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How common are mandatory attendence policies? As a 3L I want to do nothing more than chill at home but one of my classes only allows for four absences. Even throwing aside the fact that doing well often requires nothing more than trying the final month before exams, it still seems outrageous to me that in professional school we are forced to attend. Am I in the minority on this view?

I think it's only a thing at TTTs

chimp wrote:I think it's only a thing at TTTs

I'm at a T1 regional and it does seem like the good professors don't take attendence and the lousy ones do. I also feel like if you are a really good, engaging professor people will want to go on their own.

chimp wrote:I think it's only a thing at TTTs

Nope, sadly, it's an ABA thing. See ABA Standard 304(d). Or, just read here: http://insidethelawschoolscam.blogspot. ... icies.html

And yes, it's incredibly stupid, because ABA.

mds79 wrote:

chimp wrote:I think it's only a thing at TTTs

Nope, sadly, it's an ABA thing. See ABA Standard 304(d). Or, just read here: http://insidethelawschoolscam.blogspot. ... icies.html

And yes, it's incredibly stupid, because ABA.

weird. I didn't have any 2L or 3L classes that were mandatory attendance. might've gotten docked a few points here and there for not being there when called on or something but that's it.

I know the ABA mandates it but some teachers have no problem not caring where as others strictly enforce it.

lawhopeful10 wrote:I know the ABA mandates it but some teachers have no problem not caring where as others strictly enforce it.

Sounds about right. Most of my professors won't mark a class as missed if it's "excused," anyway, but my school is up for reaccreditation review this year, so the administration is making attendance a point of emphasis.

Yeah, the accreditation people will give schools a hard time if they can get evidence that the school doesn't enforce the attendance requirement. So it tends to get enforced around accreditation time.

I've never understood outrage over attendance requirements, though. If they're that onerous to you, take a different class.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:Yeah, the accreditation people will give schools a hard time if they can get evidence that the school doesn't enforce the attendance requirement. So it tends to get enforced around accreditation time.

I've never understood outrage over attendance requirements, though. If they're that onerous to you, take a different class.

Often times your schedule is already pretty set by the time you find out a teacher takes attendence and it's a pain to find a new class, return your books, ect. And even if it's a small inconvenience if attendence policies don't make sense in the first place, the fact that they are only a minor inconvenience isn't a reason to have them.

From the professor's point of view, attendance policies do make sense. It can be hard to plan/run class successfully if you expect 30 students and end up with 12. Students who don't go to class miss information and then either the prof has to answer questions they've already gone over, or deal with people who are disgruntled about losing credit/missing an assignment etc. through their own failure to go to class. Students who don't go to class aren't contributing to or benefiting from other students' classroom learning. Not all of these are going to apply to every class, and not every prof cares about them equally, but the reasons exist. I get that you may not care about these things, but the prof is the one who decides.

I haven't seen strict mandatory attendance, but I've had a few professors say something along the lines of "I don't care if you miss the occasional class, but if I notice you're literally never here that's going to be a problem."

Only class I had with strict attendance were really small seminars.