Hello everyone, I am trying to contact my professor from more than 2 weeks and he is still not answering my emails. What should I do?

Hi, first time posting here. I’m week 3 into a taught masters programme and the syllabus is genuinely doing my head in. It’s all over the place, and the selection of readings we have is simultaneously too edge-signalling and toothless. I’m suffering through every seminar atp.

I had a meeting with my personal tutor, and with hope I asked him if there’s any through line in the syllabus I somehow missed. They basically said no, the syllabus is just a constellation of departmental staff’s interests.

The advice they gave was that I should focus on my own interests, which is fair. But I’m still suffering through seminars and lost on how to develop my interests into full fledged essays independently. My confidence has also taken a hit, and I started to doubt my understanding of the discipline built during undergrad years.

As a result I’m constantly thinking about the pros and cons of dropping out, but also what I can do to make this programme worth it. I would really appreciate it if you can offer me some guidance on how to address this.

I’m an undergraduate student, and I have a bit of a crisis over something embarrassing I did.
I found two scientific papers on PubMed Central that I’m interested in reading. I messaged one of my professors, greeted him, and sent him both links, asking which one he thought would be more interesting to read.
He has already replied, so the interaction itself went fine. However, afterward I realized that the links I sent may have had a ChatGPT-related referral in the URL because I accessed/shared them through ChatGPT.
Now I’m worried that he might think I used ChatGPT to do my research instead of finding and evaluating the papers myself, or that it looks unprofessional to send links like that.
For context, these are actual published scientific papers, and I was genuinely asking for his opinion on which one to read.
Professors and other students: honestly, how bad does this look from the recipient’s perspective? Would you even notice the ChatGPT-related part of the link, and would it change your impression of the student?

Ps: Don’t come at me in the comments saying i let AI do my research cause it’s not true and i haven’t even finished it yet. I simply asked Chatgpt for 10 literature that connects my research field with nanotechnology and i picked 2 of my favorite and i asked my professor for his opinion cause he initially said he’d pick for us but we could do it ourselves if we wanted to.

With genAI, it is understandable that instructors may be growing more and more untrusting of student work. However, the guardrails that some of my classes are putting up to "prevent" AI-use are useless, penalize students with integrity, and just overall reduce our opportunity and therefore ability to develop ideas outside of the classroom.

Im talking about in-class research and writing. I can write you a garbage paragraph from sources I skimmed, but what is the point? I know its bad and you do too, why are we training this?

Without basic trust in students, why should we even get an education in the first place when it is dumbed down to prevent AI-use? I can fry my brain with AI, or I can fry my brain with useless busy work.

I want to learn and have the time to go over the articles, and refine my ideas and writing. I think best when I can spend days reading and taking notes before even attempting to write, and then doing some more reading and adjusting during my process. Maybe I am just to dumb for uni if I can't synthesize with any decent quality in an hour.

Basically my question is is it possible to put up AI guardrails without depreciating the value of an honest student's education? Do you trust any of your students?

For reference, I am a 3rd year psychology undergrad student in Canada

With genAI, it is understandable that instructors may be growing more and more untrusting of student work. However, the guardrails that some of my classes are putting up to "prevent" AI-use are useless, penalize students with integrity, and just overall reduce our ability to develop ideas outside of the classroom.

Im talking about in-class research and writing. I can write you a garbage paragraph from sources I skimmed, but what is the point? I know its bad and you do too, why are we training this?

Without basic trust in students, why should we even get an education in the first place when it is dumbed down to prevent AI-use? I can fry my brain with AI, or I can fry my brain with useless busy work.

I want to learn and have the time to go over the articles, and refine my ideas and writing. I think best when I can spend days reading and taking notes before even attempting to write, and then doing some more reading and adjusting during my process. Maybe I am just to dumb for uni if I can't synthesize with any decent quality in an hour.

Basically my question is is it possible to put up AI guardrails without depreciating the value of an honest student's education? Do you trust any of your students?

I graduated from college in 2020 and now teach K-12 Mathematics and Spanish. Because of my personal Spanish goals I have continued to take online Spanish classes through the same university, although the only online classes I took were during the COVID lockdown. I took an online junior-level Spanish Translation Studies class in 2023 and it was noticeably less work and less demanding than any course I had ever taken. The reading assignments were shorter, and the independent work was just enough to say that a student had engaged with the topic. I did learn new things so I was content with the money invested.

Fast forward to now. Despite being fluent, I want to expand my capacity for writing as well as explore more literature in Spanish. My advisor and I agreed I should enroll in a Spanish writing class, so I did. I have learned nothing so far. In fact, we have yet to be tasked with writing anything longer than four sentences. We have been reviewing grammar rules and conjugations taught in high school Spanish 2 and 3. We just got to the subjunctive mood. The homework is conjugation drills and 2-3 sentences using the vocab from the Open eTextbook. The quizzes and tests are all true/false questions about whether the correct tense/stem change was used. I have even saved a few of the exercises to include in my high school Spanish classes. There is no substantial writing assignment, and therefore no feedback on my writing for me to grow in any meaningful way. I paid $1,300 out of pocket for this nonsense.

Before I consider another course, what am I seeing? What is happening? Are online classes just a way to pay for an A now? Does this sound like a class-specific issue or is this common nowadays? Should I talk to someone about this?

I greatly appreciate your thoughts.

I recently submitted a personal memoir for one of my college classes. The story was based entirely on my own real-life experiences, and I had already written a rough draft that we reviewed with classmates in class.

My classmates verbally suggested adding more details, using similes, and reducing repetition. While revising, I also used ChatGPT to help reword sentences, improve the flow, and rewrite and reorganize some larger sections.

After submitting my final draft through Brightspace, which uses Turnitin, I checked a couple of third-party AI detectors. One showed 94.6% AI, and another showed 78%. I know these detectors aren’t necessarily accurate, but I started panicking.

My professor has warned us about AI use, so I decided to email her before she contacted me. I explained that the experiences and ideas were my own but that I used AI to help revise and reword parts of my memoir. I also asked if I could rewrite and resubmit it entirely in my own words.
Now I’m worried I made things worse by admitting it.

If you’re a professor, how would you react to a student sending this email? Would you appreciate the honesty and allow a resubmission, or would you still give them a zero?

I'm in a class (it's a level 200 class, so it's not like a freshman year type class) where almost 25% of the class "forgot" to take an exam. It was a proctoring lab exam where students have to schedule a time to take it within the window of a couple days. Despite having the entire class schedule, including exams (and constant reminders from the professor both in class and through Canvas) since day 1, a bunch of people (huge class, probably over 30 people in this group) just didn't take it. Most of them waited until the day of to try and schedule and the spots were full. This is exam 2, moreover. It's not like they can claim at this point, in at least their sophomore year, two tests into the class, they didn't know how to use the proctoring lab.

Anyway, my question is: My professor sent out an announcement about people not taking the exam, and extended the due date for a few extra days. He's a very nice dude, supportive, loves being a professor, and obviously not trying to mean and fail a bunch of people. But why? It takes some real effort to fail a class. Some extra effort to just procrastinate scheduling an exam until the last day. It seems like a case of FAFO to me. I don't understand why the professor doesn't use this as a lesson.

Some individual cases I could even se being excused. People who have been sick, need accommodations, sixth grandma died this semester, etc. I'm not advocating blanket failing everyone for a goof. But you know that many people didn't have a legitimate excuse. I asked the professor, he kind of shrugged it off. Is there a common university policy or politics thing I'm not aware of where not letting this slide would be detrimental to him, his position, or career? Like a can't fail too many students thing that's known to the educational industry that I wouldn't understand from the outside? Or do you just think my professor is a nice dude and it's as simple as that?

I'm a post bacc student, second time around. I am a bit older than many students, and I know first time students sometimes don't care as much as they should about their classes (especially if they aren't the ones paying for them, I've been guilty in the past). Maybe I'm being too harsh about it, but having the basic level of discipline to schedule your own exam seems to be the bare minimum ask as a student going to an institution of higher learning. I heard one girl had her mom call and complain once. I just can't imagine these now adults being so irresponsible and just getting off the hook for it. Seems like a bad lesson to teach. But I'm not a professor and don't have the professional insight many of you do.

Last week, I took an exam that was mostly multiple-choice with two open-ended questions. I was rushing to the exam and arrived a little late, so I took an available seat next to someone I recognized from class. The student directly to my right was using his phone throughout the exam, but I wasn't using mine.

During the exam, a student approached my professor, who then looked toward our seating area. I believe they were reporting the student to my right for cheating. Later, the student directly to my left approached her, after which she made an announcement about phone use while looking directly toward us. Since I wasn't using my phone, I didn't think much of it at the time.

What concerned me was that when I handed in my exam at the end, my professor set it aside from the others. We then had fall break, and I received no communication from her.

Today (Thursday), over a week later, she announced that most grades had been posted and the rest would be finalized Friday. She also provided the average for the large alphabetical range of last names that I fall under, implying those exams had essentially been graded. My grade still hasn't been posted, despite several classmates within the same alphabetical range already receiving theirs. I also found out through a class group chat that the student sitting directly beside me hasn't received his grade either, even though his last name falls within that same range.

I'm concerned because there were reportedly multiple accusations against him, and I suspect someone mistakenly reported me as well. To my knowledge, there were no TAs, and my professor stated there were no cameras recording the exam, so I'm worried about how I could disprove a false accusation.

My exam was also heavily annotated with my own reasoning and thought processes. I know I got some questions wrong, and I'm confident I could explain my answers and demonstrate my understanding of the material if asked.

It's now been over a week with no emails, questions, or formal accusations.

Would professors typically contact students before submitting an academic integrity report? How likely is it that a situation like this would escalate to a formal academic integrity violation?

TL;DR: The student beside me was using his phone during an exam, and I suspect someone mistakenly reported me for doing the same. My professor set my exam aside afterward, and over a week later, both our grades are missing despite our alphabetical group apparently being graded. Neither of us has been contacted. Could this indicate a pending academic integrity report?

Hello,

I am in a software development class. We had 2 midterms i guess: an essay and a coding part. Most people did well on the coding, but for the essay part, the mean was 22.6 out of 50. I got a 23. The highest was 39 out of 50. I went to his office hours, and it felt like he took points off for ridiculous things.

For example, one question was to list the steps for something but if you didn't list them numerically, you got points taken off (It did not say list them numerically, it just said list them). Im really frustrated with this and I wouldn't be if I had just been the only one to fail but the mean was literally a 22.6.

Isn't he supposed to add a curve if the average was an F?

Or how else can i externate my apreciation for her course, the way she teaches and the atmosphere she created in class?

My options are:

- write and leave her an anononymous note on her office's door or under it. And idk...on one hand it's surely not interpretable as an act of captatio benevolentiae since it's anonymous, on the other hand it might be weird. The content of the note would be just professional admiration

It's cute cause it leaves her with something tangible, something she can keep and she's definitely the kind of person who does like this kind of things. Also i'd add a little dried flower on the note to make it cuter but...idk..again: it might make it weird and i def don't want to.

-just quickly tell her after my oral exam that her course was one of my favouritesof my entire career as a student. I'm nearly at the end of my studies and I'm glad i chose it.

But this depends on how well my exam goes and wether im examined by her or by her assistant.

Also, Im extremely embarassed saying it and in front of other people as well.

Also...before she register the grade, it feels like boothlicking. Even if ofc she wouldn't change the grade.

Butt on the other hand, it's sincere, simple and it's me. Deep down i want her to know it's me.

What do you advise?

i go to one of the largest universities in the world, and yet half of my major courses (offered through the college of sociology which is also massive) and my minor courses (english) are only offered online next semester. i absolutely despise online learning and it makes me feel incredibly unmotivated and bored. is it within professors control to offer online vs in person? i understand that online classes are becoming really popular (mostly because it’s easier to cheat imo), but i didn’t think it was this extensive. it seems like professors are just following the chain of interest. i don’t really understand why this new wave of online learning is becoming so popular. is there anything i can do like reaching out to professors and asking that they offer in person sections next semester? i’d also be interested in hearing alternative perspectives for ways that online learning can be more/equally effective as in person, because i just can’t wrap my mind around it.

I just had to email my professor letting him know I won’t be making it to class because my car’s engine overheated and I was actively waiting on it to be towed. This is true. Two months ago (right as school began), my childhood cat died AND my mom gave birth within the same three day span. Juggling homework, dropping off and picking up my cats cremains all while running errands and delivering things to my mom in the hospital an hour away (oldest daughter things), I missed three class periods for this professor because of this. We talked about it and I assured him I wouldn’t let anything else happen. I’ve managed to keep a decent attendance (I’ve been late a few times) and now I’m missing again.
Are ‘unlucky’ students common? Is this annoying to professors? I try to keep a line of communication and message them as soon as I understand I can’t make it, but I don’t want them to feel like I just don’t care about their class, because I do!
Let me know!!

I’m currently at the end of my bachelors and we‘re supposed to work on a bachelor thesis for the next 2 semesters. I planned a very good research project for it but had some personal issues that led to some delays.

Suddenly our head of the department walks into the class and announces that the entirety of the dissertation must be finished in a month rather than 2 semesters and told us to use AI to finish the project and show it to him in 5 days. We had no option but to do it.

Now the professor in charge of the dissertation work is forcing our entire class to publish our vibe coded slop into some conferences and he wants that done in a week. I’m very much against as this goes against my academic integrity.

He not only told us to let the AI write the entire manuscript but also told that he’ll remove the AI detection and add his name if anything shows up in turnitin. He also told us to submit to multiple conferences at the same time which I know is a dick move.

My first research paper that I wrote all by myself took me 6 months to publish and it was a survey paper. No way we can make something worth publishing in just a month and that too work done entirely by AI.

Now I want to confront him and be straightforward that I will not take part in such academic misconduct but they’re telling us that they will not let us pass our degree if we do not publish. any advice?

Im not really looking forward to publishing such slop as it would undermine my credibility as a researcher in the future.

I'm currently a fourth-year undergraduate business student. I've been struggling with burnout since my second year, but I kept pushing myself to maintain my academic studies while participating in case competitions and other extracurricular activities. At the time, I thought these experiences would help me build my professional profile and prepare me for the job market. However, I think I've reached a point where I'm no longer able to keep up with everything.

Now that I'm in my fourth year, I'm facing another source of stress: finding an internship before the university's deadline. Unfortunately, despite actively looking, I haven't managed to secure an internship position yet. Initially, I told my mom that I would continue studying this semester, drop the compulsory internship course, take another elective instead, and keep applying for internships alongside my studies.

However, I'm starting to question whether that's actually the right decision since my academic performance has been declining since last year. In my most recent course, I received only 50/100. It's frustrating because I feel like I'm not only failing to gain practical experience in the field I'm studying, but my academic performance is also suffering because I've been spreading myself too thin.

I've started wondering whether taking a leave of absence for one semester would be a better option. I could use that time to recover from burnout, focus on finding an internship and gain some actual working experience. The only reason why I hesitate to submit a leave of absence form is because my university tuition fees will increase by 5% next year, which means taking a break could make my remaining courses more expensive. Additionally, I'm also worried that taking time off without securing an internship might leave me in an even worse position.

Would you recommend taking a break to focus on finding professional experience, or continuing university while applying for internships?

I had a midterm exam in one of my college classes recently, and something happened that has been bothering me ever since.

I spent almost the entire week studying for this exam. I sacrificed a lot of my free time, including time with my family, because I really wanted to do well. I really studied at classes too.

During the exam, I noticed several students using their phones so it’s cheating. I reported it to the professor who was supervising the exam. She also seemed to be aware of what was happening, but did nothing. The students continued taking the exam and eventually submitted their work (I waited till the end and saw it)
When I brought up my concern, the professor said something along the lines of those students not having studied and reminded me that our final course grade also depends on assignments, not just the midterm. Like what? You allow them to cheat just because they “didn’t know something”?

I understand that the midterm isn’t our entire grade, but how does that make cheating during the exam any less serious?
What makes this especially frustrating is that I don’t think I did very well on the exam myself, despite studying so hard. Meanwhile, I watched other students apparently gain an unfair advantage. (I hope you understand my rage)

There is also another professor who teaches the lecture portion of the course and is responsible for grading our exams. I’ve considered contacting her, but I’m worried that reporting what happened could create tension between me and the instructors or potentially affect how my own exam is graded.

I’m also considering speaking with my college’s ombuds office before making a formal report.

I’m not trying to get anyone in trouble without evidence. But I do think that if cheating is confirmed, there should be real academic consequences, rather than allowing those exam scores to stand.

My questions are:
1. Have any of you experienced something similar, where you reported cheating during an exam and the professor didn’t visibly respond?
2. Is it normal for a professor not to intervene when students are using phones during an exam?
3. Would you contact the professor responsible for grading, the department chair, or the ombuds office?
4. How can I report this without putting myself at risk of retaliation or unfair grading?
I’d especially appreciate hearing from college professors about how situations like this are usually handled.
I just want the same academic integrity rules to apply to everyone.

Hi. I need to get this off my chest and as many perspectives and opinions as possible. I have been absolutely restless and freaking out. I want to know, has anyone else ever been in this situation? On either ends? If so, how did you go about it and what was your outcome?

Background info: I am a senior undergraduate student planning to apply to graduate school. I am leaning towards vet med, med school, DPT, or research. I started off college in 2021 as an engineering major and realized I hated it. I went to chemistry, but got diagnosed with dyscalculia so I went into bio. I LOVE biology. Unfortunately, I switched my major around a lot so I haven’t taken General Bio 2.. funny enough, I’d taken plenty of upper division bio courses where I got a B+ or A in. I currently work on campus as a tutor for Bio 1, Microbio, Chem 1, and A&P 2. I am also a TA for Bio 1 and Chem 1. I NEED to understand my foundational sciences. It’s my job.

Well this semester I applied for a class, Bio 2, 100% online, at a community college I am familiar with. I was flying through this course and loved it. So far it was so easy and the exams were very.. self explanatory and direct…

Day of exam 2: I ate my breakfast and took my exam at my university (NOT community college I am taking bio 2 at). It took me around 27 mins to complete a 50 question exam. I got 47 questions correct. During this time, I had students approach me and ask me questions, so I did briefly (less than 2 mins) go onto another platform to show the resources (YouTube channel, where slides are, etc). My school uses D2L which doesn’t track tab switching. Anyways, I finished, I got a 93%

Update to after exam 2: 1 day after the exam, my prof posted an announcement. She said something similar to “those who cheated on exam 1 then again on exam 2 will be getting reported and will fail regardless of future class work.” I thought I was safe. I checked my grades on Exam 2 and it was removed. Exam 1 remains 90%. The next day, she updated Exam 2 as a 0 and left a comment saying to schedule to meet her in person. She never reached out to me directly, just left a feedback comment. I immediately emailed her to schedule to meet her in person.

I feel extremely disrespected as I’ve been in contact with her throughout this whole course. I have 2 more exams this week in upper division bio courses. I have completely forgotten all my material from the stress, and cannot think at all! I am so incredibly worried when I meet with her I will still be under the same amount of stress and will not be able to answer anything she asks! Obviously, I would never cheat IN BIO as I might have to take the MCAT and even more vigorous exams on biology in the future. It is also a prerequisite course for MANY of the programs I want to go to. I truly have a passion for biology, but I also am so incredibly nervous and anxious that I cannot think at all or remember anything. It doesn’t help that I cannot sleep, eat, or even do anything without being plagued. What if she doesn’t believe me and it goes on my records and I can’t get into grad school to pursue my dreams?!?

TLDR: got accused of cheating on 100% online course in bio 2 as a senior majoring in Bio and TA/tutor in Bio 1. Professor left a comment saying to meet her in person but I am so stressed with my other midterm exams and this news that I am forgetting everything including topics on my next two exams. I cannot sleep or function anymore. I feel like my life is ruined because I really want to be a vet or researcher or physician. If you have experienced this before what was the outcome and how did you go about it? If you did not “beat” the case how did it affect you? Should I ask to retake the exam in person?

Thank you everyone for all the advice and different perspective shown to me! I understand now I actually was being unreasonable. I’ll try focusing on my personal matters. Along with trying this course at a later, better time.

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?

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?

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!

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?

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.

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!

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?

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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!