I can't really skip any of my classes.

Four of them there are participation components, but even if that fact is disregarded, there are notes on ELM to help me out...and just because you read the material doesn't mean you "get" it (especially in English...arg).

Originally Posted by sew12

I hate to skip things I paid for. Its a waste for me to pay all this money to attend University and then skip classes.

Actually, you can attend lectures for free. Your tuition is paying for tutorials, labs, tests, and exams.

This method of thought could be good or bad. Ideally, it'll make you put a little more effort into your tests and exams due to them being "worth" more money (a 3-unit course is ~$600, so if you have no labs or tutorials the two tests cost $150 and the 50% exam is $300).

But then you'll be more inclined to skip your lectures with the knowledge that they're free, and that's not something I could recommend.

I think it'd be really cool for someone with access to the master timetable to learn four years worth of material by attending lectures for free, and then actually register as a student and throw 12s all over the place.

I considered doing that (to a lesser extent, only for my first year of Eng)but decided against it since I probably wouldn't commit to it and end up slacking off.

Originally Posted by sniderj

Especially if it's 8:30!

I've taken my laziness to a new level...now I even skip classes if they at 9:30

Originally Posted by Entropy

Actually, you can attend lectures for free. Your tuition is paying for tutorials, labs, tests, and exams.

This method of thought could be good or bad. Ideally, it'll make you put a little more effort into your tests and exams due to them being "worth" more money (a 3-unit course is ~$600, so if you have no labs or tutorials the two tests cost $150 and the 50% exam is $300).

But then you'll be more inclined to skip your lectures with the knowledge that they're free, and that's not something I could recommend.

I think it'd be really cool for someone with access to the master timetable to learn four years worth of material by attending lectures for free, and then actually register as a student and throw 12s all over the place.

I considered doing that (to a lesser extent, only for my first year of Eng)but decided against it since I probably wouldn't commit to it and end up slacking off.

ive always thought htat.. lol.. someone off the street can jus walk into any lecture unnoticed and "learn" for free


today was the first time this term i skipped lecture on purpose.. it was an 830 and i was jus too tired to get myself there and focus.. but i skip one of my tutorials per week.. but i think i might start goin to it

I try my best to go to all of my classes. I will once in awhile skip a class if I'm just too exhausted. I think I missed 2 hours so far this term and about 6 last term.
I wish all my course content were uploaded onto the internet. Some of my courses don't use elm or anything at all :(

Originally Posted by lmasud

I've taken my laziness to a new level...now I even skip classes if they at 9:30

Tee hee... I skip some of my 12:30 french classes because it's one of the earlier ones =p. I plan to regularly attend all my classes this term though.

Originally Posted by Entropy

Actually, you can attend lectures for free. Your tuition is paying for tutorials, labs, tests, and exams.

This method of thought could be good or bad. Ideally, it'll make you put a little more effort into your tests and exams due to them being "worth" more money (a 3-unit course is ~$600, so if you have no labs or tutorials the two tests cost $150 and the 50% exam is $300).

But then you'll be more inclined to skip your lectures with the knowledge that they're free, and that's not something I could recommend.

I think it'd be really cool for someone with access to the master timetable to learn four years worth of material by attending lectures for free, and then actually register as a student and throw 12s all over the place.

I considered doing that (to a lesser extent, only for my first year of Eng)but decided against it since I probably wouldn't commit to it and end up slacking off.

I don't really subscribe to that way of thinking, but I see what you're saying.

For my program I doubt I'd be able to attend the lectures for free, and also there would be no point in doing so. Its a small program (Profs know pretty much all students, students all know each other).

That reasoning doesn't make me more inclined to skip though. I'm paying to be here.

Originally Posted by Alchemist11

Yeah, sure we're paying for it, but if you can get 12's in the course without going and spending less time then why go? You're paying to waste your time.

Last semester I only skipped two classes a week (5 hours). This semester I don't really skip much, a tutorial and maybe a lecture per week.

You could get 12s without actually properly understanding the material.
If you've invested the time and money into learning, I don't see the point in skipping classes "because you can get a 12 easily".

Anyway, I try not to miss class. That being said, I'm not in chemistry right now...

Last term I skipped about 12 hours...

This term I'm skipping just one class (so 3 hours), barring days where I can't seem to wake up in time for an 8:30 class (which I have 4 days a week...).

Although I'm slowly sinking into the habit of skipping another 2 hours/week due to skipping the last two lectures (due to feeling sick and oversleeping), and a couple of upper years telling me that it's pretty much better to learn through the textbook in that course.

Originally Posted by Mahratta

You could get 12s without actually properly understanding the material.
If you've invested the time and money into learning, I don't see the point in skipping classes "because you can get a 12 easily".

I'd like to throw out the "everyone learns differently" line out if it didn't feel like such a cop-out...

Profs usually don't care whether or not you show up, some profs even tell you the first day you don't need to show up, and there are a lot of classes where you can learn the material yourself or they just basically read off their own powerpoints anyways. (Clearly you've never taken Econ 1B03 with Holmes...)

It's been mentioned before, you're more paying for evaluations and the opportunity to earn credits than you are paying for the lectures. Y can basically sneak into most lectures and learn for free...

Last year I had this course where the prof posted all his notes online, the textbook wasn't hard to understand, and the online component even had practice quizzes that tell you how to do problems step by step.

That course took up an 8:30 timeslot 3 days a week, and I basically had a 5-8 hour break afterwords. To hell with that shit. I reallocated those 3 hours and just learned the material at some other 3 hours of the week at times where I'm most likely not sleep deprived.

Originally Posted by lmasud

I've taken my laziness to a new level...now I even skip classes if they at 9:30

I think I can beat you on that one. I often skip my last class of the day so I can go home early and nap before supper.

But I only skip class when there are full notes on ELM. So that's usually 2 or 3 hours per week.

I wish my math lecture wasn't so damn late.. and combined with the fact that its boring as hell and doesn't actually help me understand the material.... then i might go some time...

Its so much easier to walk to the bus stop then wait around for 2hrs while i wait for the lecture..zzzz

I almost never skip class. I've missed about 1 class this term.

I'm late sometimes though, especially at the beginning of the term when everyone decides they want to go to school again and take forever to board the bus.

Not a lot. I missed my first this term this morning- 8:30 boring class where he reads off the slides, and I'm sick.

Last term I think I missed four classes total, and thee of those were on the last day of tutorial where I hadn't taken my freebie.

When I did my undergrad, I frequently skipped classes...personally, I found that lectures tended to stunt my creativity. ie. If I figured out a math theorem on my own time, by myself (with help from a textbook), I was far more likely to remember it and learn the 'style' than if I was simply regurgitating a proof that I saw the professor do on the blackboard.

tl;dr: It depends on what kind of learner you are...but I found that for many classes (math in particular) I did better when I learned it on my own.


Now that I'm in grad school I never skip a class deliberately...this is for 2 reasons. One, the material is much more difficult and good textbooks are scarce (ie. there's about a thousand texts on first year calculus, one of which is bound to be good, and maybe 4 on "elliptic curves over the rationals" which are likely written by eccentric mathematicians). The other reason is, grad school involves a lot of politics. I want my profs to see me paying attention in lectures so they're more inclined to accept me as a research student.

Originally Posted by Mowicz

When I did my undergrad, I frequently skipped classes...personally, I found that lectures tended to stunt my creativity. ie. If I figured out a math theorem on my own time, by myself (with help from a textbook), I was far more likely to remember it and learn the 'style' than if I was simply regurgitating a proof that I saw the professor do on the blackboard.

tl;dr: It depends on what kind of learner you are...but I found that for many classes (math in particular) I did better when I learned it on my own.


Now that I'm in grad school I never skip a class deliberately...this is for 2 reasons. One, the material is much more difficult and good textbooks are scarce (ie. there's about a thousand texts on first year calculus, one of which is bound to be good, and maybe 4 on "elliptic curves over the rationals" which are likely written by eccentric mathematicians). The other reason is, grad school involves a lot of politics. I want my profs to see me paying attention in lectures so they're more inclined to accept me as a research student.

I'm the same with my fourth year seminars. I use my profs as references so it'll look bad if I skip all the time. Plus, the material is actually useful and interesting.