"The Fear" or "Looking the Statistical Gift Horse in the Mouth"

This semester, i've not been operating at the top of my game, and my courseload is harder than ever. I haven't had the gumption to force myself to study as much as i normally would. I have a statistics test tomorrow, and i'm scared of how i'll do. the first test for any class is always the scariest, because prior to that, you don't really know how an instructor is going to test. My saving grace is that i've done the math for the class's points for the semester, and if you attend every class and score perfectly on the online workshops and practice tests (which is possible for EVERYONE because you can retake the exact same test and it tells you the answers, before you email the results to the teacher) then you essentially have what i consider to be a guaranteed "starting grade" of 34% and some decimal change. This means that to get an A, you need to score 56% or higher (on average) for all the other things- REAL tests, etc. to get a C, you only need to get a 36%, and to get a perfectly respectable B, you only need to get 46%. That's REALLY not setting the bar very high... i am pretty sure that i can just read each chapter's review section, do the practice tests online a couple times a piece and maybe go over the in-class powerpoints that the teacher made available online and still get an A for the semester... at LEAST a B, even if i bite it HARD all semester long. I don't like to approach school this way, but with a language class from hell and BIO, it seems like maybe it would be smart to be conniving instead of studious in this instance- especially since this is my last math class for my degree, and it's kind of silly that i have to take it anyway. nurses don't USE statistics, practically speaking, and if they TECHNICALLY do use them, it's so elementary a 5th grader could do it. What kind of scares me and disturbs me is the fact that the way this class is set up, i could get a good grade without ever LEARNING the course material. i'll get a 4.0 for testing... well, at a mid-range F level or higher. I have to admit, i think that's kind of shameful- for myself for taking advantage of a situation like that, and for the school for creating the opportunity for unearned success.

If any of the kids in that class do the same thing, and they're trying for a mid-range to serious science or math oriented degree, they might actually be screwed when they get to whatever comes after statistics. or maybe not... i think stats is kind of its own thing? anyway.