<p>Hey Guys
I'm an incoming freshman and I was hoping to find out what goes on with the discussion sessions.
How formal are they?
Is attendance taken/is being late an issue? (Two of my discussion sessions are pretty close to eachother)
Is it all TA or is it with the professors?
Leaving early an option?</p>
<p>I am an incoming freshmen too, but this is what I heard from my sister who graduated from Davis.
Most discussion sessions are taught by TA. Some will take attendance, others may not. Some will be pretty helpful and some will basically be useless. Like in some discussion, the staff will go over the important details/notes on a particular section as a review. However, other discussion may only ask whether or not the students have any questions, if they don’t they can leave. So I think it really depends on who is the person teaching the discussion sessions</p>
<p>Discussion sections are informal. I don’t think I ever had a discussion section where attendance was taken - the main purpose is just to help you with the class material. Either we went over the challenging homework problems, or the TA would give an overview of the material covered that week, or both. I only had TAs teach my discussion sections. You can leave early if you want, but maybe tell the TA beforehand so they aren’t caught off-guard.</p>
<p>Some sections are mandatory and apart of your grade. Just throwing that out there.</p>
<p>Writing classes tend to make attendance ~10% of your grade, and while this is rare I’ve had a discussion or two subbed by the professor when the TA was out. 
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<p>I have walked out of discussions early but always felt rude about it :</p>