So yeah. We had our first Biology exam today and, actually, we got it back today. (It was a standard 90 minute exam, and our class is much longer than that. We watched a movie on DNA for the second 2/3 or so of class, while the teacher went through and graded everything - which was pretty impressive).
I got a 95, which - you'd think - I can't complain about. Well, technically it was a 93, but everyone got one question wrong. Apparently the decision was that it hadn't really been taught, and it was retroactively pulled from the test. Being me though, I can always complain.
I'm really mad because the few things I did get wrong were the /easy/ things. My studying was somewhat misguided for the test - I can go into much greater detail about some things than was required, but in spending my limited time like that I glossed over some of the really straightforward things. We had a few questions on those straightforward things. Getting those half-wrong is really embarrassing.
One of the questions I even knew the answer to (simple: list three differences between DNA and RNA). One of the differences I listed wasn't the "one" being looked for though. I knew the one being looked for - I even specifically wrote it down on the next page when I diagrammed how two nucleotides form a phosphodiester bond to create a polymer (the 2' carbon has an attached H in DNA, but an attached OH in RNA) - but I listed a different thing on that first question.
I kind of want to go and see if I can get credit.... but I don't want to seem like an awful person, complaining to the teacher over my 95. Especially since, ideally, this is someone I'm hoping to get to know well enough (and perform well enough for) that I can get a future letter of recommendation. ... A second option is to go - state that I knew the answer, and that my exam proves that fact - and also state that I don't want my grade altered at all, and just want to clear things up so I don't look like an idiot. ... that option might be even worse though, I'm not sure. It certainly makes me look a bit arrogant (which is probably kind of an accurate picture of me, if not the one I'd like to convey).
And the third thing that I'm fuming over is that it sounded like someone managed to get a perfect score, and it wasn't me; I'm supposed to. :: fume ::
As far as the test itself goes, it was a decent mix between my Super Easy Chemistry exams, where they were practically handed out before hand, and my Painful Crying Game Physics exams. The exam wasn't handed out in any form before hand, and it had a fair mix of questions on. It was also missing silly ammounts of extra credit (See Also: my 110%+ performances in Chemistry). I think these tests will give me a (fairly) good measure of where I'm at.
Well, all this said - what do I think of the outcome?
I guess I can't /really/ complain. A 95 will get me a 4.0 just as effectively as a 100 (although a 95 exam average would leave me just about no room for error in performing subpar in the lab). Also, given that I had less time to study for this than I'd have liked because of my family stuff, the outlook for the next test (should) be even better. That's an encouraging sign. And I now have a pretty good idea of how the tests are set up - I can try to not get so bogged down in the details, and focus a bit more on the big picture. It's not a bad start for the course, and I'm set up to do even better from here on out.
Certainly beats Physics, at any rate.
