Presently, only professors teaching 100- and 200-level courses are required to report midterm grades. But it is equally important that students in upper-level classes know where they stand. Being left in the dark about how they are performing adversely affects students' ability to anticipate and adjust at a critical time in the semester.
Many upper-level classes are graded based on more subjective factors. For example, many professors in upper-level seminars place emphasis on participation and large independent projects. Because it is harder for students to understand how professors evaluate participation, mini-presentations and their contributions to joint projects, students can be caught off guard when they receive their final grades. These aspects are naturally more difficult for professors to evaluate even at the end of the term, let alone midway through the semester, which may be why some are so reluctant to do so. But the difficulty of divining a grade based in large part on subjective measures is precisely why students need to know midway through the semester how professors perceive their performance.
The registrar should require that all professors post midterm grades on SCORE. Professors should also be asked to calculate a student's whole grade rather than posting only the result of a midterm paper or examination. If professors are unwilling to or cannot calculate grades, departments should require professors to give students personalized feedback on their performance.
Posted midterm grades for all courses are also beneficial for job, internship and scholarship applications. For freshmen applying to summer programs, the difference between showing one semester of performance and one-and-a-half semesters of performance can be significant. Some programs, like Princeton in Beijing, ask for grades from specific classes or classes in progress.
Posting midterm grades for all courses would provide tangible benefits for students with little downside. For students, a surprise is far better in October than in late January.
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