Unexcused Absence for Interview

[pablo213]

Sorry if this question is repetitive. I did some digging for similar threads and the consensus seemed to be that professors would likely be somewhat lenient with attendance for grad/med school interviews.

Unfortunately, I have reached out to a professor ahead of time, letting them know I would be absent, and they have refused to excuse the absence (I will get 0s because there are always in-class activities that are mandatory), telling me to change classes if I think I'll miss more than one class... I kind of wish i could after seeing their response, but I'm stuck for the time being due to conflicts with other classes.

I suppose my question is what can I do in this situation besides cancelling the interview or skipping the class? I was thinking about reaching out to my academic advisor, but I don't know that they would be able to do anything.

*The school in question assigned a day for the interview and is not really open to rescheduling.

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[Mr.Smile12]

Reschedule your interview.

This is a PREview scenario. You go to your mandatory lectures and labs, period. Explain to the interviewing school and their admissions dean. If they want to interview you, they will accommodate you because they don't want to get you into trouble for missing a mandatory class. If they can't, think carefully about what the school values about finding a professional solution.

Work with your professor or the chair/dean so that you can find a flexible solution.

 

[atriablack]

That's rough, is there a different section/professor? Is this a specific class that you need to fulfill or could you search around for similar credit hours? Having an uptight professor could cause more problems with interviews later in the season. If nothing else, try to respond to their Emil again with a plea? Explain the reasons why their class is one of few that doesn't conflict with your schedule etc. and offer to do additional work in lieu of missed work. Really beg and mix in some flattery.

As a last resort ask the school you are interviewing at for alternative days.

 

[Moko]

Sorry if this question is repetitive. I did some digging for similar threads and the consensus seemed to be that professors would likely be somewhat lenient with attendance for grad/med school interviews.

Unfortunately, I have reached out to a professor ahead of time, letting them know I would be absent, and they have refused to excuse the absence (I will get 0s because there are always in-class activities that are mandatory), telling me to change classes if I think I'll miss more than one class... I kind of wish i could after seeing their response, but I'm stuck for the time being due to conflicts with other classes.

I suppose my question is what can I do in this situation besides cancelling the interview or skipping the class? I was thinking about reaching out to my academic advisor, but I don't know that they would be able to do anything.

*The school in question assigned a day for the interview and is not really open to rescheduling.

Ideally, the medical school(s) can accommodate a different interview date for you. Early on in the cycle, this is most likely possible. There is no significant difference between interviewing in late September vs early December at most schools. However, if they can't (or if you have multiple interviews that can't all be deferred to the new year, e.g., if you're operating on a semester system), then you need to decide what your priority is.

Is your priority to get an A and a LOR for this professor in case you become a reapplicant? If so, well, don't skip class.

But, if your priority is to get into medical school and you can't reschedule an interview to another more convenient time (multiple interviews vs an unusually inflexible school), then going to an interview that you otherwise would miss should take full priority over missing one class out of many. This may be the difference between an A and A-, but it pales in comparison to potentially missing out on an acceptance (and 1 year of attending salary... a ~$300k mistake).

Other thoughts, how important is this class for graduation and/or matriculation to medical school? If it is not a pre-requisite (and you are otherwise going to be missing out on interviews), consider taking the W. You may only get a partial (or no) refund, but it's a sunk cost at this point. If it is a pre-requisite, can you take the W now and then reschedule it for the next quarter/semester? A withdrawal for this reason would not raise any red flags at my school as we understand that the interview season can be very inflexible and time-consuming (though other schools may feel differently! @Goro @wysdoc @LizzyM @gyngyn ).

Anecdotally, I was in a similar situation, and was scheduled to miss multiple classes in one course due to the interview season. I offered to do make-up assignments etc., but my professor (who was very empathetic) told me to drop the course. And while I initially struggled with this decision, in retrospect, I'm very glad I listened to her advice. That W was a sign of sound judgement. Of course, n=1. Just my thoughts.

 

[pablo213]

Thank you @Mr.Smile12 , @Moko , and @atriablack for the advice.

Reschedule your interview.

This is a PREview scenario. You go to your mandatory lectures and labs, period. Explain to the interviewing school and their admissions dean. If they want to interview you, they will accommodate you because they don't want to get you into trouble for missing a mandatory class. If they can't, think carefully about what the school values about finding a professional solution.

Work with your professor or the chair/dean so that you can find a flexible solution.

Ideally, the medical school(s) can accommodate a different interview date for you. Early on in the cycle, this is most likely possible. There is no significant difference between interviewing in late September vs early December at most schools. However, if they can't (or if you have multiple interviews that can't all be deferred to the new year, e.g., if you're operating on a semester system), then you need to decide what your priority is.

I'm inclined to try this first, since it seems to be the less extreme option, though I am somewhat afraid that it may be delaying the inevitable for me. I've already had to miss some classes for the same reason, and while those professors were understanding, I'm concerned about pushing their leniency if I have to miss more sessions.

Other thoughts, how important is this class for graduation and/or matriculation to medical school? If it is not a pre-requisite (and you are otherwise going to be missing out on interviews), consider taking the W. You may only get a partial (or no) refund, but it's a sunk cost at this point. If it is a pre-requisite, can you take the W now and then reschedule it for the next quarter/semester? A withdrawal for this reason would not raise any red flags at my school as we understand that the interview season can be very inflexible and time-consuming (though other schools may feel differently! @Goro @wysdoc @LizzyM @gyngyn ).

Anecdotally, I was in a similar situation, and was scheduled to miss multiple classes in one course due to the interview season. I offered to do make-up assignments etc., but my professor (who was very empathetic) told me to drop the class. And while I struggled with this decision, in retrospect, I'm very glad I listened to her advice. n=1. Just my thoughts.

Hmm this is a very interesting take. The class is a prereq for med schools, but I guess there's nothing really stopping me from changing it to next semester. It does feel a little extreme to withdraw out of the course just barely having started the semester, but I'm not sure there is a better option for me given my current circumstances. I already have limited availability due to my job, so this would give me a lot more flexibility. I just hope that a W will not look too badly on my transcript

That's rough, is there a different section/professor? Is this a specific class that you need to fulfill or could you search around for similar credit hours? Having an uptight professor could cause more problems with interviews later in the season. If nothing else, try to respond to their Emil again with a plea? Explain the reasons why their class is one of few that doesn't conflict with your schedule etc. and offer to do additional work in lieu of missed work. Really beg and mix in some flattery.

As a last resort ask the school you are interviewing at for alternative days.

There are different sections, but the others ones overlap with my job or other classes, so I'm a little bit restricted in that regard :/ . I guess it couldn't hurt to beg, but the wording the professor used did not make it seem like a plea would help lol.

 

[Goro]

Ideally, the medical school(s) can accommodate a different interview date for you. Early on in the cycle, this is most likely possible. There is no significant difference between interviewing in late September vs early December at most schools. However, if they can't (or if you have multiple interviews that can't all be deferred to the new year, e.g., if you're operating on a semester system), then you need to decide what your priority is.

Is your priority to get an A and a LOR for this professor in case you become a reapplicant? If so, well, don't skip class.

But, if your priority is to get into medical school and you can't reschedule an interview to another more convenient time (multiple interviews vs an unusually inflexible school), then going to an interview that you otherwise would miss should take full priority over missing one class out of many. This may be the difference between an A and A-, but it pales in comparison to potentially missing out on an acceptance (and 1 year of attending salary... a ~$300k mistake).

Other thoughts, how important is this class for graduation and/or matriculation to medical school? If it is not a pre-requisite (and you are otherwise going to be missing out on interviews), consider taking the W. You may only get a partial (or no) refund, but it's a sunk cost at this point. If it is a pre-requisite, can you take the W now and then reschedule it for the next quarter/semester? A withdrawal for this reason would not raise any red flags at my school as we understand that the interview season can be very inflexible and time-consuming (though other schools may feel differently! @Goro @wysdoc @LizzyM @gyngyn ).

Anecdotally, I was in a similar situation, and was scheduled to miss multiple classes in one course due to the interview season. I offered to do make-up assignments etc., but my professor (who was very empathetic) told me to drop the course. And while I initially struggled with this decision, in retrospect, I'm very glad I listened to her advice. That W was a sign of sound judgement. Of course, n=1. Just my thoughts.

I agree with my learned colleague. BTW, my school would allow you to reschedule.

 

[atriablack]

I was thinking about reaching out to my academic advisor, but I don't know that they would be able to do anything.

Also, I would be hesitant to reach out to advisors or heads of department. Usually it's up to the professor's discretion what their absence policy is and most administration won't go out of their way to challenge a syllabus' policy as long as it is fair and consistent. Plus, if the professor feels that you are going over their head... you might burn a bridge/strain a relationship. If you end up needing to take this course with the same professor... yea you won't earn any goodwill.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Additional questions: does this situation involve a virtual interview? Is it in-person? It doesn't change my initial response, and if you have already missed some classes to go to other interviews.

If you are within the drop/add period, you can drop the class with no "W" on your transcript. It is unfortunate if your job is more flexible than your attendance policy (before you go to med school).

 

[GoSpursGo]

It seems like you need to switch classes. This will undoubtedly not be the only time you have an interview conflict with this class, so regardless of how inconvenient switching would be staying is just untenable.

Could you take this class in the spring?

 

[pablo213]

It seems like you need to switch classes. This will undoubtedly not be the only time you have an interview conflict with this class, so regardless of how inconvenient switching would be staying is just untenable.

Could you take this class in the spring?

I agree. It looks like switching to next semester is the best route. Thank you to everyone for your advice.

 

[chssoccer7]

Sorry if this question is repetitive. I did some digging for similar threads and the consensus seemed to be that professors would likely be somewhat lenient with attendance for grad/med school interviews.

Unfortunately, I have reached out to a professor ahead of time, letting them know I would be absent, and they have refused to excuse the absence (I will get 0s because there are always in-class activities that are mandatory), telling me to change classes if I think I'll miss more than one class... I kind of wish i could after seeing their response, but I'm stuck for the time being due to conflicts with other classes.

I suppose my question is what can I do in this situation besides cancelling the interview or skipping the class? I was thinking about reaching out to my academic advisor, but I don't know that they would be able to do anything.

*The school in question assigned a day for the interview and is not really open to rescheduling.

This doesn't really help your situation, but if you've got further semesters left, I highly recommend using rate my professor for this reason. Skip all the complaints about how hard the class is/praise about how easy it is, and look for the comments about how the professor responds to scenarios like this. You likely aren't the first student to encounter the issue and people will usually comment about it. Obviously you have to take comments with a grain of salt because not all college students accept responsibility for situations they put themselves in and then blame the professor, but if there's enough smoke there's usually some form of fire. Some professors don't have any desire to work with students for things like this, and since there really isn't much you can do about it, it is best just to avoid them (if you can) imo.

 

[eigen]

As another thing to consider, you mention:

I will get 0s because there are always in-class activities that are mandatory

How much of an impact on your final grade is that? I ask, because I have students who balk at getting 0's on a few small missed assignments that would never have more than a marginal impact on their final grade, like daily in-class activities.

Before you (a) reschedule the interview, of (b) drop the class, or (c) try to go over the professors head...

Run a quick calculation on what % of your final grade these missed in-class activities will be. Unless this is a lab class, I can't imagine it will be more than a few %.

 

[pablo213]

As another thing to consider, you mention:


How much of an impact on your final grade is that? I ask, because I have students who balk at getting 0's on a few small missed assignments that would never have more than a marginal impact on their final grade, like daily in-class activities.

Before you (a) reschedule the interview, of (b) drop the class, or (c) try to go over the professors head...

Run a quick calculation on what % of your final grade these missed in-class activities will be. Unless this is a lab class, I can't imagine it will be more than a few %.

Yea this is a good point. After doing the calcs the actual 0s wouldn't be that much of a hit, but the course has a recitation portion, which only permits 2 absences before automatically causing you to fail it 🙁