Missed a final exam -- what happened?

[Anonymous]

I came really close to missing a final for one of my core classes senior year. I was sick and missed the last class where it was announced that we would be taking the finals in our recitation classrooms instead of the lecture hall. Showed up to the hall and noone was there, started panicking and headed to the elevator to go see if I could find one of the TA's. Just happened to see some classmates from my recitation class in the elevator and followed them to our classroom!

[Anonymous]

I got in a car accident driving to campus for a final. Ended up in the university affiliated hospital for a couple nights. The university was very helpful in making sure everything was okay and arranging for a retake of that exam and the other one I missed.

[Anonymous]

My DS has a final tomorrow at 7:30-9:30am on the other side of his HUGE campus. He is so worried about missing alarm, he said he hears it for his earliest class - which is 10:40am but worried that at 6:30am he may not. I said just turn it up really loud and tell your roommate to bug you if he hears it. Time to be adult - but secretly I am worried too!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS has a final tomorrow at 7:30-9:30am on the other side of his HUGE campus. He is so worried about missing alarm, he said he hears it for his earliest class - which is 10:40am but worried that at 6:30am he may not. I said just turn it up really loud and tell your roommate to bug you if he hears it. Time to be adult - but secretly I am worried too!!

+1 DS had one at 8am this morning. He can sleep through anything (I can hear his alarm going off when he's home and I'm in my office working) so I have my fingers crossed that he made it there on time!

[Anonymous]

Who schedules an exam for 7:30 in the morning??? That is not right, sorry. If you're allowed to do that, us night people should be allowed to schedule exams for everyone else at 1am. It's just a fact.

[Anonymous]

From my observations as a TA, professors usually try to work with the students, even those with poor track records in the class. There was usually a retake time so students that missed the exam could show up for that. This was for those large core/general Ed classes like Intro to Microeconomics don’t know if professors for higher level were as accommodating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who schedules an exam for 7:30 in the morning??? That is not right, sorry. If you're allowed to do that, us night people should be allowed to schedule exams for everyone else at 1am. It's just a fact.

Totally agree. I am PP with the kid with 7:30am exam. He had three finals. His first was this past Saturday night 8:30-10:30pm (wtf?!) then today 2-4pm and lastly tomorrow 7:30-9:30am. There are no options for different times. Really weird and imo opinion a downside of a large public. But he really enjoyed freshman year and is doing pretty well with grades so I guess you have to take the good with the bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a nothing story. If your kid was told that they couldn’t retake the final than you would have a story. But what is your point here? Are you trying to throw shade at larger schools on the theory that their professors wouldn’t allow this?

I believe I was clear with my question: What happens at other schools when a kid misses a final. I'm not here to entertain you with stories. I'm asking for data points.

[Anonymous]

I'm an R1 prof, papers, not exams, but, the exams are scheduled differently from the class, so it's entirely plausible to have something confuse the day/time. If the student has been diligent, I'd be totally lenient.

[Anonymous]

Ugh. Can I add my child's story and ask for some advice? This kid slept through and missed the last class which offered some points for required attendance. Because of this, the expected grade is lowered from B+ to B, as the grade was on the cusp. Is it worth asking for Professor's leniency? DC does have a 504.

[Anonymous]

I’m glad to hear so many stories where retakes were possible. Experienced professors have seen it all and can usually suss out the true accidents versus the slackers.

It’s not a win for a professor to refuse a retake when the miss was clearly unintentional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m glad to hear so many stories where retakes were possible. Experienced professors have seen it all and can usually suss out the true accidents versus the slackers.

It’s not a win for a professor to refuse a retake when the miss was clearly unintentional.

Op jere. My DC and I are super grsteful that she was given a 2nd chance. It's good to know that profs generally are willing to help young adults as they make some mistakes, and the profs aren't out to punish them. I can imagine too that small achools want to keep their students (attending), and want to keep them moving toward completion.

Just communicating with a professor and having the courage to admit your mistake and ask for a second chance is very hard for some kids (like mone). So that too is a sign of growth.

[Anonymous]

...Here...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Works at most places unless the kid is a repeat offender.. Couple of decades ago when I was new to this country I took an exam where I didn't understand some of the questions. Ended up getting a C+ in the finals (the only grade that mattered). I could have lost my funding with that grade. Went to the prof. to ask him what I can do to fix it. He just asked me what I needed to maintain my funding and just changed by grade to what I needed it to be! This was at a prestigious public school.
Unimaginable where I came from!

Not really commendable, to be honest.

[Anonymous]

I once showed up at my horticulture class to find all the students quiet and with their heads down. I asked the prof what was going on, and he gave me a strange look..then he handed me a booklet - it was the final exam, accounting for a huge percentage of the grade. Needless to say, I begged and pleaded but he chuckled and said no. I failed miserably in the exam and ended the class with a B+.

Funny thing was, that professor and I got along swimmingly and I invited him to be a part of my dissertation committee.