aiming for. More damaging is the potential reputation for grade-grubbing that you will earn as your professor tells colleagues about your protest. This is especially likely if you're challenging a grade in your major, where a reputation for pettiness could cost you support and opportunity. 3 Ask to make an appointment with the professor or assistant to discuss how you got the grade and how you may be able to avoid getting that type of grade on the next assignments . Professors generally will look favorably upon students who are putting a concerted effort into their course and doing their best to improve. It is best to talk to a Professor NOT during class. If you speak to a Professor during that time, they may brush you off or be too busy to pay attention. Instead, right after or right before class, try and mention a time that you could meet. Professors will be impressed that you respect them and don't just show up whenever YOU feel like it, and that you take their thoughts into consideration as well. If the grade was made by a teaching assistant , do not bypass the teaching assistant in the process. Ask to make an appointment with the teaching assistant to discuss the matter. Bypassing the teaching assistant may make the assistant feel slighted, as you go over his or her head without even discussing it first. Likewise, most professors who have teaching assistants should tell you to discuss the matter with the