skipclass

How bad can skipping class really be? In your head you can justify it because you are going to catch up on sleep or catch up on the reading for a particular class. Or maybe you didn’t do the homework for your next class, so you need to do that now. But do these reasons really outweigh the importance of attending class? Read on to find out why they do not.

1. Less Work in the Long Run

The more you go to class the less extra work you have to do- There aren’t a lot of in-class assignments which misleads most students into thinking they do not have to attend class. Because all of the work is “outside” work, you miss a day of valuable information you need to use for that assignment. When you miss class you have to track down someone who will let you copy their notes and then complete the assignment. Just showing up to class cuts out an extra, unneeded step.

2. The attendance policy

Almost all professors have an attendance policy. If they don’t, I bet you the department does. Just because attendance isn’t being taken doesn’t mean the professor is cataloging it himself. Let me tell you something…I go to school in the mountains, and I had 10 minutes to get across the mountainous campus in a foot of snow and ice. My math professor had to pull me aside and tell me to drop the class because I was gonna fail due to attendance. Even though he knew my predicament there was nothing he was willing to do to help me.

3. You are paying for the class anyways…

What gets me is the financial freedom most college students think they have. They get sent to school with all their graduation money and a fresh debit card and blow it all in the firs semester. What most students don’t remember is that they are paying for their classes. Each class has an individual cost and when you don’t show up you are wasting your money and your college’s time.

4. Skipping becomes a hard habit to break.

To me this is the BIGGEST reason. Skipping is the most addicting thing in the world. Once you convince yourself once that you do not need to go to class you’ll end up skipping 2 or more days in a row. Also, when you skip once it becomes easier and easier to skip again in the future. Having a hard time waking up? Don’t take morning classes!

5. You may miss out on important news or information.

At the beginning of the semester a professor will usually pass out a syllabus with all the important dates and assignments on it. Stuff happens! All syllabi are subject to change! What if an assignment date gets extended? You may bust your butt to finish an assignment on time, when in reality you have a whole extra week to finish it. Not a good stress! Especially when you could have avoided it by simply going to class!

6. Skipping makes a bad impression

Professors take note of the students who put forth the most effort in class. In college developing good relationships with professors means receiving good recommendations. If you are planning on continuing your education or getting a job right out of college you may want to think twice about who you really need to impress. Your fellow partygoers or your esteemed writing professor?

7. Extra Credit Opportunities

Extra credit is scarce in college. The outside assignments are normally long drawn out processes or extra research papers, but some professors don’t want to mess with all that. I had a professor who was getting so fed up with students not showing up to her class that she gave everybody 10 extra points on the next exam! So worth going!

Of course if you are really sick or contagious or some dramatic event happens, skipping a day or two is necessary. Most professors will work with you as long as you shoot them an e-mail or talk to them about it!

What Do You Think?

What’s your stance on attending every class? Leave us a comment and let us know!

School Success

9 Comments

  1. avatar GiaD says:

    This REALLY helped on some facts i need to know thank you next you should do a passage about why you should not call teachers mean thats what i do all the time so it would be really helpful to me and a lot of other people.,

  2. avatar Taylor says:

    I will say this. If you are going to skip class: skip it to make up the work. You shouldn’t skip class at all. But this morning, I had none of my homework done. I am using today to catch it up and will be e-mailing the professor to find out next week’s assignment.

    I also agree on the morning classes. Mornings are not for me, at all. My first year and a half at college, I’ve been taking them and I’ve just been miserable. Afternoon/evening classes from here on out.

  3. avatar Giselle herrera says:

    Well I skipped yesturday and my teacher caught me (fail) and now im in school senspension (iss) and I had to do a 500 word essay on why not to skip and copy each definition in the dictionary of B and If I dont finish my essay I will be in iss for another week soo guys im warning you take it froma person who tryed this a lot ! But follow me on instagram @xx_Giselle_xo
    Kik:awesome_gigglez

  4. avatar NB says:

    I completely agree with Ashley. My economics professor just rambles the entire lecture, but if you can figure out what he’s talking about, you suddenly realize that there’s some economics involved. Then I look to see if I can connect the dots in his lackluster lecture. Sure, it’s boring and I fall asleep sometimes, but it makes me feel a lot more confident when I walk into exams that I didn’t miss anything.

  5. avatar Ashley says:

    These are all really great tips! I know a lot of people use the excuse that ‘they’re not learning anything in class anyway’, but it doesn’t have to be like that. My econ teacher talks about nothing but Little House on the Prairie, so I just use the opportunity to sit in the back and self study. With no distractions like the internet, etc I can be totally focused on studying.

  6. avatar Gretta says:

    I wish I had read this before last quarter. It’s true, once you start skipping it’s nearly impossible to stop. I kept convincing myself that I needed to get caught up on my Spanish homework before I returned to the class, but I never could. Especially with Language classes, if you get one week behind you are devastated unless you force yourself to go to a tutor in your offtime. You’re paying for the class, why would you skip it in favor of having someone else teach you what you missed being taught by a prof?

  7. avatar Lyn says:

    Because we love our parents, and we should learn to enjoy each class. It’s best to grateful.

  8. avatar Meaghan says:

    Hey! Loved the article, I have been trying some new things and some old things this semester and I would love to share them with the readers of the blog. So here goes.

    5 TIPS FOR WHEN YOU ARE IN CLASS

    Arrive On Time:

    Nothing is worse than someone who walks in late, it distracts the whole class and makes that person look bad. Plus, if you get there early you can snag a good seat. Try the front of the class! Sitting in the front makes it harder to text and surf the net, which inturn makes it easier to focus.

    Sit At The Front Of The Class:

    I also have been sitting in the front of all my classes and volunteering for anything the teacher needs. Not like a teachers pet, but as a leader and a strong student. It is proven that teachers will favor the students that seem to be applying themselves, even if they aren’t the strongest students in the class. How do I know this? Because it has happened to me a few times now. :)

    Be Mentally Present In Class (I.e. stop looking at your cellphone and surfing the net):

    I have decided to abstain from bringing my laptop to school most of the time because I know even though I’ll be taking notes I wont be paying attention because I will have MSN and Facebook on at the same time. Because I am at college where the class sizes are just like high school I can’t be on my cellphone, I like it a lot. You don’t have to turn your cellphone off, you know in case of those emergencies, but you should have it on silent out of sight.

    Take Notes:

    There is nothing that makes me more confused than when I am scrambling to write notes and the guy beside me isn’t writing down anything. We all know writing something down helps us learn, so just do it. Remember, you don’t have to write every word from a powerpoint and most teachers put the important stuff in their notes.

    Ask Questions:

    Now I know this isn’t going to be on everyone’s list of things to do, but if you have smaller class sizes asking questions is less daunting and very useful. If you don’t feel comfortable with this, write your questions down on a sheet of paper during the class and talk to the teacher after class.

  9. avatar Gabrielle says:

    I was extremely psychotic about going to every single class during my freshman year. I usually showed up thirty minutes to an hour early, and it bugged the heck out of me when people were late or unattentive in class. And I almost cried when I had to miss a day of school because I was sick.

    I’m much less psychotic this second year, but I still think showing up to class is super important for all the reasons you listed. In a speech class that I took, my teacher gave out final grades on the last day. I got an 89. I was really upset, because I wanted that A so bad. And then I remember some extra credit work that I’d done (you had to be in class to get it), and my score got bumped up to an A.

    This semester I’m taking an accelerated class that only meets once a week, so missing even one class is grade suicide.

    All that to say, go to class! And be on time!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *