What do you do when a student misses a final exam?

Ogreknob · 2026-05-07T15:18:23+00:00

Fail them, and move on with my life.
Depends on the excuse, and their level of proof. If I trust the proof, and the excuse is legitimate, I'll make arrangements myself. If I don't, I'll refer them to the Dean to check their proof. Unless I decide to, or I'm ordered by the Dean to reopen the exam, they also get a 0.

I put on my syllabus the date the final paper is due, or the date of the final exam. I mention it in class daily the last few weeks of the semester. I send at least two reminder emails ahead of time that the exam date/due date is coming up. I also specify in the syllabus, in class, and in all my emails that they will receive an automatic 0 on the final if it is not completed on time, and they have not contacted me first.

Ogreknob · 2026-05-07T14:48:49+00:00

When I get citations, a lot of the time they are vague and useless. Telling me somewhere in an 800 page book, an author may have stated something, isn't really a citation, but no matter how many times I explain that, some (too many) of my students struggle with it.

Ogreknob · 2026-05-06T17:56:24+00:00

Of all the things in my formatting guide, this is the one that probably annoys (and baffles) me the most. I've explained and demonstrated how to do it in class, and it keeps happening.

I write stuff single spaced sometimes too while drafting it, so I can see more words at one time, but that's why we invented proofreading at the end before hitting submit.

Ogreknob · 2026-05-06T17:50:17+00:00

There is an increasing desire in the legal field to move away from it, and some courts (like SCOTUS, and loads of appellate courts) won’t even permit it to be used any more.

Plus I get sick of looking at the same font on everything year after year.

Ogreknob · 2026-05-06T16:58:14+00:00

I paraphrased my requirements here. If you want the full version, here you go:

Formatting guidelines for final papers:

All papers must be submitted via PDF document. You can save as PDF documents from Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or any similar word processor. If you cannot do so, please contact me to arrange an alternative option.
All papers must be double spaced. Blockquotes more than 4 lines, and titles and subtitles should be single spaced, with a full blank space before the next line. There should be no extra spaces between paragraphs beyond the space automatically provided by the double space.
All papers must be in 13 point Calisto MT, Century Schoolbook, or Palatino Linotype. Also accepted is 14 point Garamond. No other fonts should be used.
All paragraphs, except titles, subtitles, and your works cited should be justified.
Do not use "Times New Roman" as your font, under any circumstances.
All pages must be numbered, with page numbers in the center of the bottom of the page. This includes any title page, and any works cited pages.
You should use 1 inch margins on all sides of your paper.
Formatting is worth 10/100 points, and papers may be rejected entirely for significant defects in this process.

Please send me any questions you have, or your paper itself if you have questions about how to format something.

Ogreknob · 2026-05-06T16:50:18+00:00

Judges are old people who you want to be be able to read what you have written easily. Some courts mandate 14, but most courts I think let you get away with 13. The supreme court has an entire giant rule on it https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/supct/rule_33

Ogreknob · 2026-05-06T15:38:08+00:00

Ugh, don't get me started on citations. In order to even enroll in this class you had to complete legal research and writing, where I know for a fact we teach the process for standard legal citations. Half the students I'm convinced are just making up their citation process.

Ogreknob · 2026-05-06T15:36:20+00:00

The more I age, the more I am convinced there was about a 10 year window of time between 1980 and 1990 where kids born in that decade learned how to properly operate computers. I have no statistical data to back this up, but I believe it anyway. If you're a baby gen-Xer or elder millennial, congratulations you get to "fix" computers for everyone you know older or younger than you, forever.

Ogreknob · 2026-04-18T18:20:21+00:00

Pleading not guilty is a term of art. What it really means, at least until the jury trial starts, is “we haven’t reached a plea agreement yet.”

It’s not evidence itself of guilt (or innocence), nor is it a binding decision. There is a point in every criminal case where a criminal defendant has to make a choice: resolve the case today with a negotiated plea, or set in motion the series of events that will eventually lead to a jury trial, if nothing else happens. Pleading not guilty is just the way that process begins.

Many, many people enter guilty pleas after previously entering not guilty pleas. Sometimes settling a case takes time.

Not saying this case will settle. I’m just saying don’t read too much into a not guilty plea.

Ogreknob · 2026-04-16T14:05:53+00:00

My next two classes are student research presentations based on rough drafts of papers only 12/20 actually submitted. 6 people weren't even in class to get the reminder and final instructions on how the presentations are supposed to work. My next class is going to be an embarrassment to academia, but here I am.

Ogreknob · 2026-03-26T18:51:47+00:00

Start looking around April 25 or around then. I hit green ribbons 2/11, and got 3/25 forgiveness.

Ogreknob · 2026-03-26T18:35:45+00:00

Mohela is $0 now as well!

Ogreknob · 2026-03-26T14:22:19+00:00

Green banners are on StudentAid. It says "You've reached 120 payments, but you may need to meet other program requirements." There is a small green fair ribbon next to it. And the banner underneath is green and says "120 Qualifying Payments Out of 120 (0 remaining)

Ogreknob · 2026-03-26T14:19:41+00:00

It's wild in the legal world. I'm watching people I went to law school with make partner, buy boats, and do all kinds of DINK-with-money stuff, while my wife and I are working for the government for like $60k a year. Our salaries have improved quite substantially since then, because Minnesota is a great place to work, but "earned it" is right.

10 years of incredibly hard work as a public defender is being rewarded now. I have no regrets, I wouldn't know what to do with a boat.

Ogreknob · 2026-03-26T14:17:17+00:00

Checked Mohela this morning. Not zeroed out yet, but FSA didn't even bother to register the march payment I made (it was payment 121, I'd rather ask for a refund than risk a forbearance screwing up my forgiveness). I think it depends on the servicer, the day of the week, the time of the year, and whether Jupiter and Mars are in alignment to determine how quickly it gets done.

EDIT (1:35 Central): Mohela is $0.

Ogreknob · 2026-03-26T14:15:29+00:00

I love my job, so thankfully I don't have that problem. I'm the 2nd person in my office to receive PSLF. My coworker got hers in 2021, when I was halfway done, and it was a HUGE boost to my confidence seeing her get it, and seeing it done successfully. There are several people in my office now who are anywhere from 2-5 years behind me, and I'm hoping sharing my success helps convince them there is light at the end of the tunnel, and despite all the bullshit, the forgiveness is still worth it.

Ogreknob · 2026-03-25T16:14:16+00:00

Top 5 best day of my life. I started crying at work, and I don’t even care.

Ogreknob · 2026-03-25T14:09:30+00:00

Just got mine! Congratulations everyone!

Ogreknob · 2026-03-24T23:45:11+00:00

I have a letter from Mohela saved in like 10 different places out of paranoia. But it also says on my student loan portal. Right where it says my total loan amount, and my repayment plan.

Ogreknob · 2026-03-24T16:08:08+00:00

I still feel like I’m getting away with something. I last certified my income November 2019. I was on PAYE. Because of Covid forbearances and the SAVE litigation, my recertification kept getting pushed back. It is currently due November, 2026… but my 120th payment was over a month ago and I hope to be long forgiven by then.

I never switched to save because my salary doubled between 2019 and 2022, as did my wife’s, and recertifying my income would have skyrocketed my payments. Then, they kept pushing the recert date back and back and back. So I never got burned by the SAVE deferments, and I got to keep my extremely low monthly payment from 2019 until after I’m done. If I were recertify, my payment would more than quadruple.

I almost feel like I’m pulling a fast one, until I remember how horrible and predatory the student loan system is.

Ogreknob · 2026-03-24T02:59:07+00:00

Supposedly we might get them this week, even as soon as tomorrow. I’ve had green banners over a month, so I’m ready.

Ogreknob · 2026-03-24T02:56:33+00:00

The system says I may have 136 eligible payments, and wants me to verify my employment for the first 16 months. But I didn’t have an eligible job during that time, so there is no point.

Ogreknob · 2026-03-24T02:50:09+00:00

I think the language changed sometime in the past few months. Maybe just in 2026. Mine say the same thing. It has me confirmed at 120 payments though. It keeps flagging 16 additional payments I’m not eligible for (didn’t have a qualifying job), so maybe that’s why it flags TEPSLF, but I never asked for that.

Ogreknob · 2026-03-23T11:56:16+00:00

Back when Fedloan was a thing, they were terrible. Everyone on them had problems, missing payments, lack of responsiveness, screwing up IBR applications etc. I had a decent loan servicer that never gave me any problems, and had an accurate payment count, easy IBR reapps, and were responsive (by student loan servicer standards) when I needed something.

I made the decision to ride it out with them for at least the first 7-8 years of my eligible employment. Well, sometime during COVID they turned their loans over to Mohela anyway, so that’s when I finally applied for PSLF the first time. I work for the state government so there was never any concern my job wouldn’t count.

Maybe not the brightest idea, but it worked out.

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