Hi all,

I was wondering if I could get some input on an issue that I'm having in my statistics class.

I am in intro statistics this quarter. The lecture is 3x per week with one small group discussion section per week that is taught by a TA. We have three midterms plus a final exam. Those four tests make up the bulk of the grade for the course. NOTE - none of the TA's really speak English.

The class is SO disorganized. For the first week, there was no discussion section because the TA's were not prepared. I shrugged that off as it just being the first week - there wasn't much to talk about anyways as the course had only just begun.

Then came our first midterm. According to my professor's syllabus, students with exam accommodations are to arrange the specifics at least two weeks prior to the exam date. At the beginning of the quarter, students submit a form electronically to each of their professors, just so that the professor is aware of the student's approved accommodations. When the professor opens the letter, the status of the document online changes to 'confirmed'. A week into the quarter, my professor had not opened the letter. The first midterm was two weeks into the quarter, so it was imperative that I get in touch with the professor immediately. I sent her two emails, to both of which I received no response. I went up to her in person after class and she said that she would get back to me via email, and no response. Our first midterm approached. Finally, she sent me an email and CC-ed the head TA, and said that the two of us should arrange details directly. Cut to - the TA emailed me on Tuesday afternoon (the exam was Friday) and said, you will take the exam tomorrow at 3:00pm. Mind you, the day I was to take the exam was two days before the rest of the non-accommodated class, and the day before the discussion session (where we would most likely be reviewing). Not fair. However, I let it go.

The exam had three questions with typos on it. The TA didn't tell me that there were typos. As I result, I was unfairly marked down for leaving those answers blank (I knew that thtere was something wrong with the test because the answer options didn't make any sense). I had to hunt the professor down for a regrade. I did that. Then she sent out a mass email to everyone saying that she had messed up something on the answer key and that everyone's exams had to be regraded. So my exam was regraded twice and now I don't even know what my score is anymore.

Next - we have had five discussions so far, and three different TA's because they can't organize themselves. Last week, our TA was the same head TA that abruptly told me that I would take the exam early. He spent twenty minutes writing in gibberish on the board (nothing we had ever seen before) until finally I raised my hand and told him that we hadn't learned that stuff. He asked what we had learned, and I told him. He said that was what he was doing (even though it clearly wasn't and everyone was confused). He continued writing until other people backed me up, and it became clear that no one knew what he was doing because no one could even begin the practice problems that he gave us. Then he said, "Sorry I don't have the book. And I do not have class website. I just assumed you were doing this". He is the HEAD TA, it is week SIX, and he doesn't have the book?!?! That is unacceptable. Another student asked him if he could just pull some problems that had to do with what we were learning, and he stood there in awkard silence and said we could all go.

Finally, our second midterm is this week. I have been trying to get in touch with him for a week now, and he keeps saying that he won't arrange anything until the professor tells him the details. Except the professor made it very clear that he and I were to work out specifics by ourselves. I finally got to the end of my rope. I got my learning disability specialist involved (she works in the student center). She emailed my professor, who then sent me a very passive aggressive email reminding me to talk to the TA instead of her to set up exam accommodations. I have been trying to talk to the TA! Worst of all, I keep CC-ing the learning specialist in my emails back and forth with the professor and this TA, so that she can see what I am dealing with, and every time the TA replies, he does not hit 'reply all'. So she doesn't see how stupid this all is.

What do I do? I can't drop the class. But all of this is making my anxiety increase. The unpredictability of when I will take exams and whatnot is making it really hard for me to keep on top of things. I already have issues with organization. I just don't know what to do when I'm trying to adhere to my professor's expectations outlined in her syllabus and she is not helpful and neither is the TA.