Penn Foster: Check this out!

[snazzlefrag]

Hey All,

On another board, someone questioned whether she could still pass the course if she failed both the proctored final and the retake exam, but had 100% on the module exams. I, along with many others, assumed that you would fail the entire class if you failed the retake exam.

However, take a look at the email correspondence that took place between the student and PFC. It appears that you CAN still pass the course as long as your overall average is high enough.

Read on...

-----------------
Here was my question and here was their answer:

"In the event that I would fail the proctor and retake it what happens if you fail it a second time if you passed all the other exams?"

Here was their response:

"If you have a passing average even with failing proctor exams, you will pass the course. IF you don't you will have to take either the replacement course or take it at another school."

(she posted this response to the message board, and several people doubted that she had been given correct information. So she again contacted PFC and asked them to confirm it up the ranks. She gave an example scenario of scoring 100% and 100% on two module exams, then failing the final proctored exam with a score of 65%, and then also failing the retake exam with a score of 68%.)

Here is the second response from PFC:

"Good morning.

(I just double checked this with the proctored exam department so
that I would be sure to give you the correct information.)

The grade for a course is a weighted average. It is calculated by
taking two thirds the average of the lesson grades and one third the
proctored exam grade.

Using the example you gave the average of the lesson grade is 100.
So, add 100 plus 100 plus 65 and divide the total by 3. The average
would be 88. However, our policy requires that you retake a failed
proctored exam.

If your grade is 68 on the retake, the average is found by taking 100
plus 100 plus 68 and dividing the total by 3. The result would be 89.

So, the short answer to your question is yes, you can fail the
proctored exam on the second attempt and still pass the course if
your lesson grades are high enough."
-----------------

I found that to be a very interesting exchange.

What do you guys make of it?
Snazzlefrag

[ShotoJuku]

[COLOR="Navy"]That is incredible!!!

I panicked over having to pass that damn final; my average before was in the mid-90's so I guess I could have gotten by.

Too late now for me but GREAT NEWS for anyone else![/COLOR]

[skyfall123]

Great news!

[mapalo]

THis is great News Thanks so much

[hunter2115]

Wow! That is great news! Takes a little pressure off as I prepare for the Stats final. If this is true, it makes earning good grades on the unit exams absolutely critical. Since they are un-timed and not proctored, getting good grades on them is not that difficult.

[snazzlefrag]

To All,

Obviously, I have only been able to present second hand information here. I just thought it was a significant enough piece of news that it was worth sharing. But, if any of you feel you might actually need to rely on this policy to pass your course, I would recommend that you personally contact PFC to verify it. It's always better to hear it straight from the horse's mouth.

Also, if anyone knows with any certainty that this information is incorrect, please share that with us.

Thanks,
Snazzlefrag

[hunter2115]

To All,

Obviously, I have only been able to present second hand information here. I just thought it was a significant enough piece of news that it was worth sharing. But, if any of you feel you might actually need to rely on this policy to pass your course, I would recommend that you personally contact PFC to verify it. It's always better to hear it straight from the horses mouth.

Also, if anyone knows with any certainty that this information is incorrect, please share that with us.

Thanks,
Snazzlefrag

I will contact PFC tomorrow and relay what I am told regarding this policy. I sure hope its true!

[hunter2115]

Ok...below is my question to PFC and the response that I recieved. Seems that it is indeed possible to fail both proctored exams and still pass the course- but they dont recommend it!

From: "Education Services" <edserv@pennfoster.com>
To: <hunter2115@comcast.net>
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 8:14 AM
Subject: Re: Contact Us - Business and Industrial Education [#2286149]


> Yes. It counts as 1/3 your overall grade but you could still pass the
> course even with failing proctor grades however that would put a serious
> grade downgrade for this course if that happens.
>
> sincerely,
>
> Eric
>
> --Original Message--
> From: hunter2115@comcast.net
> Date: 11/19/2007 4:49:16 AM
> To: edserv@pennfoster.com
> Subject: Contact Us - Business and Industrial Education
>
>
> Program Name : ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
>
> Program Number: 99999999
>
> Message:
>
> I was in contact with another student who gave me some information that I
> want to check on concerning the final exam for Business Statistics. My
> exam average for the 3 unit exams is 97% going into the final. If I were
> to score less than passing grades on both the final exam and the make-up
> exam, could I still pass the course given my scores on the unit exams?
> Thanks
>
>

[beckysharp]

This was not my experience. I did well on most of my exams with a average of 87, but the final dropped my average to 59 and so I failed by one point. I took College Math and passed by the skin of my teeth-4 points!
I am now working on Geometry for the GRE. I haven't had Geometry since the 8th grade and I think I was getting a D then.

Crystal

[snazzlefrag]

This was not my experience. I did well on most of my exams with a average of 87, but the final dropped my average to 59 and so I failed by one point. I took College Math and passed by the skin of my teeth-4 points!
I am now working on Geometry for the GRE. I haven't had Geometry since the 8th grade and I think I was getting a D then.

Crystal

Hi Crystal,

Didn't you decide not to proceed with the retake exam though? I remember you had a really hard time with the final exam.

The key to this policy is that, once you have taken the retake exam, they take the average of your module exams and your retake exam score (70 max), and if your overall score is above 70%, you pass the course. But if you don't take the retake exam, their policy stipulates that you automatically fail the entire course. In other words, you MUST take the retake exam before the 'overall average' policy kicks in.

I wonder how you would have done on the retake exam. Reports are that it is a lot easier, and only 7 questions instead of 15. With the downside being that you can only earn a max of 70% on it.

Anyway, you succeeded on the College Math, so it's a moot point now.

I hope you are well,
Snazzlefrag