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I can only speak for my uni (American colleges, or OP’s college, might be different), but our lectures take place in huge halls. Most of the time, he professors record attendance by having everyone sign in, or they don’t record attendance at all. But they don’t bother to remember exactly who did and didn’t show up.
People rarely attend their office hours (unless it’s close to exam time), and they completely free up that time to dedicate to any students who want help. They’re also very nice about emailing them for further appointments, or emailing them to make sure you have a slot in their office hours, should other students show up.</p>
<p>I do feel a sense of entitlement when it comes to this. I used to feel embarrassed about asking questions, but I’m paying quite a lot (especially because I’m an international student, and we subsidize the fees for home students- a situation that probably won’t apply to the OP granted). I expect to get my money’s worth.</p>
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Again, I’m starting to see that my situation and how my university works is different from the OP’s.
We have comprehensive notes posted online. I’m not saying that students should expect a whole repeat of the lecture. I’m saying to go over the notes and material, and then approach the professor with any further questions. And bad notes normally correlate with a bad lecturer. If the notes are bad, I find that the teaching in class is also unproductive and confusing, in which case going isn’t going to help to begin with.
We don’t sign up for courses at certain times, our courses are given to us. We do sign up for a few modules, but we don’t always know what time they’ll be. Even when we do know the timings, our choices are limited.</p>
<p>I apologize if I made any incorrect assumptions about OP’s college. Still, I think that he/she should consider the fact that they’re paying for this education, even if his/her final decision is that going to class is fairer to the professor.</p>