Tell your College kids that skipping class can be a disaster

<p>I went to Wharton undergrad. Took intermediate accounting in grad school (scheduling conflict). One other undergrad and me. Class 4 days a week. Homework collected 4 days a week. Tenored professor read some, his TA some.</p>

<p>Son has a class right now that deducts one letter grade for every day missed.</p>

<p>I agree with colmomto2. I've always told my kids that attending class was crucial. I told them to think of it as an hour that you wouldn't have to study later. I also said that if you need a break or the benefit of the doubt at some time, whom do you think the teacher is more likely to give it to--someone they've hardly seen in class or someone who is consistently there and on time? </p>

<p>However, I think all faculty need to realize that college students are adults--there may be illnesses, appointments, job interviews, jobs, etc. that are legitimate reasons for missing class--not just having partied the night before. Tests and quizzes should be announced and if there will be pop quizzes, that should be stated so the student knows he/she is taking a chance in missing class. Also, I'd like to see how that quiz figures in the grade calculation as indicated in the syllabus. This sounds to me like a professor who wants to "catch" the students and "teach them a lesson." The problem with that is that it is sometimes the good/diligent student who, because of bad luck, gets "caught." I don't like/agree with policies that are unfair to students.</p>

<p>I always gave weekly announced quizzes in my elementary language classes as well as 2 exams and a comprehensive final. There was also a class participation grade worth one test. Usually, there were 10-12 quizzes per semester and I dropped the 2 lowest grades, so I didn't have to worry about make-ups. Make-up exams had to be pre-arranged and within 3 days of the original exam. However, I also had a policy that anyone who took my comprehensive final exam and passed with 98% or higher, automatically got an A. A lot of people tried, but in 15 years, I only had 3 who did it. </p>

<p>I remember one professor in grad school whose syllabus said grade was calculated 1/3 on a research paper, 1/3 final exam, 1/3 discretionary. I dropped that class as fast as I could. Maybe he meant class participation, but that was not how it was sounded. </p>

<p>There are lots of ways to be strict and demanding with students (being on time, no makeups, turning in homework on time, grading strictly, essay vs. mult. choice tests, having appropriate materials, not sleeping in class) without trying to "trick" the students with unannounced, heavily weighted surprises.</p>

<p>I doubt this was a random quiz. The prof knew exactly what he/she was doing and why. Attendance won't be lagging in that class for the rest of the semester. If the syllabus is silent as to quizzes and %'s I'd say there is no recourse. </p>

<p>And yes, I was docked a few times for attendance related matters in UG.</p>

<p>If your son had let the professor know he was going to miss the class, could he have done a make up?</p>

<p>Even when there aren't quizzes involved, skipping class is a bad idea. I missed a few days of one particular class in a row (not just for the sake of blowing them off, there was just a progressive comedy of errors for a few days) and even though the teacher "only" lectured those days, it was so much harder digesting the material and preparing for the upcoming test than it had been for the previous tests where I had been attending the lectures.</p>

<p>So my advice is:</p>

<ol>
<li> Don't skip class.</li>
<li> Unless you're sick with the plague or something.</li>
</ol>

<p>Geez, I think the only consolation for this is that your son went to college to learn and now he has learned a very expensive lesson that will impact his GPA. In the future he will carefully read the syllabus and will figure out exactly what the prof is looking for before the drop/withdrawal deadline. If this F will derail his academic plans, then he can try to get an incomplete or replace the F by re-taking the course in a future semester. The one thing I would advise is that you do not overtly criticize the prof. Your son needs to know it doesn't matter that even if the prof IS a crazy grade-wrecking demon (or whatever), the name of the game is to give the professor what he wants, not what the students wishes to give him. If the prof wants to give pop quizzes that impact 15% of the grade, so be it. Students come and go, but the prof probably has tenure and can do whatever he likes.
And BTW, thanks for posting the warning about missing classes. I'm afraid my own son learned this lesson the hard way LAST semester. LOL.</p>

<p>Unfortunately he can't drop it. He is in his early 20s and has returned to college after being out for a few years. When he first tried to return he was working full time and driving back and forth to the classes and it was a disaster and he ended up dropping all his classes. When he went back this time it was on his own financially except for the small amount remaining in his 529 account. He realized he could not work full time and was able to get financial aid but on a probationary basis because of the semester he dropped (which he did not have financial aid for). If he drops the class or fails it he will lose his financial aid for next year, even loans. He has been doing well in the classes last semester and this, so this could be a very expensive lesson.</p>

<p>Will be sharing this thread with someone who also just learned this lesson the hard way.</p>

<p>swimcatsmom, without a doubt, I'd be selling shoes in Corpus Christi had my UG prof's done this. I hope he annihilates the remaining grading opportunities and gives the prof a reason to re-think his position. It could happen. Tell him not to give up. Don't whine or complain and God knows don't criticize. Work his rear off . Don't beg for mercy, work for it. Don't just tell the prof how much this means to him, show him by concrete and persistent action.</p>

<p>Like astrophysics Dad, I got 98% average in a class, calculus, and there was nothing about quizzes or participation. It was an evening class and I was preparing to move the end of term so I missed a lot of classes, but still had a 98% in grade. I got a B because the prof decided people were doing poorly so he added some quizzes which 'can only help you' but no one mentioned that to me :(</p>

<p>When you go to college as an adult, with kids for whom you are paying a baby sitter, you go to every class and you pay attention, because you are paying for each hour away!</p>

<p>For most students, attending class is the #1 correlative factor to academic success. More than SAT's, personality type, etc. </p>

<p>My daughter and nephews have all done exceedingly well (Phi Beta Kappa well) in college, in part because they are of course great students but also in part (or so my ego wants them to believe) is that I asked them to agree to my own 10 keys to college success. The most important item is to attend every single class (exceptions will exist, but they ought to be rare events). </p>

<p>By the way, I don't think college needs to be a grind. Students need to learn to be efficient so they can have some fun, too - an element I mention in my own 10 keys. And the mental element is important. I describe it as keeping that voice in your head fairly often that is continually asking whether you are on top of your work. I learned from competitive athletics in college you could easily fool yourself by putting in the time at practice (hey, I am a top Div. 1 athlete, I must be good syndrome) without ever sincerely being honest with oneself about performance and preparation. It is not the hours put in - although that is invariably required at times - but a look in the mirror with a query - do I really know it, and in a way that a professor or peer will respect in terms of subject matter mastery? Never let that voice lapse for too long. </p>

<p>By the way, I often find most simplistic lists (like my own) too simplistic and not workable in practice. But college presents so many distractions, easy rules are helpful. And going to class is rule #1. You just pick up the gestalt, or between the lines subject matter, that the prof or teacher is offering - immeasurably helpful on exams or papers. </p>

<p>By the way, I have seen truly brilliant people (160 IQ types) that can do well without attending class. But they are the wrong people to emulate, just because, well, they are truly so rare. And even then they run into trouble with surprise quizzes and the like...90% of success is often attributable to showing up - good idea to do so.</p>

<p>
[quote]
the name of the game is to give the professor what he wants, not what the students wishes to give him.

[/quote]
As a complete aside from my son's situation - this is something my daughter has figured out, especially in her non science classes (which are a bit more cut and dried grading wise than, for instance, writing heavy classes). Quite often her first few grades in a writing class will be lower as she figures out what the teacher wants, then usually she can really step the grades up. She loves teachers that really critique her writing because not only does she learn a lot in the process but she can figure out what they like and write accordingly. Her least favorite writing class was one where the teacher graded with little critique.</p>

<p>CU Boulder has quite a few classes that use "clickers" -- kind of like remote controls that are keyed to each individual student. Some of the professors use the clickers to note attendance, even in large lectures, and "clicker quizzes" happen reasonably often in some course. (In other classes, clickers are used as a quick check of comprehension -- prof can see right away if most of the kids got a concept that was just presented, or not.) I believe that the classes that are using clickers a lot are definitely seeing an increase in attendance -- or perhaps students are learning which profs do or don't use them, and are scheduling classes accordingly.</p>

<p>I just did a quick calculation, if the quiz is worth 15% (0 x .15), the other test was a B worth 35% (3.0 x .35), and the final is worth 50% and he gets an A (4.0 x .5), the grade would be 3.05. I don't know why he thinks the best he could do would be a C</p>

<p>I agree with everyone who suggested looking at the syllabus. Actually, the syllabus is a legal document - if the professor is giving pop quizzes, that should be somewhere on the syllabus; same thing if there is an attendance/ participation component.</p>

<p>Maybe also try talking to the professor during office hours. Maybe make-ups are given for partial credit, which would be better than nothing.</p>

<p>He has already flat out told them there is no make up possible. I will tell him to check the syllabus though. I suspect there is not much he can do.</p>

<p>mam1959--</p>

<p>This list of 10 keys to college sounds like something I wish I had sent my kid off with when she went. YOu'll have to make it a CC post someday.</p>

<p>swimcats mom, have your son talk to the academic advisor or assistant dean for his department. Sometimes they have information on how to make things happen (or not-as in not getting thrown out, etc.). Some policies are under the radar and can be quite creative but someone has to tell you what they are. Don't ask me how I know this- suffice to say, my son was in a similar position awhile back following an illness and figuring out a way to work the system helped him when his attendance at the school was on the line. He shouldn't go in complaining about the professor unless the syllabus was wrong, he should just go in and ask for advice about how to help himself. Good luck to him, he sounds like he is a hard working kid who is trying his best to finish his education.</p>