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Imagine this: it’s the last week of the term, and you’ve realized that you’re on the verge of failing because you skipped some of the major assignments earlier in the class. So, you ask your instructor if you could just submit them all now. The professor says no. Why?

Here’s what such a last-minute request looks like from the instructor’s perspective:

• This student has got to be kidding. Think about this. Imagine that you’re part of a group project and you’ve done all your work on time. But some procrastinating team member waits until the last minute and creates a stressful situation for everyone else in the group. Well, that’s how it appears to the instructor. Your professor has been doing his or her part the entire term, and for a student to come along during the last week and expect the instructor to stay up late and grade several assignments at the last minute is, quite honestly, rude.
• There is too little time. Instructors get an astonishingly short period of time at the end of every term to tabulate and submit final grades. It is the worst time of the term for every instructor because the workload quadruples and the deadlines are halved. They barely have enough time to grade the timely final projects, and there is hardly time to eat.
• This isn’t fair to the other students. Most instructors keep fairness at the top of their minds. They know that if they accept one student’s late work, they should really accept the entire class’ late work, at least for that particular project. And so, if they say no to you, they’re really saying no to at least a dozen others just like you waiting in the wings.
• The late work will probably be very poor in quality. Experience shows that late work submitted by students at the last minute is usually, to be blunt, total junk. The student is rushing through many final assignments for several classes, trying desperately to get some points. And late work handed in at this stage is usually a haphazard, incomplete, disjointed mess. And such incoherent projects always take longer to grade than the polished, stronger student submissions. And so it’s a double whammy for instructors. And so, the experienced ones avoid such abuse by simply saying no.

Contrary to many students’ beliefs, instructors do not take joy in declining student requests. It’s simply a matter of limited resources. There is only one instructor and several dozen (sometimes several hundred) students. If you’re lucky, you have a graduate student helper, but that’s about it.

So, get your work done on time throughout the term, and know that you’ll get a better overall experience from it.

Plagiarism is a huge issue in academics. And it’s also widely misunderstood by students. Plagiarism basically occurs when students intentionally or unintentionally fail to give proper credit to their sources.

The key word here is “unintentionally.” More often than not, plagiarism happens unintentionally. And while the consequences are the same, the fact that it can happen by accident due to a lack of knowledge or technique, make it unlikely that instructors and professors will automatically regard those particular students as cheaters.

The important thing is to learn from your first mistake and to never repeat it again. Get a tutor and do what it takes to really learn how to cite your sources properly and use information responsibly. The sidebar of this blog has a couple of good resources to brush up on your plagiarism knowledge.

Plagiarism avoidance tip list:

• Use quotation marks and in-text citations properly. If you do not quote your sources or cite them in the text correctly, even if you have a Bibliography or Works Cited page at the end, you can be noted for plagiarism.
• Are you including some data or statistics? Cite them. A clear signal that something is plagiarized is when seemingly random knowledge appears in a paper without any reference to a source.
• Provide proper balance. Is more than 30% of your essay coming from an outside source? That’s a warning sign that your essay is imbalanced and you might be letting another source speak for you. While this isn’t necessarily plagiarism, it can lead to other issues that result in major losses in points for the assignment.
• Beware of overly relying on “common knowledge”. Brush up on what it means to include “common knowledge.” There are actually very few pieces of information that can be incorporated as “common knowledge” without citing your source. Knowledge is not as common as you think, and just because you know it doesn’t mean everyone else knows it.
• Get a tutor. There is a stigma attached to getting a tutor, and it’s one of the silliest things that sets students back. A tutor can be used by anyone – weak and strong students – just to gain another perspective and even provide a “study partner.” Use all your resources to get the most out of your education.
• Your instructor is not out to get you. When professors check for plagiarism, they are doing their duty to the school and to the broader academic world. It is not a personal vendetta.
• Your instructor does not “hate” you now. Professors should not and do not attach personal judgments toward students. It’s a business relationship. So do not disappear or shrink away if you make the plagiarism mistake. Work with your instructor, tutors and advisors to make sure you understand what went wrong and how to avoid it in the future. Everyone is on the same page when it comes to the desire to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

It still amazes me how many students forget to put their names on their assignments. So, it’s worth taking the time to review this important element.

Name reminders:

• The message boards spoil students. The message boards (or threaded discussion areas) are the only places that automatically stamp your name by your entry. For the most part, other areas of the class will require you to put your name clearly on your documents/submissions.
• Hiding your name. When students do include their names, they often place them in difficult places like the very end or in the header only. Be clear with where you put your name. Usually, the top, left corner is just fine.
• Document and file names. It’s great to put your name as part of the file name; however, don’t stop there. Remember to put your name at the top of the document itself. Once opened, an instructor usually wants to see it all laid out clearly and professionally within the document.

Instructors might have specific format requirements that are particular to the class. So be sure to follow those closely. But these general guidelines will keep you from wasting your instructor’s time and draining his/her patience. Properly identifying yourself and your documents are simple ways to show that you’re a top-notch professional in all that you do.

Questions to Ask Before Withdrawing from a Class

At the middle of every term, some students find that one of their classes is too overwhelming for them. And if they are failing the course by midterm, they need to make some tough decisions about withdrawing. Here are some questions to consider before you make up your mind.

Title of tip list:

• How badly are you failing? Look at the syllabus and do the math. If you need to make perfect scores on every future assignment just to pass, the logical assumption is that it might not be a realistic endeavor.
• Does the instructor accept late work or extra credit? If you missed a major assignment recently, and know you can make it up, discuss it with the instructor. Sometimes a key assignment can get you back in the game. However, not every instructor accepts late work or extra credit. So do not assume that they do.
• Do I lose any financial aid in the future for withdrawing? Ask your advisor and financial aid counselor about the impact of changing your schedule in the middle of the term.
• Did you discuss all your options with your advisor? Make sure you know all your options by speaking with your advisor. Be informed and take control of your education.

Remember, you are not a failure for withdrawing from a class. Plenty of students need to retake a college class that was particularly challenging. Assess what you will do differently the next term to avoid repeating errors, and simply push forward with a better strategy the next time around. Good luck!