Ever skip an entire semester of class?

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Lecter

Lecter

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I almost never skip, but my Biomechanics class last semester was so redundant that I just stopped going after the first two lectures. Walked into every exam cold turkey- no studying, and still ended up with an A nevertheless. Prof said my research project was the most brilliant thing she ever read. 😎

It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it...

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Lecter said:
I almost never skip, but my Biomechanics class last semester was so redundant that I just stopped going after the first two lectures. Walked into every exam cold turkey- no studying, and still ended up with an A nevertheless. Prof said my research project was the most brilliant thing she ever read. 😎

It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it...
Click to expand...

I had an intro psychology class that was a waste to go to. The professor wrote the textbook for the class and would basically outline the book chapters during lecture, literally using the same language. Unfortunately there was "mandatory" attendance enforced by pop quizzes given in the last 20 minutes of this 75 minute class. Most people (including myself) would hang out in the open area outside the class if the weather was nice and slip in only for the last half hour (the TAs would close the door with about 30 minutes to go) to take the quizzes. If I had to sit inside, I'd take something else to the lecture, like chemistry homework or a newspaper. At first I thought that might be rude, but then I realized that what was really rude was taking 150 minutes per week to simply outline a textbook (and the tests included lots of details from the text that were not in his "outline"... so his lecture really never went into the depth he expected us to know) he had written, especially when people were paying to be there.
 
I stopped going to Biochemistry after the third lecture. Two exams under my belt, two exams in the top third of the class. Smooth sailin'! :d
 
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I truly dislike classes that can be learned from the book (and that's just about most of them). In fact, I pretty much prefer reading on my own. The only problem is that professors pretty much penalize you for skipping with random pop quizzes and such. It's annoying as %*#(.
 
My Gen Chem 2 prof spoke very broken English and was inaudible past the first few rows. I stopped going to class after day 2. A-. 😀
 
TheRealMD said:
I truly dislike classes that can be learned from the book (and that's just about most of them). In fact, I pretty much prefer reading on my own. The only problem is that professors pretty much penalize you for skipping with random pop quizzes and such. It's annoying as %*#(.
Click to expand...

Quoted for truth.
 
only went to the first class and then test for political science- 98 average
gen chem 1 went for the review day before the test and test day- A
gen chem 2 tried the same thing- C
I skip a lot- as in 30-50% of the classes i was homeschooled and I hate sitting through lectures of things I already know or could easily read on my own.
 
I generally don't go to any of my lectures any more😀

My undergrad had mandatory attendance, if you missed more than 3 classes the prof could drop your grade, miss 5 or more and they were free to fail you. The class sizes were usually capped at 24 so it was more discussion style than straight lectures though.

Now that I'm doing my postbacc at a large university, I've found that all my notes are posted online, they can't require attendance (pop-quizes are usually for extra credit only), and so the only time I show up is to take the tests.
 
As a student:
I did it with Art History B+ 🙂
Did it again with Microbiology C 😡
Never tried it again.
Works great for some people, not me.

10 years later as a college lecturer:
If the professor uses the test question database provided by the textbook manufacturer (and believe me, MANY do) you're golden. If they take it directly from lectures, not so much. When I lecture I intentionally make my tests from my lectures and not just the part on the powerpoint they can download from Blackboard. Not all of my students appreciate it, but I do get about 90% attendance every day. It forces them to pay attention during lecture and they seem to grasp the material better that way.
 
Yeah, I'm pretty much at this point with my German class. My teacher is such an idiot that she brings nothing to the table...quizzes are just added onto your grade, so whatever you score on them can't hurt you in her words, so to me that means they're extra credit and therefore expendable.

I dunno, what do you guys think? Would you stop going if the teacher was an absolute idiot and you could just teach yourself the remaining material from the book? She grades on attendance, but I've been there for most of the semester by now and I have like a 95% in the class, so it's not like a few missed attendances is going to hurt me.
 
I went to my Calc 1 and 2 lecture class a total of 7 times (it is 3 times a week). It was a waste of time since the prof. would just redo the problems in the text. I got an A in calc 1 and an A- in calc 2.
Also, I went to my Phy 1 lecture class like 10 times or so (it is 4 times a week). I also got an A in this class. Now I am actually attending Phy 2 frequently (2-3 times a week) but still I am having trouble maintaining a B.
 
I did this for a social psychology course and ended up with an A+. Some classes do not require attendance since the lectures and assigned reading are essentially identical.
 
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I never (yes never) went to my molecular biology class this semester. I watched all the lectures online. The professor talks veeery slowly, so its actually more efficient to watch the lectures online at 1.5x speed. :laugh: (Still got a 95 on the midterm though...)
 
I skipped pretty much all of Physics 1 and 2, P-Chem, and a whole lot of random social science/humanitees classes. I pretty much stopped going to class (except to hand in assignments, going to exams, and taking quizzes) during the second semester senior year. Though I did frequently attend that class on ethanol consumption...
 
I skipped my first term of Physics after realizing that the professor just confused the hell out of me more than anything else. (It was also an 8:30 AM class...yuck!).

I learned the stuff myself and still ended up with an A, so it's all good. 😀
 
I didn't attend class for Calc 1 and 2, gen chem, bio or oganic chemistry. This year I realized I actually save time by going to lecture instead of teaching myself so I just go to lecture and haven't opened any textbooks. If your teachers' exams are based on their lectures you are almost always better off going to class seeing as they tell you what you need to focus on.
 
I always had that dream where I forgot that I signed up for a class and suddenly had to go take the final without knowing any of the info. Those dreams suck.

I did have a pointless psych class though. Just sat in the back reading the textbook instead of taking notes. Got an A, so I guess it's all good.
 
As we speak, I have forgotten what my Molec Bio II and Molec Immunology professors look like...mind you I'm taking these classes right now:hardy:
 
I HATE missing class, just cause im neurotic. My boyfriend is really smart and REALLY laid back (opposite attract?).


Hes an engineering major at a really tough engineering school. One semester he only showed up for the first day and the three test days in one of his engineering courses & recieved the only A out of the whole class (~35 kids). Its probably good we dont have classes/school together... I'd be so pissed if I was in his class. lol
 
I havent skipped an entire semester, but in under grad I went to cell bio 1-2 days a week of the four that lecture was held. I ended the semester with a class rank of #2 of 50 people. I thought that was decent.

Going to class doesnt make you a good student. Not going to class doesnt make you a bad student. As long as you can do well ethically feel free to use whatever methods you want.
 
Oh hell yeah I've skipped a full semester of some classes.

Electromagnetic Principles
Electrical Networks
Differential Equations
Engineering Mathematics
Probability/Statistics for Engineers
Matlab
Hinduism
Calculus III


For all of those listed, I only went to the first class, and days when there were exams. Ended up doing well in all of them as well =)
 
yep skipped math and got an A in it 😉
 
I never went to Chem 1. My professor put up a slide, read the sentence, and moved on to the next. And she put them online. I actually got MORE out of sleeping for the 60 minutes than I would have going to lecture. Also, her exams were essentially the same as the practice exams, +/- a question or two.

It was great.
 
uw-seattle- history of music- went to class on syllabus day (fell asleep) then aced both midterm and final for a easy 4.
 
I ended up doing this A LOT. I just study better out of a book. But the first time I discovered it was okay to skip was freshman year, economics.

Skipped every class after the midterm for macroeconomics. Skipped EVERY class the next semester in microeconomics (same professor). Then the prof had to present me with an achievement award for receiving the highest grade of all sections, for both classes. Big auditorium, hundreds of students, faculty, and family...she forgot my name when it came time to present the award. She just turned red and kind of pointed when she realized she hadn't written it down.
 
argh, you people make me sick...

i go to class, study the textbook and outside resources, AND go to discussion/office hours and I STILL don't do too hot....totally not fair 😡
 
I never go to my math class only when there is a test and also with medical terminology and skip lots of chem classes which is a dumb class to skip especially if you have lab
 
I've skipped Hitler's Germany 1918-1944....but I'm pass/failing it so I can get a D- in it for all i care.
 
online classes count? i've taken many of those and gotten A's. 👍

i love online classes. they tend to be harder (requires more discipline), but the flexibility is awesome.
 
i'd say i skipped a good 30-50 percent of first semester Ochem, showed up about 20 minutes late to another 30 percent of the classes.

i actually skipped the first week and showed up late to the third class, (the first class i went to) and found it was in a different room than i thought, much to my embarrassment.

boo 8:00 classes
 
i havent missed a class once this semester and i have rarely missed them. it might have something to do with the fact that theres never more than like 20 people in a class. and its blatantly obvious when you are gone. one of my classes has 6 people in it. no way i miss that class.

my freshman year, the prof scheduled this stupid thing in the library about how to do resarch, and me and my friends thought it would be a waste of time to go, so we skipped......the next day the teacher sent out an email saying she was disapointed in those of us that skipped! my jaw dropped.

another unfortunate story.....i missed one class last semester......ONE.......and she gave a pop quiz so i automatically got a zero. lame.


this semester i havent skipped one class cuz i love going to all of them so its a little different.
 
TheRealMD said:
I truly dislike classes that can be learned from the book (and that's just about most of them). In fact, I pretty much prefer reading on my own. The only problem is that professors pretty much penalize you for skipping with random pop quizzes and such. It's annoying as %*#(.
Click to expand...

👍
 
mdgator said:
I ended up doing this A LOT. I just study better out of a book. But the first time I discovered it was okay to skip was freshman year, economics.

Skipped every class after the midterm for macroeconomics. Skipped EVERY class the next semester in microeconomics (same professor). Then the prof had to present me with an achievement award for receiving the highest grade of all sections, for both classes. Big auditorium, hundreds of students, faculty, and family...she forgot my name when it came time to present the award. She just turned red and kind of pointed when she realized she hadn't written it down.
Click to expand...

How do you guyz do it??? 😎
 
In Gen Bio the first lab consisted of us putting cellophane filters over lights, and talking about our feelings with plants. Lab was 25% of grade, I never went again or turned anything in. I was in that rebellious phase. Got me an A. I don't even ****ing know how.
 
Not in undergrad. I skipped a large part of the end of my biochemistry class in undergrad, because it was right out of the book and right out of her powerpoints (which could be downloaded). I wish I'd figured that out sooner, because it was a 9am class, and I could've gained valuable sleep time.


Now, in med school, I skip most classes. I skipped my entire human sexuality course.
 
never went to statistics and got an A.. went to the first class.. accepted the fact thta i could not understand a german professor's accent, and then learned it myself and showed up for the tests.
 
zipmedic said:
I stopped going to Biochemistry after the third lecture. Two exams under my belt, two exams in the top third of the class. Smooth sailin'! :d
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i did that after the 1st test...if you score in the top 3rd of the class you got an A. i did on the first test...the second test tho i skipped like every class and almost got bottom 3rd haha. it was more attributed to being lazy and refusing to memorize all the enyzmes, substrate, etc. of glycolysis and TCA tho. i got -30 just off not being able to draw the structures! yikes! oh, i got a B because of it, too...so go to class. (honestly, i could have prevented the B if i had just memorized the stupid pathways. so maybe you shouldn't go to class haha 😉)

i think it depends on the class. if the professor puts all the notes online, then you're gold and dont' really need to go depending on the class and how thorough the notes are. if they don't put the notes online, then you're screwwweed. also, if you they put the notes online but verbally add-in a bunch of extra notes during the lecture, then you're also in bad shape.
 
I never could skip class because at my undergrad, class attendance and participation was a significant portion of the grade. Thus, there were no favors to those who had immense intellectual aptitude.
 
I am actually afraid to skip class. In my parasitology class, which was right after lunch, I used to go, sit in the front row in front of the professor, and the dark room, and the timing caused me to fall asleep atleast once every lecture... I did well, but I would rather go to class and sleep there than actually skip the class. Plus, at UCLA, for a lot of the classes, the book is optional or nonexistent, so everything depends on lectures, and most professors add at least 2x more to the slides in class from what is posted. Plus the wierd microbio experiments still do not make sense if you go to class, so how horrible would it be to study it on your own:scared:
 
Some of you guys are hardcore skippers!

The most I've done is skip ~50% of physics II, because the professor was the worst lecturer in the history of teachers. I didn't take anything away from his lectures. We might spend 2 weeks on a concept in lecture and at the end of 2 weeks, I would have absolutely no clue how to solve even the most basic problems. But I would skim the chapter in the textbook for 5 minutes and I would understand it perfectly. So I just relied on the book.
 
I'm the same type of student as many of you. For years I attended class diligently, and then I discovered that I could learn more effectively by nixing the class and spending time with the material on my own. Internet courses were glorious--no expectation to attend, simply teach myself in whatever manner I felt worked best. Sadly, only a few courses were actually offered in this manner.

Unfortunately, many of the lecture classes incorporated significant attendance grades. Biochem I, Neurobiology, and Cell Biology leap immediately to mind. Those are also the three classes that I would do well on the exams (A-B range) but the attendance penalty hit me for an additional 15-25% and so I have C's on my transcript. (I honestly tried to attend neuro, I really did, but from the 3rd week onward the class was taught exclusively by student presentations and most of them were BAD BAD BAD, I mean people standing up and walking out of the hall en masse in the middle of the presentation bad. Attendance was physically painful.)

I'm working on my med school apps at the moment, and I'm wondering how to address those grades. I did well on exams, but all the adcoms are going to see is the transcript grade. Anybody else in the same boat? Any ideas?

I hate attendance grades. If it's a discussion based class where participation is important, then I understand the reasoning. But WHY penalize me for discovering that spending time on my own is more effective than sitting-through a lecture? 😕

One of my favorites was a Shakespeare class. We were expected to read the play outside of class and then for the lecture the professor would pop the movie version into the VCR every class and we would sit and watch. There was no discussion--just passive movie watching. Attendance was 10% of the grade. What in the world is the rationale?? 😡
 
My greek mythology class is bizarre. The grade is 1/2 midterm, 1/2 final, its insanely easy (average on the midterm was a 90!) and yet, on the one day i randomly decided to go to lecture it was packed. I'd say there were about 10 open seats in a 200-person lecture hall. This was a random wednesday.

What is wrong with kids these days? Did they not learn how to skip in high school or something?
 
My O cHm and physics teachers were either powerpoint wizards or monotone boring people. I only showed up on test days. In fact, the teacher changed the final time for physics and I showed up in the middle of the final. I still finished it befor eliek 10 people. I think i showed up to O. cHm <6 times (including final) The reason I skipped O. cHM lecture is becasue I used that time to type up those grueling O. cHM lab reports! (All day event)😎
 
Physics II is a bit tricker than Physics I. I still skipped the whole semester and i got a B.
 
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