Early in my career, a mother came to my office to discuss her daughter’s calculus grade. When parents make this kind of request, I try to manage expectations by saying that as a school administrator, I have never changed a grade. Still, hopeful parents persist. In this case, the student had received a B, which her mother saw as a blemish on her otherwise spotless transcript. “I’m worried about how this will look to colleges,” she told me. “Is there any extra credit she can do?” I explained that