<p>Let's say I want to take English 45A, and they have a discussion open only Fridays around whatever time.</p>
<p>If I attend every discussions save for one, is that bad? Am I not supposed to skip discussions, and can I just inform the instructor ahead of time, etc.?</p>
<p>It depends on whether attending discussion is factored into your grade (usually as class participation). </p>
<p>Generally, if discussion isn’t required - isn’t factored into your grade - not a lot of people attend discussion section.</p>
<p>Isn’t the 45 series part of the core requirements for English? In that case, I think discussion section might be required. However, they might let you miss 1-2 discussions total (without an excuse) without harming your grade, but this depends on what the prof and/or graduate student instructor wants.</p>
<p>Yeah - it is. I just need to miss two of them for sure… I suppose I could inform them way ahead of time and see if I can make it up?</p>
<p>How heavily might it be factored, you think?</p>
<p>Hmm, sometimes you turn in assignments to your GSI during discussion. If the GSI is nice (and also attends lecture), they’ll let you give them the assignment during lecture. </p>
<p>For me, I’ve had discussion sections worth 15-20% of my grade, but that % also includes turning in assignments and actual participation. I don’t think missing a little more than the maximum will hurt your grade, especially if you inform the prof/GSI ahead of time.</p>
<p>Thank you so much, Olvidarse! :D</p>