable, it will deal harshly with these cases.
The actual procedure varies by institution but the first person to contact is the professor. They’d likely want to know that this is happening and would be furious to hear this. It’s quite possible that the professor is unaware, or simply unable to obtain evidence that something is going on: if everything is happening on a non university server there’s little they can do to catch cheaters.
Would anything be done? That depends on the institution, but what you’re describing is pretty clear cut. Students can get expelled and in the case of international students, have their visa revoked as a result. If this happened in my class I would do everything I can to ensure those students are punished as much as possible. The likeliest outcome is failing the class and getting a remark on your transcript.
Help make academia better and report them.

You cannot ask a student to become an investigator. It's the professor who organized the exam weakly from the point of cheating (I've predicted exactly that here, for UK, and I'm still appalled to see the naïveté of certain approaches), and it's the professor or the university who should take the burden to investigate, collect traces etc. if they wish to do something.

I don't like the idea that a student should have to get texts translated.

I would like to report it anonymously. How would I do that?

I’m not asking anyone to be an investigator. I am saying that accusing fellow students of serious academic misconduct with no proof can have negative implications for the OP.

I think you can via a throwaway email. Some universities have built in systems for that

@Massimo we agree that the blame lies partly with the lecturers

@Spark Why would reporting have negative implications for me? I wouldn't want to report it if there are could be negative implications for me. Every single exam that I took was compromised and it seems like students had the help of external people.

Reporting without proof might. If a student tells me that X cheated but provides no evidence or at least where to find it (eg the address of the discord server), I wouldn’t know who to believe. I’m thinking more like the lecturer will perceive you as less reliable, not serious consequences.

If you’re uncomfortable identifying yourself just email anonymously.

@user572780: Create a new email account using a widely used provider (e.g. Gmail) and use it solely for this purpose of reporting the cheating. Do NOT ever use any university system for that! (Spark is wrong about that, because any information that passes through a university system can be traced to you.) In your emails, do not reveal your name, your gender, or anything that might identify you more than the fact that you didn't cheat.

Some universities have anonymous channels for reporting academic misconduct. They cannot legally reveal the identity of the reporter. As I mention, if that is not an option, then use a throwaway email account, hence "I think you can via a throwaway email".

@Spark How could you actually proof anything with discord? Usernames are not real names and there is no reason to believe that every member of the discord server has cheated.

The short answer is that I don’t know. People are sometimes stupid and disclose identities, or share personal info. I. Any case this should be reported.

I would note that any professor who has open internet exams is probably fully aware cheating is occurring.  Having some evidence would likely be helpful.

Depending on the rules at your university you may be required to report academic dishonesty by your peers when you are aware of it. Before determining whether one "should" report academic dishonesty, OP should determine if it is a requirement of being a member of the university community.
I can't speak to what is required at OP's university (nor can any other answer without knowing the specifics), but many universities require students and faculty adhere to an Honor Code. At my university (a large, public research university in the US) the bulk of this code is dedicated to promoting academic honesty. Not only are students are prohibited from giving or receiving unauthorized assistance, but they are required to report violations of the code when they become aware of them.
I'm not sure if this was the original intent, but in my experience, required reporting makes prosecuting cases of academic dishonesty much more straightforward. In the OPs specific case, it would be difficult to prove a student relied on materials posted to a discord channel when submitting their assignments. Under the Honor Code of my university, however, one would only need demonstrate a student was aware someone else was distributing prohibited materials and failed to report it. Simply being a user of a Discord channel where students were sharing exam answers during a test would likely lead to an Honor Code hearing (although without evidence they provided or used the prohibited assistance the punishment would likely be nothing more than a warning that would be removed from the student's record if they didn't commit further violations.)
I would suggest OP:

Immediately unsubscribe from any discord channels where other students are committing academic dishonesty
Familiarize oneself with the requirements placed on students for reporting academic dishonesty at their university and report what they know if required
If they are are not required to report academic dishonesty when they become aware of it, then ponder their moral obligation to report it and after that the costs/benefits of reporting.

You should definitely report it.
At my university, students can report academic integrity infractions they witness not to the prof, but to the administration. A committee made up of independent profs and lecturers reviews cases submitted. It may invite you, the other students and/or your prof to testify. It may find the other students guilty or not, depending of the facts presented, and hands out a sanction if relevant.
I hope your university has a similar mechanism.
It is not a matter of competition. It is a matter of fairness, of playing on a level field, and of intellectual integrity.
Best of luck!

If you are mentioning "fairness" and "playing on a level field", you are fundamentally writing about competition.

It's a bit of a struggle between both, but I would consider what Squary94 said and not report on it. It's too ambiguous to tell which users are actually students and they would probably tie it back to you, which would get you in unnecessary trouble.
And, as you mentioned, you getting invited would only add to the suspicion. Although this might sound unfair, it's best to leave yourself with the least amount of involvement. What I could suggest is that you anonymously report it  to the professor after the exam has been taken.

I am going against the grain here and advise you not to report it. Not based on ethics but based on the realistic outcome of this entire procedure.
If you report this, how is anyone able to differenciate between cheaters and non-cheaters? Being part of a discord group is no crime and there is no way to know who took a glimpse at anything uploaded there. Also, discord is usually rather anonymous. Who would be able to associate user572780 to a actual student?
What course of action would realistically be left to a faculty member being officially informed that cheating occured? Anybody in the discord server has plausible deniability and probably 90% of everyone on the server couldn't be matched to a real person to begin with. Flat out accusing N amount of people of cheating is no thing to be taken lightly.
They could void the entirety of the exam but this would punish everyone who took this exam without cheating. I have never heard of such a thing to happen and I imagine the steps involved in such a undertaking are extremely troublesome.
Or the person you report it to acknowledges that they can not do something reasonable about it. Best outcome, a few people get accused of cheating who can entirely deny it or at worst you get everyones grade revoked.


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What goes on at a meeting of a "teaching commision" in Switzerland?
I'm an undergraduate student in Switzerland. Tomorrow, I am going to attend the teaching commission as a delegate. The teaching commission is responsible for quality control of the teaching and the improvement of the course offering and plan of studies.  I have the right to give some remarks, ask questions and vote.
I've never attended  one of these meetings before, so I am a little bit scared. What typically goes on at one of these meetings? What kind of questions are typically asked? What kind of remarks will be expected from the delegates?

@laura, could you please insert this explanation of what it is, and what the rules are? What actual power do the students have? Is it purely "advisory"? Or can the students "force" some changes? Who decides? Etc.?

@paulgarrett I think if Laura knew all that, she wouldn't have needed to ask the question.

If you want to make a difference in such situations, don't focus on individuals, especially poor instructors. Instead, focus on the challenges you have in learning that might be made easier if the system were somehow different. If you can suggest changes, all the better. But the design of the system is up to those who control it and information from folks like yourself can help them see where it could be improved. How to improve it is their task.
At the moment, with COVID disrupting everything, it is especially helpful for people to hear the effect of the change in delivery that students are experiencing and what is missing in the current environment. People are forced to use mechanisms at the moment that are suboptimal and might be improved with the appropriate feedback.


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How do I cite a newspaper comic strip in MLA style?
As part of an academic writing assignment, I've been asked to write an essay and to include MLA style citations in-line and in a "Works Cited" section at the end. This essay is an analysis of a story, and so the vast majority of references are to the story that the essay is about. However, I've also referred to a newspaper comic strip (Calvin & Hobbes for those curious) as a contrasting example, including direct quotations from the strip. Since I'm quoting directly, I need to cite the source, and since the citations need to be in MLA style, I need to cite the comic strip in MLA style.
Unfortunately, there's not much info out there about citing the funnies in academic writing.
Since newspaper comic strips appear in multiple papers at the same time, there's no one true original source that the strip appeared in, so I don't think it makes much sense to cite a specific newspaper - but that leaves me without a "container" for the strip. For the "Works Cited" section, my current best guess is something along the lines of "Watterson, Bill. "Calvin & Hobbes". Comic strip. Universal Syndicate, December 31, 1995. Print", based on the MLA guidelines available from Purdue, but I'd prefer something that directly addresses my specific use case rather than guessing.
As for the in-text citations, I obviously have to cite "Watterson", but what comes along with that? The MLA guidelines focus heavily on chapters and page numbers, neither of which is particulaly applicable to this case. My instinct would be to add the year of publication, i.e. "(Watterson, 1995)", but it doesn't seem like the year is a focus of MLA style at all.

My other thought was just to avoid the problem entirely, via putting a line such as "...in the final Calvin & Hobbes comic strip, published December 31, 1995, Bill Watterson uses..." before the quotations, but I'm not familiar enough with the MLA guidelines to say if that's a.) acceptable b.) the proper way to go about this.
I could just email my professor (and may well still do so), but in the interests of publicly available knowledge: How do I cite a specific newspaper comic strip in MLA style, both in-text and in a bibliography?

At least some of the calvin&hobbes comics are also available as books, which are easlity citeable. Have you looked into that?

I think it would be OK to cite one particular newspaper even if it appears in several. Does the MLA guide say how to cite newspaper articles? If so, I think you could just use that style. Also perhaps you could give a link like https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-washington-post/20241125/page/27 (you might be able to log into this site through a local library or university library)

http://www.comicsresearch.org/CAC/cite-em.html

School librarians get a thrill from supplying students with this type of information.

It is not relevant for your purposes that the comic strip you wish to cite has appeared in multiple different places including, perhaps, in a comic collection or in multiple different syndicated newspapers. Citations are not indicators of "The One True Source" (see, for example, section 8.1 of the APA Publication Manual). Their purpose is simpler; namely, to allow a reader to verify that the material cited is of the nature (content, form, etc) as the citer implies, and to indicate the material that you have read/seen. Hence you need only focus on a single place you have seen the strip and where you know the comic strip can be found.
If you accessed the particular Calvin and Hobbes cartoon in a printed collection or book, you would cite it as you would a chapter or section in a book:
Works Cited Entry: Watterson, Bill. “Comic Title or Description of the Strip.” Calvin and Hobbes, Andrews McMeel Publishing, Year, page number(s).
Fictitious example: Watterson, Bill. “Snowmen striking.” The Calvin and Hobbes One Hundred and Tenth Anniversary Book, Future Publishing, 1995, p. 42.
In-Text Citation: (Watterson 42)
If you are citing a strip as published in a newspaper:
Works Cited Entry: Watterson, Bill. “Comic Title or Description of the Strip.” Newspaper Name, Date, page number(s).
Fictitious example: Watterson, Bill. “Snowmen melting.” The Reindeer Post, 24 Dec. 1995, p. D12.
In-Text Citation: (Watterson D12)
If you have the option of either citing a website where the cartoon has appeared, or citing a hardcopy publication, I would choose the hardcopy. It might be harder for a reader to get hold of but the citation is likely to be meaningful well beyond the lifetime of a typical webpage.

Could you say what this answer is based on: official MLA information, guidance from some respected third party, your experience of what other authors do, or just what you personally think is logical?

Citations are not indicators of "The One True Source". Actually they usually are, e.g. with journal papers. With comic strips I agree it is different.

Their purpose is simpler; namely, to allow a reader to verify that the material cited is of the nature (content, form, etc) as the citer implies. No, it is to identify the source and allow the reader to do whatever they want with that information. Unfortunately, citations often don't clearly imply anything specific about the content of the material cited. It could be evidence to back up a statement, or an example of similar research, or something else.


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Getting recommendations letters after the referee has left the institution?
I am applying for admissions into Master's programs in Germany. Many programs here prefer printed/scanned letters on institutional letter-headed paper.
One of the professors with whom I was well acquainted with during my undergraduate studies joined another university. Moreover, a very senior manager at my workplace, with whom I have worked on a lot of stuff and also have a good rapport, is to retire soon.
Please give advice as to how effective recommendation letters can be obtained from referees whose association with the institution/organization that linked them to the recommended applicant has ended.

You say "prefer" letters on institutional letterhead - do you know how much of an issue it would be if it was not on letterhead, but explained the circumstances? (Or is that something you'd like to get feedback on?) For the professor that moved, would there be an issue with providing a recommendation letter on their new institution's letterhead? For the professor who retired, did they do so on "emeritus" status, which may still have access to institutional letterhead?

@R.M. The issue of letterhead needs to be discussed with universities individually for more detail (even if they mention it on their website). Moreover, the soon to retire person is not a professor (or affiliated with a university), although he has a doctorate.

I would ask the programs you are applying to if there is any issue(most likely the institutions don't care much about it), but I would expect the professor at another institution would write a letter on their current letterhead, and in the letter would simply state "When I was an Associate Professor of Academia at Grand Old University..." for clarity; the retiring manager is to retire soon so if they can write a letter before they do so then I see no problem, though unfortunately companies have various policies on letters of recommendation that can be restrictive, so be aware of those first.

@BryanKrause Your suggestion about the professor is helpful and I agree with it. As for the manager, I would not bother him at a time when he is literally packing up to leave the country. I will get his consent now and only get the letter when it can be most useful.

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What are the chances of an article to get published if it got minor revision comments, and a single optional major revision comment?
Our paper have been reviewed two days ago. The comments of the the two reviewers are few and of minor type (spelling and format issues) and can be addressed easily, except of one comment in which one of the two reviewers "optionally" asked if we can use data from other locations. However, we cannot do this now. Getting the data will take long time before being used in the study, the deadline of the journal revision is so tight, and the study is already intense and long. The status on the journal online system is "Major Revison" despite the fact that all other comments are minor, and the only major comment is optional.
How do we respond to the reviewer to take the other option: not adding new data?
What are the chances of accepting the paper in this case?

Hard to tell without seeing more of the referee's phrasing: are they saying it's really optional, or "optional" but important for the science, and how did the editor take it? If they literally used the word optional, I'd assume it's the first. "Major revision" might just indicate that one of the referees wanted to see the paper again - i.e. so they can see that you took their concerns seriously and thought about whether or not it was plausible.

Thank the reviewer, let him know that you are aware of the benefits of using data from other locations, add a paragraph on this in the outlook part of your paper as "future work to do" and mention this in your response to the editor/reviewer.

How do know which comment lead to the editor deciding on major vs. minor revision?