How I never went to class and got an A

Yep! You read that right and no, I’m not a genius. I didn’t attend a single class and somehow still squeezed out an A.

Some of you may be in disbelief, others are thinking “wow, what a waste of money” and others are looking for the golden rules as to how I managed this feat. Well, I have news for all of you!

First, let me know tell you why I didn’t go to class. It wasn’t like I planned this… well, I sort of did, but that’s not the point! Anyways, I had a major scheduling conflict and couldn’t make the scheduling moves to attend class. This one particular class was only offered in the Fall term and this class wasn’t available online or transferrable. I was shooketh but I was just one term away from graduating… so I took the plunge and told myself that even if I didn’t get a good grade… it was okay, because I was decently happy with my overall grade point average (gpa).

Never try to skip all your classes and hope for a good grade…. especially if you don’t have the GPA to back it up. Waiting for the end of a semester to “save your grades” will land you nothing better than a 60.

I was quite open with my prof that I wouldn’t always be in class and she told me that it wasn’t anything she would recommend BUT that I would need to put in the work if I wanted to do well.

There’s your second clue… always be honest with your professor or teacher’s advisor.

Despite not being able to attend classes, I utilized popular Facebook groups and pages to find other students in the class. This way, I could keep up with any updated news or events. Finding peers in any class will help you collect missed class work, get notes if you’re sick and have a study buddy when it comes down to grinding out exams.

Sadly, I didn’t have any buddies in the class… so I was stuck on this one!

Not being able to go to class, I made sure I stayed up to date with all the lecture notes and not only did I read through the slides, I went through the textbook chapters and made my own notes. Then I went back to coursespaces (a student portal where all class information is posted) and cross referenced my notes with the class notes.

This way, I could be sure I was getting the full knowledge and not missing vital pieces of information.

For exam writing, I had to make special requirements but that’s why being open with my professor came in handy!

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. A drawback of not attending class meant that I didn’t know which pieces of information were core and which were unnecessary so I had to study EVERYTHING and retain as much as I could. I also missed out on the chance to meet new people and build university relationships.

I still made sure I made appointments with my professor so I could review concepts I didn’t understand.

So there it is! Despite not attending class, I found a way to do well. That being said, it was A LOT more work in terms of scheduling, reading, and finding resources to understand concepts that may have already been explained in class.

Do I recommend?

No.