Quote:
Originally Posted by starfish
If it's a full class, you'll have trouble finding a seat (which may sound ridiculous but I've seen people sitting on the stairs in BSB 147). If it's a lab, you might not be allowed to start the lab or get docked lab performance marks. If it's a tutorial, there might be attendance taken as well as a portion of your grade for attendance/participation.
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Even if the class isn't completely full, you may have difficulty finding a seat because people don't understand the logic of moving towards the middle when they are the first to enter the room and because apparently the annoying habit of "seat-saving" that is present in kindergartens the world over rears its' ugly head in university lecture halls.
With regard to labs, you will not be allowed to make up time missed when completing a lab. If the time expires with you work incomplete, you will be graded accoringly, in addition to the loss of lab performance marks, which can be worth up to 30% of each lab.
This is particularly true in upper-year labs, where the lab activity itself will often require the entire period and you will be expected to perform the procedure from memory.
If you are late enough to a lab that you are not permitted to start it, you typically fail the lab as labs are often full to cpacaity and there isn't room to do "make-up" sessions. In some science courses, completing AND passing EACH lab is a requirement for passing the course and thus you would fail the course regardless of your grades in the other sections.
As for tutorials, attendance and participation may be worth up to 20% of your final grade (usually 10). A 10-point difference can be worth three grade points (i.e. a full letter grade). Don't throw them away, as lateness is rarely tolerated. I have had TAs who will close the door at the start of a tutorial, so they can more easily identfy tardy students in order to take away their attendance mark.
You can avoid lateness by following some simple tips:
1) It takes almost the entire period between classes to cross campus - avoid booking consecutive classes on opposite sides of campus.
2) Plan your breaks - Don't take washroom/fountain/social breaks when you ahve to get to your next class immediately. Use empty periods following a class for that.
3) Use office hours/Aveneue discussion boards - Waiting for a prof to answer a question at the end of a class is largely pointless. There is usually a large crowd and profs may need to leave quickly, either for another commitment of their own or the need to vacate the lecture for the next class. Often your questions will either not be answered at all, or answered unsatisfactorily, with a reminder to drop by office hours. Office hours are generally poorly attended, so you have a much better chance of getting the time you need. If you have a class conflict wih office hours, most professors will make appointments, but you must keep them. Avenue discussion boards are useful (especially for administrative questions and are ususally monitored by the prof or TAs. Other students can be helpful too.