i missed 6 class dates in november due to interviews...she called me out the other day after class about excessive absences...i had given her notification that i would be gone...however she doesnt believe i went to 6 diff schools..today i told her i'd be gone thurs for an interview at a state school and she flipped out on me because that is the last class day...said something to the extent of "i gotta decide whats important...grade or interview"...and im like wtf...its university policy to excuse med school interviews i believe and i cant believe i have to deal with such an unaccomodating b****
Professor threatens my grade...
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jon0013 said:
I saved interview confirmation letters with the date of the interview and all my airplane stubs. Photocopy and give to instructor. I've done that with 3 instructors and all have excused my excessive absences. They all agreed that they can't mark me done for doing this. So....try that if it's not too late.
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Yeah. Totally do-able when you have schools like UCSD and Columbia that say "BE HERE AT THIS TIME ON THIS DATE" without any sort of question as to when you CAN show up, or others that only interview on, say, 2nd Mondays.
If every school was like Duke, maybe this would be possible. Unfortunately, missing class is a huge reality of this situation (and some might argue that being able to maintain grades while missing class for interviews is actually yet another screening factor) and profs should be at least marginally accomodating, even if they're bitter than they couldn't get in.
If every school was like Duke, maybe this would be possible. Unfortunately, missing class is a huge reality of this situation (and some might argue that being able to maintain grades while missing class for interviews is actually yet another screening factor) and profs should be at least marginally accomodating, even if they're bitter than they couldn't get in.
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that sounds ridiculous! does your teacher think you're in high school. I haven't attended half my classes all semester, and I don't have any excuse...And, none of my teachers cared/noticed.jon0013 said:
You should hit that ***** with a stethoscope.
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Also a big plus for going to a giant, anonymous, public school. I'd say that in a good 30% of my classes I never once talked to my prof directly, so missing class is never an issue as long as you perform on the tests/papers.
Although, AxlxA - I definitely concur that an effort should be made to show up as much as possible. For example, I made my schedule so that I dont' have class on Mondays, anticipating that most schools interview on Mondays (which turned out to be somewhat correct). If you DO interact with your professor or have a v. small class so that it's conspicuous when you ARE absent, then at least respect the prof enough to notify them (in writing, preferably) of your intended absences.
This woman seems to be pretty darn unreasonable, however.
Although, AxlxA - I definitely concur that an effort should be made to show up as much as possible. For example, I made my schedule so that I dont' have class on Mondays, anticipating that most schools interview on Mondays (which turned out to be somewhat correct). If you DO interact with your professor or have a v. small class so that it's conspicuous when you ARE absent, then at least respect the prof enough to notify them (in writing, preferably) of your intended absences.
This woman seems to be pretty darn unreasonable, however.
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jon0013 said:
I would find that school policy and show it to her. But if push comes to shove, then I would just say "Well, this is my entire future career versus my grade in one class. I'm going to my interview." If you need the class to graduate though, or she is going to give you a D or F, then maybe resechedule the interview.
Some professors are just like that though, they're convinced their class is the most important one ever. Seems that those for lower division GE's are especially unaccomodating like this.
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You might want to go and talk to her and explain how long it has taken you to get to this point (a lot of them just don't know until you explain it to them).
Some of my teachers thought that all our fare and hotel accomodations were paid for by the school, HA-HA, when I told them it's out of pocket (9 interviews) they all agreed it's difficult enought to go through the process, let alone pay and deal w/ school work .
Some of my teachers thought that all our fare and hotel accomodations were paid for by the school, HA-HA, when I told them it's out of pocket (9 interviews) they all agreed it's difficult enought to go through the process, let alone pay and deal w/ school work .
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AxlxA said:
Of the schools that preschedule your interview, most will accomodate a request to change your assigned interview date.
Many schools let you pick the date you interview. Looking at the OP's profile, VCU is one of the schools he interviewed at, and that school definitely lets you pick which day. You should have picked a day when you didn't have that particular class, unless of course that class meets every day (e.g. some language classes do).
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just make sure you have proof you actually missed due to interviews, and keep your grade in the class up. She really doesnt have the power to fail you in such a situation (not at my school at least), if she tries youll just have to get things worked out with your dean.
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Why would a female dog be censored?
I remember in my smaller classes(btw rare for berkeley), my professor told us first day and on the syllabus that we cannot miss more than X # of classes or our grades would be greatly affected.
Some professors even said "I will not let you retake a midterm even if you get an interview at Harvard. You have my midterm dates, schedule your interviews around them."
I remember in my smaller classes(btw rare for berkeley), my professor told us first day and on the syllabus that we cannot miss more than X # of classes or our grades would be greatly affected.
Some professors even said "I will not let you retake a midterm even if you get an interview at Harvard. You have my midterm dates, schedule your interviews around them."
I went though the same BS this semester. The medical schools all refuse to interview on the weekends, and if you have class every day, its going to have to give. I had to miss labs, tests, homework, etc. What's funny is when the teachers become personally affended, as if your missing class to spite them. I think I would blatantly state "Since both you and your class are insignificant, I'd have to go with the interview." Then I would walk away laughing. I really hate teachers; in terms of life, 99% of them are just waisting oxygen.
i have yet to have any interviews on weekends....all of them were mid week pretty much and you have to factor in traveling cross country....and i was basically screwed because i took august mcat so i received invitations late...
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that's really unfair of your professor and absolutely out of line in my opinion. if you're good pulling grades it should be none of her concern whether you miss class or not. in my opinion there is no way to schedule interviews around class days. most students have class every day and interviews take up the whole day, not to mention the extra time of traveling if the interview is far away. have a nice heart to heart with your professor. i missed one of my classes probably at least 6 times and the professor has been completely fine with it. i've scheduled all of my interviews on tuesdays or thursdays when i have only one class, so i miss that class constantly. it's that or miss three classes and a lab on MWF. you'd be surprised how many people are completely ignorant as to what applying to med school and interviewing entail.
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how much can she threaten your grade? if she didn't specify on the syllabus that attendance is a part of your score, then i don't see how she'd have any leverage to knock you down for not going to class. if it was specified, i agree that you should show her the school policy and possibly take it up with the department head and maybe even the dean. also, how much of a grade threat are we talking about here? based on the information provided on the syllabus, can she fail you or give you a d or something for missing class? or is it more like you'll wind up with b instead of an a. if the latter's the case, i'd probably just take the b and not worry about it.
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Instead of looking at it as a battle, look at it as an opportunity. I don't think she is arguing the legitamacy of your absences, she is arguing that she can't give you a grade based on your performance among the other members of the class. Remember, professors have to hand out grades that are fair to everyone. Asking for leeway is one thing, but asking for a complete exuse is another. Ask your professor what you can do to make up your absences. Something like an extra report or something like that. I'm not saying to set up yourself for another full blown term paper, but something that can fill in the void of the absences. Basically, to balance everything out. I think this approach will be much more fruitful than just battling it out with the professor.
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Here is the only solution:
Hug it out.
Hug it out.
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If you're interviewing, grades probably don't matter at this point. Take the C and laugh about it when you're in medical school
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jon0013 said:
Well Jon, i thought you would know better with your 3.9 GPA and 32S MCAT.
You are supposed to schedule interviews AROUND classes, especially if one professor is hunting for your head. Think about it.
Just say your professor gives you a D for a grade. Your acceptances at those, just say, 6 schools would mean squat because these schools would most likely retract the acceptances.
So please, think before you act.
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theunderdog said:
depending on where you live and your class schedule, that could be a complete impossibility. for example, next quarter i have class on monday, wednesday and friday at noon. since i'm on the west coast and there are pretty much no west coast schools that aren't psycho-competitive, my interviews are all in the midwest and east coast, meaning they all take 1.5 days of my time. there's no way i could even set it as a goal to schedule interviews around class.
serioulsy, i'm just wondering how all you people can schedule your interviews around class unless you have a pretty flexible schedule. also, in the greater scheme of things going on these interviews is more important than doing well in this one class. i agree with the poster above. even if you make a c in this class, it's worth it. yeah, a d might be bad, but is the op really in risk of making a d?
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yes, definitely show her the letters; get the dean involved if necessary.Moto said:
I had a similar situation with a teacher, but it had to do with football. Due to sheer luck three of our 4 tests for the semester fell on fridays the same week as an away game. Usually, we flew out in the morning to where ever we were playing that week and you are excused from class. Anyway, the teacher said it was execsive and didnt want to give me a make up test or have me take it on thursday etc. All you have to do is go to the Dean of Students and if it goes along with the school policy the interviews are excused absences the administration will overule the professor. It wont be a big deal the teacher cannot (im almost positive) punish you for something that is explicitly excused according to the University policy. If you have good grades on quizes, exams etc youll be fine. Just make sure to save the exams as proof in case a situation arises. good luck
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Give proof (letters, airplane stubs, etc) to her and her dept. Seriously start a file with them, so if you have to petition your grade, the dept office already has info on file. And maybe explain how interviews work. I had a Prof. that didn't understand I was still trying to get in, not just checking out campuses.
