P1 vs P5 Grading

I realized last night that grading (for me) is totally different at the beginning of INSEAD as it is at the end.

I remember I had a class in P1, and we took the final exam without getting anything back for the rest of the period - we had turned in a paper, and he didn't have a chance to grade it before we took the exam. I was really upset. I thought it was totally unfair to take an exam after not knowing where we stood.

This period I have three classes in particular where I have turned in multiple assignments (4 in one, 7 in another, and 4 in the third), and we have not gotten them back. And I really don't care what grades they have on them. I'm not even sure they're getting graded. And I REALLY don't care. It's so un-Melanie.

I have mentioned this before, but at INSEAD we have non-grade disclosure. We can't tell potential employers what grades we have, and they can't ask. If you're in the top 10%, you're on the dean's list, and if you're not, you might as well be at the bottom.

I didn't internalize that grades don't matter until recently, so I have a high GPA, but it's not high enough to make the dean's list. Basically it was just a waste of work and time. I can literally fail four of my five current classes and still graduate (they drop your lowest elective grade, and I'm taking a bunch too many credits). That's just a weird feeling.

Now if I could just finish up the LAST bits of grad school (for the last time, I hope):

• A global strategy project on the global expansion of a local waxing (like bikini waxing) compay
• A pricing strategy project in the pricing of beer in Singapore
• Your First 100 Days, which requires its own blog posting soon
• Two papers and a presentation for a communication and leadership class that just started
• One more paper for my corporate turnaround class (I don't know what it's on yet)

It's pretty cool stuff, and I honestly enjoy doing almost all of it. I'm such a dork.