I personally never get anything from going to class and will only go if we are required to take notes (prof doesn't post online or teaches stuff that isn't in textbook), or we get marked on participation.

I like just reading from the book and I do pretty well overall.

Good luck after freshman year.

+1

ya im a freshman atm and turn up around 30% of the time. The work is easy enough that I dont need to go to class, and also I dont have any work ethic at all.

But ya, after christmas and definitely freshman year, I think Im going to have to change this

I live with two others off my course who go to 100% of classes. I go to around 1 in 3 in classes, and the other 2 in 3 I just copy up notes from housemates. In third year, and currently on a 70% average (a first). Live with people on your course imo!

totally depended on the classes. if i had to be there i'd be at 98%+ of the classes. if it was all lecture based and the notes were online, i would hardly ever go. overall i'd say i went to 70% of my classes in college, would have gone to more if i wasn't high stakes pokering a lot.

it's all about playing the game. figure out what you need to do to be successful and do it. don't listen to what other people are posting on a message board because some people are brilliant and some people are idiots and no one has any idea where you stand on that spectrum.

it depends on the class. some semesters (like this one) i go to every one every day; generally the % has increased as i get further into my major. with classes that teach *only* from powerpoint slides or a book i never went, but i've never had any of those in my major classes unfortunately

unless youre at a stupid school or in a joke major then this doesnt work at all after you get through the dumb freshman classes

going to class and participating some is also a really good way for the professor to get to know who you are and he'll be more likely to bump you up if your grade is borderline. If I'm paying for it then I can sacrifice three hours out of my day to show up to class.

does this mean you average a grade of 70 or is it some different UK measurement?

if so thats terrible and you might want to rethink your strategy

This isn't true at all. I'm in civil engineering at a state school (obviously not some hard school but i wouldn't call the engineering here a joke), and i have a 300 level and 400 level class i pretty much never go to and do just fine in. Theres also 2 classes where attendance isn't required, that i go to every single time. It really just depends on the class.

probably a reference problem for me since I assume anything less than a georgia tech engineering class is easy, which is almost everything except for a few elite schools.

I attended class rarely. In undergrad and for my graduate degree. Law school has required attendance so I am really getting good @ Facebook.

Just depends on the courses you take. I did finance for undergrad. Got away with skipping all sorts of stuff however when you get to toward the end you have to show up. I'd say over all undergrad attendance 40%, Grad school 25%, Law school 95+%.

I went to like 25% of my classes Junior year and I got a 3.7

WRONG

Finished a four year bachelor of business studies last year, Majored in Accountancy and finance, in one of the top courses in Europe. its all about networking and working like a slave at a few nights before the exam, networking is KEY.

GL and party like a rockstar

Seriously if you are a business major or something you can probably get Bs without ever going to class unless attendance is required.

I'm in business now and was in engineering before.

The business classes is mostly just memorizing stuff. Which obviously if the information is available outside class then you don't need to go.

I don't think I could have gotten through the physics and some of the calculus without the instruction though(when I was in engineering).

i dont go to class... but i am generally bright and can teach myself.

my point still stands, everyone knows business classes are easy. The ones i take I can study 6 weeks worth of slides in an hour and make an A on the exam.

its such a moot point. Do what you need to do to prepare yourself for whatever it is you want to accomplish in life after school. I personally think using going to class as a way of networking is a bs answer. Those who are good or put in the effort to network should be able to do it outside of class depending on what level of self motivation you have to accomplish things. We are all learning different tools of the trade, and some are more adapt and quicker to understand things. Just do you, there is no formula for success or level of coolness achieved by not going to class.

I front-load my class attendance - aim for perfect attendance in the first 3-4 weeks. Know what I need to do, read as much of the material as I can...

If I get an A on the first midterm, I feel very confident in being able to "beat" the class and I just play defense to protect high grade. I can skip classes with a good conscience and I feel less stress in the stretch run to finals. I consider my work ethic pretty good and my class attendance % is rather low for a person who deems himself a hard worker.

I can't function like the usual night-stalking student who can concentrate in the few hours post-midnight before exams. My day just kind of goes on as it always does, even on days where I absolutely need to dedicate 4-5 hours to studying.

lol i go when i can but usually find myself saying i will just check out what they post online. so i probably go to 33% and i failed one subject in two years. im still happy

I go to about 3 hours of class per week... next semester imma try to get that down to zero.

I'm pretty good at school related stuff

you just contradicted yourself ^^^ (read your post again)

the reason why you dont go to those classes at all is because you are at an average state school.

i have plenty of friends who are in the Duke Pratt Engineering school and they work their ass off. And i doubt you are smarter than any of my friends (All of them have gotten 2300 and above on the SAT and if IQ is any measurement, my roommate's IQ is 155 and yet he is still studying his ass off to maintain his 3.9 gpa - he's a BME).

dude... if you attend any of the top 5 or top 10 school in the country, and if you are a ME, BME, or others, (many pre-meds take this route) i doubt you will be dicking around and skipping classes.

I don't want to sound like a dick, but I'm going to anyway. Look, you might be in "one of the top courses in Europe" or whatever you claim, but it simply doesn't work. Sorry. gojackets is right, at least in the States. If you are a freshman and/or undecided, you might be able to get away with it. Other than that, nope...

Nothing in my post contradicted itself. I was unaware you were only allowed to post in this thread if you went to the best and hardest school ever created.

A whole lot of jumping to conclusions in this thread.

The idea that you can just make blanket statements like this is laughable.

Obviously if you go to Harvard or Duke or whatever, your classes are more likely to be more difficult and more involved. But every single college, every single major, every single class, every single professor, every single student is different. So don't pretend to know how much class every single person in the "States" needs to attend.

I went to a school that is pretty easy for lots of majors like Business/Psychology, but known as ridiculously difficult for Engineering/CS/Mathematics. I know people who attended every Business class to get an A, and people who didn't do a damn thing and got A's in Engineering. It really just depends on you/your situation.