
Have you ever been so close to getting an A in a class that it almost hurts? There’s something about getting 89.5% that’s somehow more painful than just getting a straight-up B, if only because you think of all the “what if” situations where you could have done better. All you can do is cringe and try your best to forget that you weren’t quite good enough.
But this student is proving that he knows how to play the game by turning that almost-A into a solid A-. How, you ask? Reverse psychology at its finest.
Twitter user Neil Pascua sent his teacher this clever email, knowing all too well that no teacher would lower a students grade intentionally.

His teacher admitted it was a new request, since students don’t often ask for worse grades than they already have.
From my teacher when requesting to lower my "grad" 😅(very nerve racking) pic.twitter.com/LyAQErYEKT
— Neil Pascua (@neilpascva) May 29, 2017
And, just as Neil suspected, his plan worked:

Don’t believe him? Here’s proof.
— Neil Pascua (@neilpascva) May 29, 2017
He eventually had to admit to his teacher what he’d done, but she wasn’t even mad, because she’s a Cool Teacher.
My teacher is too cool for that. pic.twitter.com/4SynygMOX2
— Neil Pascua (@neilpascva) May 29, 2017
Of course, people on the Internet were in awe of Neil’s plan, either because he was smart enough to think it up or because they were surprised it actually worked.
https://twitter.com/graciepillow/status/868945497272324096
https://twitter.com/isaacwirvin/status/868878115443015680
https://twitter.com/FVKME/status/869272271696924673
In fact, some people decided to try Neil’s method to no avail.
didn't work pic.twitter.com/NH4R9sblSJ
— kayla mulji (@kaylamulji) May 29, 2017
I literally got a "no, not at this time" comment. The fuck is this shit
— blenda! (@paramore9847) May 29, 2017
And a lot of others didn’t even try, because they knew it wouldn’t work favorably for them.
https://twitter.com/ylehay/status/869041843622825984
https://twitter.com/JUSTKlRAN/status/869009322176425984
Oh well, it’s worth a shot anyway. You may not get that A, but at least you know you tried.