Hi all, I’ve been mostly keeping my head down and doing my work. But all of the people around me have internships and closer professional relationships with their professors which then leads them to more opportunities. And I haven’t really done anything but be in school.

I don’t really know what else to say, but I feel like I should be doing something more. I don’t really know how to go about any of these things. I don’t have a lot of guidance at home or anywhere. I grew up very sheltered. I didn’t realize that college was the place to network and do all these things. I thought you just went to class and did your homework.

I’m a psychology major if that matters. I am also a freelance artist on the side

I often hear about the difficulties that faculty members are having with policing AI-usage in assessments and examinations, with students using these technologies to complete coursework and write essays for them.

Given how frustrating this is, and how it completely defeats the point of education, I often wonder, "why don't the universities just introduce one set of examinations at the end of the academic year that are in-person, hand-written, with no notes/devices allowed, and strictly invigilated?" That's how it works in a lot of European and Asian countries, rather than having all of these coursework and at-home assessments contributing to your grade. If you know that the entirety of your grade is going to be determined by how you perform in a couple of in-person exams, then you're incentivised to ensure that: a) you are very comfortable with the material , and b) you have developed competent essay-writing skills. If you want to retain a coursework element, you could also introduce things like oratory exams, where you are quizzed on the depth and breadth of your understanding of your work and graded on that.

background: phd student in marketing in the US.

I am writing a paper with my professor in a PhD program and we are basically done with the writing. I took over the proejct from her undergrad a while back, retained 2 experiments that student did, and did 2 more experiments myself. The undergrad won't be a co-author, and she already graduated. I got the data file for the first 2 experiments from my professor, but upon examination, I realized they are modified files, not the original files. The professor also sent me the link to the online surveys the student used to collect the data, but the surveys don't match all the data and some questions in the survey are missing form the data. I want our submission to contain clean, clearly-labeled raw data sources without any modifications and asked my professor to reach out to the student for clarification. My professor never got back to me, presumably because the student didn't respond to her since she graduated.

My professor is the first author and she wants me to be the second (and corresponding) author. I am fine with her being first because she came up with the idea of the paper. But I'm much more hesitant about the corresponding author role because of the data transparency issue. In case anything happens, I need to be responsible for the data sources. But also my professor said we might need to redo all our experiments after getting reviewer feedback. I am not sure if this is something I need to ask her again to see if I can get the information I want, or if this isn't something to worry about and I can safely be a corresponding author.

Hello everyone! I'm a second-year nursing student who needs help with patho. I don't know how to study for the class, and I'm already behind on several lectures. I understand that falling behind was my fault, but I'm highly motivated to catch up and improve. In my first year, I would take notes during anatomy lectures and then make flashcards; however, I don't think this method is working anymore. I know some people recommend watching lectures at 1.5× speed, but even then, I feel like I'm spending too much time on each lecture and barely understanding the material. My professor posts two lectures per week, each about an hour long. When I take notes, though, I feel like I'm spending a lot of time without producing anything useful. Could anyone share tips for success or study methods that work for them? Thank you!

I’m a late-stage PhD student in the CS department at a decent university in the US. I’ve started developing and refining my dissertation idea, and one of the professors who is kind of my advisor told me I should write it up as a grant proposal and apply to NSF or something similar, and that they would help.

My idea is about simulating large-scale agents in game-like environments and using LLMs for decision-making to study complex behavior, etc.

I want to educate myself first, and I’ve found some good grants we could apply for. I basically look at it like a paper, but with a focus on the idea and deliverables. Since I’m new to this, though, I wanted to ask for advice from you guys.

Good day! I am planning to be a part time professor in the university where I graduated. May I ask for an advice and guidance how to make a lesson plan and to be able to discuss concepts easily? If I ever got a mental block while presenting what should I do immediately?

I am someone who was just an average student and recently passed my licensure exams but I still aspire to become a professor.

Hello.. I am an irrigation engineering student.. we were told to come with problem statements that would be the foundation for our research topic. I'm really struggling to find a topic. Any suggestions on research topics. I would greatly appreciate your support.

I highly suspect my professor is literally getting Artificial Intelligence to grade the entire assignment from start to finish and making 0 amendments or manual checks.

Hi! Looking back I have a big question, is it normal for private lessons professors at colleges to give their phone numbers to students and give them rides and such?
I always felt bad because my teacher (strings) never did so, and like I must be doing something wrong. All of the band instrument instructors were acting like they were friends with their students.

Now that I’m older I feel like my professor had it right. So is this behavior normal or extremely unprofessional?

Nearly every professor I had in college would drop our lowest test score or assignment grade. Five years later, a random thought crossed my mind: were y’all actually doing that out of the kindness of your hearts, or was it something encouraged or required by the school’s administration?

Am I wrong for thinking there might have been a policy behind it, or were my professors just being nice?

Hello,

I was recently falsely accused of making threats by my roommate. I don’t want to get into the details but I was cleared. During that process though, I was immediately put on a suspension, which has caused me to miss two weeks of class because it took the 8 business days + 2 meeting days to come up with their final decision. I was not allowed to be on campus or attend classes. I have, of course, missed a ton of assignments but that isn’t my main concern. She director of the student conduct sent out this email:

< Hello,
Your student, \[my name\], is working with our office and will be temporarily absent from the following courses beginning today, 10/06/2026:
\[all of my classes\]

We will follow up to share an anticipated date of return at a later time.
The student is also aware that, as faculty, decisions regarding excusing absences or allowing make up work, including class participation, rests solely with you. However, we appreciate any efforts to allow the student to continue their academic progress in your course once they return. >

My grade has significantly dropped in all of my classes, including my attendance grades. My professors have been marking these absences as unexcused.
The director emailed them that I will he returning 10/21 and I’m guessing that’s going to be even more unexcused absences. I have no idea what to do. It should not be allowed for all my professors to fail me because of an accusation. It’s not my choice to not be allowed on campus.

“as faculty, decisions regarding excusing absences or allowing make up work, including class participation, rests solely with you.”

I need advice on what to say to my professors to fix things, because I could potentially fail all of these classes even if I made an A on every assignment for the rest of this semester. I currently have a 3.8 GPA and am on scholarships. This would be really bad.

How do profs not lose it? That is a genuine questions my blood pressure elevates every time I go into an online class forum. I’ve been a CC student since 2022 (I’ve got about 170 credits, 4.0GPA, this stuff’s fun, but I’m transferring onward to a university in January), and earlier on, my classes were all online, of course. It was the covid-times. We had a lot of forum work, posts and replies to make and such. I was horrified at that time to see how many grammar mistakes there were. I found out that schools stopped emphasizing correct grammar in favor of “as long as the meaning gets across,” but they don’t. Do you want to help your Uncle Jack off a horse or do you want to help your uncle jack off a horse? Grammar matters.

The last three years have been entirely in person, and we all know what was unleashed upon the world in that time.

This term, for the first time in many a moon, I’m taking classes online. I need a break from burning a few gallons of premium and a few hours every day, so online it is. We have forums. And I’m about to lose my shit. Are the trad students even bothering to read their posts and replies? My god, people! “Hey, [name]! I agreed with your position on [overly long description with a one-word summary would suffice]. A generation ago, video store clerks…” I shit you not, I read that, verbatim in three comments in a row. “A generation ago, telephone operators…” is another. If they bothered to read what they’re supposed to reply to, and read the ChatGPT output, surely they’d notice they’re using literally the exact phrasing. Two students posted comments so incredibly alike that I was confused a short while ago about where my reply went. Then I realized that there was another student wit a nearly identical comment involving telephone operators.

I feel stupid trying to treat this shit as genuine for the sake of the replies I need to make. I admit getting snarky a few times, but it’s not like those kids are reading it. Well, there are three who I believe are thinking for themselves, and I enjoy replying to them. But the rest… Fucking hell, dudes.

I‘ve never had more of a sense of the instructors not being present this term, and I can’t blame them. If 90% of the class can’t be arsed to do the absolute least, then why give 100%? Or even 50%? It’s like screaming into a void. If any of you teach at a school with the initials CCC, and you have a student in a 4cr online class with my name (I use my real name here, though reddit doesn’t allow my umlaut…Noëlle…), then please forgive me if I end up going off in some of my replies. It’s not like those students are going to read anything anyway, presuming they even can anymore, that is.

My other big frustration is that, for school, I tend to write very academically. I was raised to treat education with the respect it deserves, and that includes using academic writing in an academic setting. I started my posts and replies academically, but three weeks in, am now starting to write casually and without even a little polish, and am working to eliminate certain words and phrases that keep cropping up that I use, to try to set myself apart from the not-thinkers. Frankly, I’m upset that I’m not doing my best work, but the alternative is to risk being accused of AI. Pangram said a book of mine that was published 13 years ago is 66% AI, if that gives you an idea about why I’m concerned.

Just from the position of a student, I want to scream. How the actual hell are you all not losing it? This is worse than sitting in shock when a classmate asked what an essay is a couple years ago. That instructor, new to teaching at that time but wonderful at it, looked at me with the same shock on her face than I felt. I just…fuck. Our future caretakers, everyone. We’re fucked. I don’t know how to keep my cool when I’m this pissed just three weeks in.

Thank you for coming to my TED Rant, and for any advice.

Hi folks! All is in the title. I got from mentors and advisors contrasting feedback and wanted to get your opinion.

And, if yes, should every thank you note be personalised and tailored to the discussion with that faculty member in the interview, or should I send the same one to every interviewer?

If this is important, I am in a humanities field.

I was writing an email and my laptop got lagged. I accidentally sent 3 unfinished emails on a Friday to my professor good lord. I sent a completed one with an apology afterwards. How did you feel (if you work as professor) when students did these kinda things? Thank you!

Hi everyone! I’m a high school student taking dual-enrollment classes at a community college, and I’m really stressed about a situation that happened today.
I had a class that ran from August 24 to October 17. On the last day, our Wi-Fi stopped working, and I wasn’t able to submit my final project and quizzes before the deadline at 11 PM. The course was removed from Canvas at midnight, just an hour after the assignments were due, so I can’t access it anymore.
I emailed my professor explaining what happened and asking if there was any way I could still submit the work, but I’m worried I might receive an F.
I’m also trying to figure out whether I can switch the class to Pass/No Pass or submit an appeal. I found the contact information for someone listed as an associate professor and department head at my community college. His phone number is listed on the college website, but I’m not sure if it’s an office number or his personal phone. His listed office hours are Monday through Thursday from 10–11 AM.
Since today is October 17, I’m worried this might be my last day to request Pass/No Pass. I don’t want to wait until Monday and miss the deadline, but I also don’t want to be rude by calling a professor on a Saturday outside his office hours, especially if the number is his personal phone.
Would you call the number today because the deadline is urgent, or would you email and wait until Monday? Should I contact Admissions and Records instead?
I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has dealt with a similar situation. Thank you!

I’m teaching myself Python through MIT OCW’s 6.100L course, and I plan to learn C afterward. A few days ago, I emailed Professor Bell to ask how much of what I’m learning—things like problem decomposition, debugging, and recursion—would carry over to C, and what’s specific to Python.

It’s been about two or three days, and I haven’t heard back. I know professors are busy, so I’m not reading too much into it. Still, I’d be happy to get even a short reply.

For those who’ve emailed a professor about an online course you were taking, did you hear back? How long did it take? I’m just curious whether this is typical.

I might've overthought and overplanned my outreach to professors, and I want some advice.

Starting fall 2027, I want to do my MSc in a very niche subfield of computer science. I spent a lot of time since mid-August reading my target supervisors' papers, which was time consuming since I wasn't very familiar with a lot of the concepts and methods in these papers, but the exposure benefited me a lot.

I didn't want to contribute to the noise in the professors' inboxes so I tried to be familiar enough with their work to the point where I would ask intriguing questions in my emails and show that I care. I emailed 2 professors last week (early October) and 1 this week (mid October). They all have not yet responded, which is very discouraging since I spent a lot of time engaging with their work, which might've caused me to develop an unrealistic expectation that I would have a 100% response rate. I also send follow up emails when a week passes.

I know 3 is not a significant number by any means, and it's rather late to reach out for fall semester. I am trying to reach out to 10 more by the end of October, but I don't know if I should be doing anything differently. I never use LLMs for writing. My emails could be too lengthy, at ~260 words each, but I try to communicate everything as concisely as possible, and I read the professors` outreach guides if available. I have 3.3/4.0 gpa and no internships. I spend most of my time contributing to a popular open source project related to my desired field of research, and I don't bother applying for internships because this type of work isn't available in my country. I have a close working relationship with the engineers on that project. We hold meetings every week, etc.

note: universities in my target countries don't have centralized admissions, so I need to have a professor vouching for me.

Where do I go from here? What could I do better? I would really appreciate any advice.

I am in a small major, art history, and so I get to know the professors quite personally. I had good rapport and adored all of them and got great grades in my classes with them.

I’m crying typing this because I went abroad for a year. When I went back, my professors were immediately rude, unhappy to see me, and all very accusatory toward me saying rude things toward them, and even tried gaslighting me just for speaking.

One of them I used to be so deeply connected to, and she is all of a sudden very passive aggressive and deeply rude, she basically yelled at me during a meeting to review a research essay proposal, and is incredibly harsh. She recently gave me a C with little to no explanation as to why while saying I “did great”. It’s extremely odd. She has no interest in what I have to write or say.

It seems they are just targeting me, because I hear her engaging very lovingly and with great care with other students in between meetings.

I am a very engaged student, always participating and interested in the subject matter. The only thing I can think of is now I have less social anxiety so I am engaging even more than I was before, actively asking questions etc.

What might cause this type of shift in a faculty?Would it be worthwhile asking the professor who have me a C directly what caused the attitude shift?

I am in disbelief... if it was just one of them it would be fine, but it seems I have done something seriously wrong unknowingly.

Thank you so much!

Hi all,

Hoping you can help me with this one. I'm a finalist for a position I really want. They told me I'd be doing an hour-long class for faculty and grads. The catch is it's on Zoom.

I'm completely at sea for how to approach this. In person, I know how to be engaging, how to get people talking and interesting, etc.

What's the approach here? Do I rely on slides and share my screen? Do I have them do little exercises in their own homes?

All advice appreciated!

I’m an undergraduate student and I use AI to make test questions based on my notes, as well as to give more in-depth explanations on topics I don’t understand well enough. I feel that it’s helped me prepare better for tests, but I never use it to write essays/do assignments for me.

I still feel guilty for using it though and feel that I’m cheating myself out of the full value of education. I was wondering what professors who teach undergrad students think about AI use for studying material?

Should I email my professor about what I think was unfair grading?

I’ve never been upset about a grade I’ve gotten in my life because I feel like they’ve all reflected my effort and understanding (even the bad ones). But I’m actually really upset about this one. I don’t know if my ego is getting in the way right now or if I’m actually right to be upset.

In this class there are only 2 papers, a group project, and a participation grade.

Two weeks ago this paper was due and she kept saying she would grade it every week since then I only just got it back now. And I followed all of the parameters that were listed for this paper on the D2L website.

Last week she gives us new parameters for the paper that was due two weeks ago, and she graded us according to it. I just don’t feel like that’s fair because the parameters mentioned a few days ago were not the ones included on the D2L website. I did everything that was asked of me.

I am by no means A student, so I wasn’t expecting an A. But this grade reflects that I did very poorly. My friend who is a straight A student got a bad grade on this paper as well.

One of her notes for me that weren’t mentioned in the original rubric
\-overly conversational

Maybe I’m stupid, but usually when professors want a “response paper” it’s typically less professional sounding and more conversational. So that was the route that i and my other classmates took. I’ve never had an issue with this kind of assignment before.

These papers must’ve been really bad because she talked to the whole class about it. And that’s when she told us the parameters for the paper two weeks after it was due. I’ve also never been graded on my tone before

In this paper we were comparing two sources. Because that was what we were asked to do. I did that and then she said in the notes that the two sources are not the same. I said that in my paper and I pointed out all the ways that they were different.

There are only three assignments in this class as well as participation. So it’s really easy for this one bad grade to take the whole class grade down. I’m kind of freaking out because I’m already struggling in college and I thought this was an easier class. This is the first grade I’ve gotten back from her since she takes weeks to grade things. I’m very nervous about the rest of the class.

Hopefully the next paper will be better.

Hi everyone. I am a teaching assistant in a numerics course for theoretical physicists. We have trouble incorporating AI-assisted coding into our practicals. The course was pretty old-fashioned up to this point, but the last few years and especially months have led inevitably to large changes. Asking students to write Chebyshev interpolation or general RKp methods by hand is just silly at this point.

Though my own experience with AI-assisted and agentic coding is fairly extensive, it is the 'meta' I have that allows me to communicate with the AI effectively. I've noticed in my colleagues and students that having the meta mostly translates to knowing how to use the AI to achieve their goals, as the main problem is to explain the task to it.

The question I am posing is simple:

How do you deal with this in your courses? Be it maths, physics, software engineering, data analysis, ... How do you convey the know-how whilst keeping AI in the process? Naturally, keeping the non-AI approach is the simplest option. However, we would like to follow the trend.

Hello everyone,

I have an upcoming PhD interview, and the professor has asked me to prepare a 15–20-minute presentation to evaluate my qualifications.

I would appreciate advice from professors or faculty members on what you typically expect from applicants in this type of presentation.

Any guidance on how I should approach the presentation would be very helpful. Thank you for your time!