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Some of my Chem professors would give you the grade of your final exam if it were higher than your grade at that point in time. They figured if you pulled off a better final exam score, then you deserve that as your final grade as it's a cumulative exam. They also mentioned it rarely happens.

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I'm pretty sure I had a history professor unofficially do something like this. I got B's on the midterms and needed a 100 on the final to get an A. I knew I did better on the final and couldn't think of a question I missed, but 100 still seemed unlikely. I suspect I got a ~98, and he ran with the logic that if you're demonstrating a very solid understanding of the material on the final and close to a cutoff, you earned the higher grade.

Also, history. No one was getting 98% on my physics or math exams.

That might have just been a standard bell-curve. If you got the best score, you might have been bumped up to 100%.

This was standard in the Chemistry department at my university. It also saved my ass twice.

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