<p>I have to travel the second week of my Spring semester. I'm not going to explain the reason, but it's unavoidable, unfortunately. I will be gone for four days, so obviously I'll be missing four days of classes.</p>
<p>I'm nervous about falling behind and not being able to catch up and getting bad grades. I'm especially worried about my statistics class, as I'm not great in math.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any tips or advice for me?</p>
<p>Email your professors/ TA’s. Make sure they know that it is unavoidable (but if it’s anything frivolous, they will not want to help you) so you can have an excused absence or whatever. Maybe they can send you worksheets/ let you know what topics in your textbook to read. </p>
<p>Talk to your friends/ classmates in the same class so they can scan their notes and send it to you. Make sure you trust the right people who take good notes.</p>
<p>When you come back and have read the books and notes, go to your professor/ TA’s office hours with questions ASAP.</p>
<p>Basically, work hard, reach out as much as you can, and a good professor and TA will make the same amount of effort to help you back on your feet.</p>
<p>Seirsly has some good advice. I’d add to make sure you’re super polite and nice about it. Even though it’s unavoidable, your professors aren’t going to be pleased, but if you’re polite and apologetic about it, they might be more willing to help you out. </p>
<p>This may seem silly, but maybe you should check out the “favorite student emails” thread from the Chronicle of Higher Education:</p>
<p><a href=“Chronicle Forums”>http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,29894.0.html</a></p>
<p>They share good, bad, funny, and ridiculous emails from students, so it might give you a better idea of how professors react to emails and how you can construct yours. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>harvestmoon- Thanks for posting that link, some gold in there! It’s hard to believe that some students are actually this dense.</p>
<p>OP- Professors that use powerpoints will sometimes be willing to send you the powerpoints for those given lectures. Find someone that takes really good notes, and ask them to scan them and send them, or take a picture and text/email it to you. Perhaps offer a favor in return for them doing so. </p>
<p>Also, make sure you keep up on the readings.</p>
<p>Try to keep up with the work while you’re away, if you can, or catch up as soon as you get back. Luckily it’s only the second week of the semester, so it’s likely that you won’t miss exams or anything too critical and you should have enough time to catch up on any work you miss. Don’t assume anything–be sure to check the syllabus to see if you’re missing any quizzes and homework assignments. If you will be, email the professor, explain your reason for being absent, and ask if it would be possible for you to turn in the work early (or later, if they’re amenable to that). The syllabus should also list the reading, practice problems, and/or topics to be covered in lecture, so that you can keep up with the work even if you can’t attend the class. If anything is unclear, ask the professor about it beforehand, and if attendance is mandatory, ask the professor if you can be excused or if missing class will significantly impact your grade.</p>
<p>If you know anyone in the class, asking for a copy of the notes is always helpful (or even just asking what the professor talked about in class). If you don’t know anyone in the class, perhaps you can see if there’s a notetaking service available at your school or you could send out an email to the class (or talk to students around you) to ask if they would be willing to share their notes with you. Perhaps, you could offer a trade, where you give them a copy of your notes for a lecture that they missed.</p>
<p>The most important thing about this is to be proactive about it. You know about this absence ahead of time, so you should be able to plan for it–check the syllabus, and let your professors know if you think there will be any issues. It’ll be early in the semester, so you should have enough time to catch up before midterms.</p>
<p>The above is all good, but you’re going to have to give your professor more than “unavoidable.” They’ll need the real reason. Going to caution you against terms like “family obligation” because that’s very frequently code for “family vacation.”</p>
<p>That thread is honestly my guilty pleasure! Some of that stuff is truly hilarious, and it makes for a good late-night read. But I also picked up a lot of Dos and Don’ts from it as well. Overall, it’s got some good stuff.</p>