This fall I will be a freshman at an undergraduate university. I am planning on going abroad for a week in late October to visit a very important person to me and I would like to know how I should approach this situation with regards to my academics. If I asked my professors about making up work before my absence, would they be able to tell me exactly which assignments will be due while I am gone? Are there any professors in your experience who do not plan their work and assigned readings months in advance? Also, how would most professors react to a student being absent from class for a week? Would they have an apathetic attitude, would they be concerned, or does it depend on the professor?
Why not visit during one of your breaks so you don’t have to miss school?
I need to go abroad in the fall and I need to stay for a week. The only fall break I have (Thanksgiving break) is three days long, so it is not enough time for my trip. I also have other plans for Thanksgiving break, so no matter what I will have to miss a week.
Depending on your schedule, missing a week of classes can be brutal, and no, not all professors can tell you in advance what you will miss. Some will allow makeup, others won’t. You’re in college now, and therefore an adult. This is the kind of decision adults have to make all the time: balancing your wants/needs with the demands of the rest of the world.
Students do miss a week for a variety of reasons. Some classes may have assignments that you can submit online so you might not even miss any due dates. Some deadlines are written in the syllabus and some might be set as the semester goes along. Occasionally profs take a hard line and don’t allow a student who isn’t sick or attending a funeral to make up an exam. You have be able to meet with profs before the semester starts to see who might not allow you to reschedule a test. Make sure you are doing well in classes before you go.
Some classes will allow a student to miss a class or two over the course of the semester without their final grade being impacted, but after that the final grade will be impacted for each additional absence. Other classes gives points for attendance, and the student loses points for any unexcused absences. The attendance policy will vary from school to school, and from class to class. It is important to look at the catalog to see the university attendance policy (if there is one), also talk with your advisor. When you get your course syllabi you should check the policy for each individual course, and talk with the professor. If the professor will not work around your missing that week for a non-health related issue or emergency, you may need to drop the class if it will impact you grade to the extent where you cannot earn the grade you need in the class.
Often it is more challenging for the student if the missed classes are in the same week/ classes in a row, which would be the case with a week long trip. Also, mid to late October is often mid-terms at universities on the semester system, and some professors will not allow a student to take a test ahead of time, or take it when they return if it is not for a school sponsored event, or health/ family emergency.
As a first year student it may be harder to have a handle on the university, and individual class policies… but check the catalog and talk with your advisor. Then once school starts read the syllabi and talk with the professors ASAP to see what they say.
Also, if possible, see if there are other options for the trip abroad that would allow you to miss less (or no) class. If this is the only time you can go make sure to not miss class at any other time over the course of the semester unless the situation is dire (ie. hospitalized, family emergency, incredibly ill and contagious).
I would not miss a week of college. Academics come first. Figure out other plans.
Your professors are unlikely to be sympathetic to your leaving for a personal trip. Why October? Try to visit before school starts or during a break. Professors are not required to allow you to make up work.
As others have said, it will depend totally on the prof. In general, they won’t be nearly as amenable to this as you’ve likely seen in high school. There are many profs who will not allow work to be turned in late or tests be made up.
For some classes, missing 2-3 class sessions will be a significant handicap for grasping the material and being able to get through the class. One of the big adjustments from HS to college is the must faster pace. If you’re taking a lab and have a partner or doing a group project, being unavailable for a week is really not cool. The lab partner could be put in a position of having to do the lab by themselves to get it turned in on time. And a huge universal college pet peeve is group members who don’t contribute or are unavailable for group work.
Look carefully at your school’s academic calendar now and see where this falls. If it’s right before or during midterms, I’d SERIOUSLY recommend not taking the trip. It could make the difference between getting through the semester and not, or really impact your grades. I know that’s not what you want to hear but college is quite different the HS in this regard, at least for the serious student or one with a demanding schedule.
As to when to approach the prof if you do take this trip, not sure I’d do that before the semester starts. You do’t want the prof’s first impression of you to be that you’re going to miss class - they really don’t like that in most cases. Be clear what you’re asking the prof - are you looking for permission to miss (i.e. you’ll cancel the trip if the prof says you can’t make up work) or are you telling the prof you’re going to be out and want to know what you can do (if anything) to mitigate the impact of time out of class.
Profs are sympathetic to absences caused by illness or a death in the family… they tend to be far less sympathetic about travel plans made months in advance. Like the posters here, their first response is likely to be the suggestion of summer or Thanksgiving…and hearing that you have other plans is unlikely to make things better.
Without knowing the full details, it’s likely to appear that your studies are far less a pruiority than your travel plans.
My spouse professor has been asked about situations like that by students, and would not make an accommodation for such a request - if the student chooses to miss class for voluntary reasons, such as a trip, then they miss the work, the assignments, and the credit for that work. A sudden death in the family, an emergency hospitalization – those are excused absences. Not a week long trip in the middle of the semester. Winter break is only 6 weeks later, plan the trip then.
If your professors knew you were a diligent student, AND you had a really strong reason (a funeral or to visit a dying relative), then I could see how this might work, but in October of your first year? I just don’t see how you could do this without coming across as someone who values your personal travel more than your education.
And your education isn’t just about you. Your professors work very hard to come up with appropriate lessons, readings, and lab experiments that will engage their students and help them learn. To then ask them to do extra work just so that you can take a trip is very insulting. Everyone has someone dear to them that they aren’t able to visit when they like due to the demands of work or school.
Rethink this trip and plan it for winter break.
Oh, and I just wanted to add that if you do try this, you will find it extremely difficult, if not impossible to make up the work. My daughter had to miss the last two weeks of her first semester of her senior year due to a sudden, life-threatening illness. Her professors were very sympathetic, and went out of their way to help her make up the work as she recovered. One even allowed her to take her final exam online at home. Another sent her his own lecture notes and gave her extra time to complete a paper. They were all extremely merciful to her, but finishing her work was brutal. Basically, she had no winter break and had to go straight into her last semester without rest. I would not recommend choosing to do this for any reason.
- They will not try to stop you.
- Nor will they go out of their way to help you.
- You will miss significant course information, especially in October.
- You will probably not be offered makeups.
- If there is an attendance policy, this trip may mean that you can't miss class even when you have a high fever.
- You're an adult and you get to decide if seeing this important person means more to you than your class grade.
- But you don't get to complain if your profs give you a lower grade.
I would not recommend this. Professors are unlikely to allow you to make up work for this kind of work. Even if they do, trying to make up a week’s worth of assignments in all your classes at the same time is really brutal, and you’ll fall behind. I had to miss all of my classes for a couple days for an internship interview my sophomore year and that was pretty aweful- I can’t imagine having to miss more than that and still making everything up. I had to do hw in my hotel and in the lobby of the place where I was interviewing while I waited. One of my professors didn’t accept online submissions, so I had to email an assignment to a friend who turned it in during class.
Just because a professor plans work in advance doesn’t mean there won’t be some flex in the schedule - every class is different and covers material at a different pace.
I agree with above posters this is a bad idea. Of course the reaction will depend on the professor - no one can predict how an individual will react. You might get a few sympathetic professors - but I’m not sure how likely that will be since you won’t have had a lot of time to make an impression as a serious student before skipping classes for a vacation. And some may view this as disrespectful - since you feel you should be able to do just as well as the students who actually showed up every day.
I was hospitalized my 2nd week of college - my professors were sympathetic, but it was still up to me to get notes from my classmates (who I hardly knew) and get help on any material I missed and needed explained. No saying how helpful a prof will be during office hours with your situation.
My husband is a professor, and the only times he’s missed teaching class have been for things like broken bones, the birth of our children, or professional conferences. He is there every day - he expects the same from his students.
Ouch this will be tough to pull off imho. When I saw October I thought “mid-terms.”
@InigoMontoya My physics professor told us that he once biked to work, fell off his bike in the ice, broke his dominant arm, lectured, then went to the clinic and found out his arm was broken. This was when we asked why we still had class if he was complaining about being sick.
bad, bad , bad idea.
regardless of how much you WANT to go, sometimes, as an adult, you need to learn to say “no”.
Now would be a good time to learn that lesson.
“I need to go abroad in the fall and I need to stay for a week.”
Is this important enough to take a “gap semester” or even a “gap year” and just not start university until a year later?
If it is this important, then see if the university will let you start a semester later or a year later. If you are planning on cancer treatment for yourself or a coronary bypass operation, take a gap year.
If it is not this important, then this is a very bad idea.