One of my professors has us do “reflections” and today I disclosed something kind of personal. Nothing that would be like awkward to discuss in real life, but probably not something I’d bring up over small talk. I kept it light hearted, funny, and positive.It was directly related to the prompt in a perfect and specific way so I used it as the basis for my reflection.

Is this ok?! I already turned it in so need some reassurance lol. I’m actually happy with the paper and the way I used the story to answer the prompt but now I’m feeling embarrassed like I did something awkward !??!!

Hello everyone! I (23F) am in my first year of grad school doing my master’s in Sociology. I’m only about a month and a half into the program.

I recently went to office hours for help, and afterward my professor asked how things were going. I mentioned that adjusting to grad school has been stressful, and eventually we started talking about my master’s thesis. I told her about some topics I’m interested in, but she seemed confused and told me I should have already chosen a topic and advisor and that I was behind. She also made a comment about how some people just “don’t have it” in grad school.
It completely threw me off. I thought I had more time and was planning to read more of the literature before settling on a specific topic. For the past few days, I’ve been stressing and trying to read through more journal articles.

I’m also hesitant to ask other professors for advice in my department because I don’t want to admit to them that I might be “behind.”

So for those of you who have been advisors for grad students is it actually unusual to not have your thesis topic and advisor figured out around this time in my first semester?

TLDR; I had circumstances that made me miss work and I reached out to my professor to address it, professor gave an extension for only one assignment and later informed me that I was dropped from the course. I made an appeal to department of chair, they delayed the resolution then made it seem like it was my fault. Not getting reinstated into the course.

This is a long post but please offer any advice, I really need help and have no one to ask! I’m looking for honest perspectives, especially from professors or anyone familiar with academic appeals.

My College took over a month to process my appeal, never communicated the decision, then blamed the delay for denying reinstatement. Is this normal?

I’m a student at a California community college. Earlier this semester, I experienced serious personal hardships involving grief and caregiving responsibilities that affected my ability to complete coursework. I was going through depression.

I reached out to my English professor explaining that I was struggling with coursework in general due to these circumstances. She responded by extending ONE assignment, with a deadline she chose. I completed it, but my circumstances hadn’t resolved, and I was eventually dropped for missed work and non participation. She confused me with her reason why, she first claimed consecutive then changed it to cumulative.

I understand why I was dropped under the participation policy. My issue is that I had already communicated that I COULDN’T complete my coursework. I wasn’t simply asking for an extension on one assignment.

Professor sent me a courtesy email telling me I was dropped. I submitted a Department Chair Assistance Request just the next day after that after trying to learn what my options are. I followed the college’s instructions, waited through the stated processing period, and repeatedly followed up when nobody responded.

Weeks later, I discovered my request hadn’t even reached the department chair.

I reached out to every email I can find and eventually contacted the Dean, who got the Chair involved. He reviewed my case but NEVER contacted me directly, asked for clarification, or communicated his decision. I had to reach out AGAIN today even though this was brought to his attention October 8, only for the Dean to forward me his denial, explaining that it was supposed to be sent to me.

His reasoning essentially repeated what I already knew: I missed assignments, received one extension, and was dropped under the participation policy.

He also claimed I had a “significant amount of missing work” before September 1, which I don’t believe is accurate, without identifying which assignments he meant.

What bothers me is that nobody seems to be addressing WHY I originally contacted my professor. If I was communicating that I couldn’t complete my coursework generally, why is one assignment extension being treated as though it resolved my circumstances? My schools policy states I needed to make arrangements. As far as I can understand, I tried to make arrangements and they were made for me. Prior to this I was a straight A student, I never had late nor incomplete work.

The part that really gets me: The Chair cited the delay in receiving my request as an additional reason reinstatement was no longer possible, even though I had submitted it almost immediately after being dropped!

At every stage, I was the one reaching out, requesting updates, and trying to get someone to address my situation. Without my follow-ups, I don’t even know when I would have received a decision.

The Dean has now offered to meet with me and suggested registering for another English course. Unfortunately, I paid for the original class out of pocket and cannot afford to pay for it again.

I’m not denying that I missed work or expecting automatic exceptions. I’m frustrated that the circumstances I reported don’t seem to have been meaningfully addressed, and that the administrative delays are now being used against me.

Am I being unreasonable? Is this how academic appeals are normally handled? Would you escalate this or pursue a refund?

I’m a university student, and a classmate I’ve only spoken to once asked me to take notes and let her know about important announcements because she’s out of town.
We’re also on the same team for a class project.
Today, she unexpectedly sent me $40 through Zelle with a memo saying it was for class notes. I never asked for payment, never discussed charging her, and honestly would’ve helped her for free.
I’m a little uncomfortable accepting the money because I don’t want to accidentally violate any university policies or get into legal trouble.
I’ve checked my course syllabus and haven’t found anything explicitly prohibiting paid note-sharing, but I’d rather be safe.
Would accepting this money cause any academic or legal issues? Should I just return it?

My class got back our midterms today. We had a lab after the class ended, and some people in my group were openly talking about cheating (one person was straight up saying "I shouldn't have copied from you, I got this question wrong" & "My phone didn't really help me I guess"). They were also talking about how they should bring in two phones for the final for cheating? or something? They were not helping when we were doing our lab & made me and one other person do most of the work, and I kind of got pissed. I don't know if I should report this to my professor, and was wondering if I should keep quiet just to not trouble him or if I should report it because Academic Integrity... We also had to sign the first page of the exam saying "I did not receive external aid for this exam" or something along those lines. TLDR, would you appreciate if students reported AIVs or would you just not care?

As you reflect on your time as a professor, is there anything in particular that stands out as something you are particularly proud of?

I sent my prof an email over my terrible exam grades and how I will be rectifying my major anxiety towards it. Taking accountability. No they're not my therapist. Ive disappointed myself and ultimately just want them to know that. Don't need anything from them. Please check my post history is needed.

I can not make my lecture tonight at 5:30.
A relative got into a terrible accident early this morning and they are in a bad way/dying.

Their office hours are tomorrow at 9:30 AM.

Issue is tonight they would be giving the exam for us to review then tics back in class.

I may have to miss class as I don't know if my relative will survive.

Should I email them asking if I can meet them during office hours and review the exam there for the 2 minutes to check it out?

I can go to half of the class as of now but can't stay until then end which is when they give back our exams. They are very strict on that and indojt want them to think I'm trying to get favors. I just genuinely don't want my relative to possibly pass and I'm not there.

From a student's perspective, aside from considering the quote above as nothing more than a "Jeu de mots," it just seems unfair to put the burden on students to earn every single point.

An assignment is a contract: a student submits completed work on time, and professors and teaching assistants are expected to evaluate it in a fair and unbiased manner.

By the pedagogy of starting from a 0 and ending at a set point which a professor feels is a "worthy mark", this leaves room for subjectivity and vibe-based grading. A fair mark can only be processed when a professor marks from a 100 and can justify every single point taken away: if they cannot find reasons to justify why 20 marks are missing from an 80, a student cannot know what they need to do to do well. Especially in writing courses where a student is given the undue burden to prove every step of their work, getting a random number that can be called off as what they "earned" without any justification for a lower mark feels simply unfair.

I was wondering what the justification for this marking scheme is, and to see the professors' perspective to see if I can understand the other side of the story. Or to also see some opinions from professors themselves who disagree with this marking scheme. Thanks!

English is my third language, and I studied in my native language before my bachelor's degree. I managed to get through that transition and enter an MA programme, but it's only recently, as I've started exploring the subject independently, that I've realised how much I still have to learn.

My gaps feel like they cover almost everything.

I sometimes struggle to understand what I'm reading. Even when I grasp the central argument, I find it difficult to articulate it in my own words or develop it into a coherent argument. My academic English and writing skills are nowhere near where I want them to be.

I'm currently struggling with literary theory. I somehow managed to understand structuralism, but now I'm stuck at poststructuralism. I often find myself going back and forth between unrelated topics because I don't know what to study first or how different areas connect. The vastness of the subject leaves me overwhelmed and confused.

I know my command of English is part of the problem, but I also need to build my knowledge and critical thinking skills.

I hope to pursue a PhD in literature eventually, and I have roughly a year to work seriously on these gaps. I'm willing to put in the effort; I just need a clear, structured path to follow.

I'd especially appreciate advice from literature professors, PhD scholars and experienced students of English literature.

Where should I begin? What should I study, in what order, and how can I improve my reading comprehension and academic writing?

I'd also appreciate honest advice about whether pursuing a PhD is a realistic goal for someone in my position. Please be candid, even if the answer is uncomfortable. I'm looking for constructive guidance, not reassurance.

Thank you!

For reference, I have an excellent and longstanding relationship with this professor. He's taught me in some form since my first semester of freshman year, he's my major advisor and my official mentor for a major research fellowship, he's really been involved with everything I do lol. This semester I'm taking an MA class with him (I'm a junior), and the MA students call him [Firstname] because one day he told one of them they don't have to call him "Professor."

Is it weird to be like "Heyyy so can I also do that?"

​

Hey everyone,

I’m currently working as an assistant professor in the cybersecurity field at a college in India, and I’m feeling confused about my long-term career path.

Right now, I earn around ₹16,000 per month, which honestly feels quite low considering my qualifications and career goals. Recently, I got an offer for around ₹30,000 per month for a teaching role through a private organization that provides teaching services to colleges. So, I’m wondering whether I should take that opportunity or start preparing to move into the IT industry.

I’m interested in cybersecurity and research, and I’ve also been thinking about pursuing a PhD from a good, reputed university where I can focus on my research interests.

My main concerns are:

\- Teaching: Is an academic career still worth pursuing in India, considering the salary growth and job opportunities in private colleges?

\- Switching to IT: Would it be a smart move to transition into cybersecurity or another IT role at this stage? I understand that I may need to upskill and possibly start at an entry-level position.

\- Pursuing a PhD: Should I focus on getting into a reputed university and building a research career, or would it be better to gain industry experience first?

\- Financial growth: I want to improve my salary and build a stable career, but I also don’t want to give up my interest in teaching and research just for money.

I’m trying to make a decision that will be beneficial for me over the next 5–10 years, rather than choosing something based only on my current salary.

For people working in academia, cybersecurity, IT, or research in India, what would you recommend in my situation?

Is it better to continue teaching, accept the ₹30k offer, switch to IT, or pursue a PhD?

I’d really appreciate honest advice, especially from people who have made a similar career transition. Thanks!

I am an electrical engineering student and I am repeating a year. Generally, where I come from they have a pretty bleak saying - “losing a year”. Now as someone who wants to pursue further education after a BSc (I know I must pass the first year subjects then consider it). I don’t want to ponder on this too much, but will repeating a year hurt my future academic prospects? I know job-wise I’ll be safe, but for something that looks at your academic success and makes a prediction on that success, do I have to heavily offset the fact that I repeated a year so I can have better chances? Anyways thanks for any type of advice in advance and ik ik I have to get my fundamentals mastered beforehand.

PS: For reference I go to a university in Europe that is pretty decent but is more respected regionally and at a handful of universities on the continent than most of the continent or the rest of the world.

Professors (specifically law professors), do you want your best students to stay in touch years after they’ve graduated? Do you want to hear from them only if/when they need help (recognizing they might be well on their way and don’t need any) or do you find time to just reconnect sometimes if you got along well? Or do you see students reaching out years later as strange (Adults stuck in high school parking lot)?

Hi Professors,

I am an adult (34F) in an undergrad intro macroeconomics class. For the first 8 chapters we studied, my professor uploaded a bunch of AI-generated materials filled with errors to our class site. They are powerpoints, infographics and explainer videos that are generated by Gemini Notebook (it says so right in the corner) and the diagrams and graphs are brazenly wrong (think arrows pointing in the wrong direction, everything mislabeled), and the text is garbled. We also have a textbook, and the textbook text, diagrams, graphs etc, are fine.

Awhile ago I emailed him pointing out the errors, and he insisted that the AI graphs were not wrong, but that they were a different tool for teaching a different thing.

The midterm is this Wednesday. Last Wednesday, he came to our class (first time, we have a TA) to give us a long spiel, and told us that he was uploading AI-generated materials with errors intentionally (which I don't actually believe), in order to test whether we are paying attention, and because he doesn't want to reward laziness. Which is to say: he had students reading error-filled AI materials for *6-7 weeks* without telling us that there were "intentional" errors meant to test our understanding.

This feels unacceptable to me. Is this acceptable? And if not, what should I do? I have already tried talking to the TA, and the prof himself about it, and haven't gotten anywhere. I'm debating emailing the dean or setting up an appointment. But I'm totally open to being wrong and that's why I'm here asking for your professional opinions. Thank you for your time.

My online religion class has discussion board assignments and it’s so blankly obvious to me that one of my classmates is using ChatGPT. I know because I’ve asked chat to come up with a response and it was exactly the same as what the other student had, word for word.

I will admit, I do use AI, but it’s either for ideas or proofread what I have already wrote myself. Plus, this online course is catholic religion. There’s hundreds of deep theological studies and research to help you understand it. It just feels extremely lazy to copy and paste a ChatGPT answer.

This is now the last week of the class and the student is still in the class and clearly using ChatGPT to my knowledge. I don’t know if the professor has acknowledged it. 😬

I wanna call out the professor for not noticing but don’t wanna get him in deep trouble. It’s really not his fault. It’s that students fault.

Hi, I'm a grade 12 student who is going to a liberal arts university next year to study my passion of Sociology and Anthropology. However, my entire life I've been the "Math" kid. I always do really well in math classes, as well as physics and chemistry. Humanities courses on the other hand, like english and history, have been much more difficult for me. I find the lack of specific formulas to follow, to be confusing and frustrating.

I know I'm going to be taking humanities courses in university but I feel underprepared. What can I do to get ready for university level humanities courses?

I understand that most students cheat and do whatever the hell they can to get around actually having to do anything, but as someone old enough to have a high-schooler of my own, that’s not me. People my age don’t go back to school to bullshit around. We’re here because we want to learn or obtain new skills or go into new careers (for me, that’s law).

I understand dealing with students using AI for everything makes you not even want to bother. I’ve seen forum posts that are all clearly AI, and as an author (see handle—I always use my real name) and a not-stupid human, I’ve wanted to scream since posting replies felt like a farce.

And I understand that some profs decide if it looks like a rubric is met, they toss an A at it. That’s maddening to me, someone who actually tries to earn my grades, i.e. actually learn something. I’m so serious about that that I emailed the prof about an experiment, regarding the scientific method, that we were assigned regarding where the weight in a paper airplane will take it farthest, and what other factors affect that, and as an actual licensed pilot who has taught groups of kids doing this same thing, I wanted to know how she’d prefer I approach this. I know the answers, and doing this experiment would have been going through the motions. This is the one time she replied to anything, and she gave me a few alternatives.

Of my four profs, only one regularly replies. Two replied once, and the last might be fucking off on vacation for all I know. Trying to get grades, real or even a “rubric met, here’s an A,” has been impossible in three of my classes. I’ve sent emails (no more than once per week) asking for my grades or feedback before upcoming midterms so that I know where I’m falling short or am wrong so that I can focus studying in that area. I can’t get anything out of those three.

How can I get their attention when I actually want to learn something and earn my grades rather than have them tossed at me? And office hours tend to be online by appointment during one hour, but how so you get an appointment when there are no responses?

Please don’t say that I should be in on-campus classes this term. I would be if I could, but when you’ve got a teen so severely mentally ill dealing with frequent suicidal ideas that she can’t even go to school herself, then you gotta do what you gotta. (My family is open about the struggles of mental health from all angles. People with loved ones with cancer can talk openly, yet there’s still a stigma regarding mental health, and that kills people.)

Please, to those of you who do this, for the sake of students like me, try to suss out which students in online classes are bullshitters and which ones are making an actual effort, and don’t fuck us over by treating us like the bullshitters. At least answer emails. If you don’t, then don’t be surprised if the students like me give up because of you, and that’s not fair. That’s you punishing me for what they’re doing, while you’re collecting paychecks for it.

And to those of you who don’t and who actually reply, thank you. I’m going to be sending that one prof a thank-you email here in a moment.

So yeah. How the actual fuck do I get the attention of the other profs?

Hey all!

It's my first semester of teaching.

My uni teaches freshman English in three stages based on three projects, and I've noticed that students are really engaged/ energetic at the start of the unit, but tucker out as we get into the drafting stages.

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas/ past tactics for teaching structure-- they're writing a counterargument, basic first research paper-- that aren't just me, standing up there, showing them diagrams. They like internet scavenger hunts, they like working in groups. I like to teach with humor, and getting them laughing and talking is sort of my ideal outcome.

I know I'm fighting a losing battle, but I have really strong writers and I really want them to come away from the class with some kind of positive relationship with writing.

First year of grad school, working on first book, having an existential crisis about the importance of literacy and feeling sort of paralyzed by the importance of teaching them and my incompetence to do it.

Help :( Thanks :)

When a professor meets my gaze, I have an extremely difficult time processing what they are saying and naturally look away. This has made me wonder how that is perceived by professors.

I will add that my university has small class sizes, and most students are on their phones or laptops watching sports during lectures. Multiple professors I’ve had have basically begged for students to interact or to even just indicate that they are aware that someone is in front of them and saying words out loud in their direction.

I suppose I am mainly curious if gaze aversion is perceived by professors in a similar manner as the actions of disengaged students, or if this is a relatively common experience with students who are actively taking in information.

So I recently started working as a visiting professor at a private university.

This is for a psychology practicals class. For the practicals, these students are supposed to learn about a scale, conduct a testing on a participant, and then write a report based on both what the test is about and the testing that happened. We have to do this thrice for this semester.

When they had just started to write their reports, i'd clearly told them not to use AI, and that I do notice these things. And I told them to type it out in a word or google doc because it will be easier for me to review and keep a track and they also won't have to waste paper in writing and correcting the documents (So Ig it's partially on me for not considering that they will use AI to just send their drafts :/ )

Despite that, I have received multiple submissions which are clearly copy-paste of some AI output.

A few haven't even tried to hide it, and it shows through the little notes that AI slips in such as "verify with the official test manual", etc. since I HAVE already provided these students will all the material that's required :)

Even if I address this again in the class, I can't make sure that they will still not use AI. So I'm not sure what to do. My mentor has said to cut their marks for this after I address this issue, which I will be doing anyway.

One thing I was considering was to just make them handwrite the drafts so that they at least READ whatever they are trying to copy from AI, and maybe they will think and review that way before submitting anything to me.

But other than that, I'm honestly not sure what else I can do. I'd be open to any suggestions, thank you.

context: i am back at school after not being in school for about 8 years. at least, not before mental illness took over. this is my "comeback" as I have reached a great place mentally and need to bite the bullet and finish my degree. this is for a anatomy and physiology class, I have not ever taken biology in my life but need this class to complete my degree. before my mental illness, i was a 4.0 gpa student and thankfully, everything came pretty easily to me but i also spent hours upon hours studying and doing work. my mental illness caused a 4.0 to a 1.8.

I had my first exam 1 month ago. I was truly shaking and sweating and almost passed out. I got a 77. okay, not awful as i thought I would fail.

most recent exam. i again felt i would pass out from the nerves. sweating. almost, a blacking out mentally sort of situation. i studied extensively, every other day and reading the other days. i got a 66. I felt i breezed through the exam. i definitely did not know a few questions but to se a 66, it emotionally wrecked me. i went through every emotion.

I am now thinking of emailing my professor. not asking for any boosting or extra work, but for guidance on how they feels it is best to study in their class. I do the notes, reading, re-writing, re-reading, flashcards. I am thinking to get a tutor.

I do not want to use AI to help my study as i have ethical reasonings for it and am afraid of getting hooked. a lot of my classmates do that and while they get a's, they seem to heavily memorize.

Also, I believe they like me, based on my participation and we speak often before and after class. They said they knew I aced the exam, I did not. I know I have disappointed them greatly. It is actually painful.

Is this an appropriate email to send?

I have 10 months left until my PhD is done.

I feel really bad when I open Instagram and see researchers who just started their master’s already heading off to present at conferences in Greece and France.

I’ve been working hard, really, really hard on my thesis. I’m developing a piece of work with absurd methodological rigor. I review it word by word, and I decided to go deep into the research and aim for a few publications in top journals, rather than slicing it into quick papers just to pad my CV.

But I’m really afraid all my work will go unnoticed and end in nothing more than a generic, perfunctory “congratulations” from my advisors. Because that seems to show that no one really saw my work.

I’ve also applied for a few formal awards, and I’ll be extremely frustrated if I don’t win anything.

I’ve been looking in the mirror and seeing a more tired man. I have very visible dark circles under my eyes. And I keep asking myself whether all this effort has been worth it.

It feels like science is thankless: so much effort, almost no recognition.

What if I do all of this and don’t get a single citation? Then my work will have no merit at all.

I’m tired of only getting criticism, from my advisors and from myself.

I feel invisible. I see researchers who started before me already presenting things on the other side of the world, while today I was happy just to have made a little progress on my thesis. It feels like my milestones are those of a child.

I think that if, after I finish my PhD, I don’t feel recognized at all, I’ll probably step away from the university and look for another career.

I'm scared I about an accusation of cheating or helping others to cheat.*

I'm not really certain where to post this question, or just generally my concerns/fears. I was accused of creating a quizlet for a final of a class I just completed that was distributed to others. I'm not sure of the extent of how far my quizlet went to others or how royally I am screwed at this point. To be clear I have made quizlets of finals and other quizzes before for my personal study because the program I am in is leading to testing outside of the school for certifications, and I like to stockpile as much study material as possible. The quizlets I've made have also come from questions provided quizlets I've found, prior quizzes in the class and from students in groups ahead of mine in a discord server for people in this program across the school, and I think this is where the trouble came from. I've always been free with sharing my quizlets to people in my group because we are going through the program at the same time, but I guess where my naivety led me is that others may have used that in a way that looks like I provided them with materials to cheat with in the program, even if that was never my intension I understand that may have caused a lot more damage than I realized.

I'm now asked to have an administrative meeting, When I made the appointment they did not state who it would be with, in what capacity was I accused (by student or teacher or if they are accusing myself of also cheating on the test), or what exactly I'm going to be asked, or the possible extent of my possible punishment outside of a boilerplate that it depends on their discretion and could be anything from a warning, community service, all the way to expulsion. I'm frankly terrified.

I've worked incredibly hard towards my degree studying every free moment I had with as much material from as many sources as possible and now I'm afraid my preferred way of saving that information for study is going to send my packing right at the finish line. I've deleted my entire quizlet profile to possible stop any additional spread of my materials and stem any damage I may have been the cause of.

Integrity is an important tenet for me. I refuse to use AI chatbots for any studying for moral/ethical reasons, I've never cheated on a quiz, test or final I've always gone off memory. I've worked incredibly hard absorbing the material and I've done incredibly well in all my classes! But now I'm worried this situation may not only cost me the class but my future career I've worked so hard for and have lined up with a company I've been extremely excited to get my start with.

I guess my real question here is, how screwed am I here? Is there any advice that could help me in anyway? I feel genuine sadness and regret that my materials may have harmed the program, and I know that ignorance of the rules does not prevent the rules from applying. I just want tell them how deeply sorry I am that this became an issue and I never ever meant to do anything nefarious. I've never had a single blemish on my academic record until this point in the years I've gone to this school and felt like the community and comraderies I tried to foster has now done me and it has me feeling so hopeless.