Arriving late to class - Everything you need to know (2024)
TABLE OF CONTENTS (jump ahead)
Should a college student arrive to class late?
Okay, this is going to be controversial, but as a former professor, I don’t think you should skip class just because you are going to be late.
I will explain why I THINK IT IS OKAY TO SHOW UP LATE TO CLASS.
It’s better late than never. right?
We have all been there. Your alarm doesn’t go off on time and you’re running late. Or you lost track of time and nearly forgot about your class.
Maybe you had a flat tire, or ran into car trouble.
You can still make it to class, but you’ll be late. You wonder if it’s rude to show up to class late or you’re embarrassed to walk in late. So, you just consider skipping the entire lecture altogether. This is a BAD idea.
Surely the professor will be upset if you arrive late, or will they be?
I was a professor for 15 years and I never said anything to students for walking in late because despite them being late, the late student still wanted to show up to class and learn. I admired that tenacity.
In this article, I am going to tell you why you should avoid being late, but what to do when you’re late. Because even as a graduate student, I was late a time or two. Just don’t let it become a habit.
Why it’s bad to go to class late
Before I give you all the details about being late to class, I want to explain why you shouldn’t be late.
If you show up to class late, you are going to miss some material. And you don’t want to get behind. If you get behind, your grades may suffer or you’ll have to spend more of your personal time catching up.
You might miss an important announcement. When I was a professor, I would use the first few minutes of class to update students on future assignments or important updates. If you’re late, you’ll miss those announcements.
Also, your professor might count tardies against you if they even grade attendance. So, it’s important to understand your professor’s attendance policy because some of these suggestions might not apply to you.
When you arrive late, other students might get disrupted and distracted. Think about it for a second. Pretend you are in class, in the midst of taking notes and understanding a topic, only for another student to come in late. They walk in front of the professor distracting you, and then they sit down and start rumbling through their backpack to retrieve their notes and pen.
It can take some time to get back into the lecture and it could throw some people off topic.
Finally, your professor might think you are disrespecting their time by arriving late. I can honestly say that when students arrived late, I rarely paid attention to it. I only noticed when it was the same student arriving late over and over again, but normally it went unnoticed.
Sometimes a student would approach me after class to apologize and I didn’t even remember them coming in late.
Is it okay to be late to class?
It may be okay to show up to class late if there is a significant amount of time left in class, and your professor doesn’t have a policy barring late arrivals.
I really doubt a professor says that a student cannot show up late at all, but I guess it’s possible. However, I would say that most institutions wouldn’t allow professors to lock the doors and refuse entry into their class.
But it’s worth checking the syllabus and learning more about their policies.
Otherwise, GO to class, even if you are going to be late.
But I wouldn’t necessarily say that it is OKAY to be late, but it’s understandable if it’s a rare occurrence.
While it is SUPER unlikely, if you arrive late to class and your professor deems that behavior disruptive, they could file an incident report with the college and you could face some disciplinary action. Again, this is so rare I wouldn’t worry too much about it but this is why you should follow my TIPS to avoid being disruptive.
Is it worth going to class late?
Yes, as a former professor, I think it is worth going to class late. Because you are going to be learning material, even if you missed some of the lecture. So, don’t fret and show up anyway.
When I would have students come to my class late, I felt more respected because they would rather walk in late than miss my class altogether.
Plus I never knew what that student had going on. As a student, you have a personal life too and sometimes that can get in the way of college.
I just recommend that you try to arrive on time and only let emergencies make you late.
Should you show up to class 30 minutes late?
Yes, you should still show up to class 30 minutes late. While this depends on your professor’s policies, it is better to show up than miss an entire lecture. As long as you have 50% or more of lecture time left, I would go to class late.
Is being late to class disrespectful?
Showing up to class late could be disrespectful if you are doing it on purpose or too frequently. But a professor shouldn’t take a student showing up late to class personal.
To avoid being disrespectful when you show up to class late, try and enter when the professor is taking a break or is in in between thoughts.
Also, have your notes and anything else you need out of your backpack and ready to go. This creates less distraction for your professor and other students.
Come in quietly and sit in the back, if you can.
And finally, try to not let it happen again.
How late is too late to walk into class?
There really isn’t a rule here, but I would say that most students shouldn’t bother going to class if there less than half (50%) of the lecture left. For example, if a class is an hour long and there’s fewer than thirty minutes left, I wouldn’t bother going in late.
But take every factor into account because it still might be in your best interest to show up anyway. This is a personal decision really. And based on your professor’s policies too.
As a former professor, I would say that the latest you should go to class late is when there is only 25% of the lecture remaining.
Anything later than that doesn’t seem to serve much purpose unless it’s a very long class.
But these are just suggestions and you should do what’s best for you.
What to do when you are late to class
Make sure you check with a classmate and get notes and ask if anything significant was discussed like special announcements.
Do NOT go up to your professor after class and asked what you missed. This ins’t their responsibility to go over the material again because you showed up late.
But you can explain to your professor why you were late but I wouldn’t profusely apologize. You might apologize for any disruptions or distractions you may have caused by arriving late but you don’t have to apologize for being late necessarily.
Why?
Because you are paying for this course. And even though you missed some of the class, you are still owed the remainder of time. At least that’s how I feel about it.
However, you shouldn’t let this become a habit. If you are habitually late, it can appear rude. And it can really impact other students’ learning. But coming in late once in a while is understandable.
We are human and we aren’t perfect so mistakes will happen.
What happens if a student comes to class late
If a student comes to class late, the professor might deduct attendance points for tardiness.
You could also cause distractions for your professor and other students.
Finally, a professor could bring attention to your late entrance which might be embarrassing.
What happens when a student comes in late to a college class entirely depends on the classroom layout and the professor.
You might easily be able to slip into the lecture hall without anyone noticing if it’s a large class with open seating in the back. If the entrance is near the back of the classroom, it’s less distracting and you’ll probably go unnoticed.
And you might just look like a student who left for a bathroom break instead of a late student.
If you are coming into class late, a trick is to bring in only the necessary items for the class. When you come in with a large book bag, water bottle, purse, etc., it’s obvious you’re late.
But if you come in with a little notebook, people might not know you were even late to begin with.
Okay, now you know exactly what to expect when you come to class late, and now understand that’s is best to show up late than not show up at all.
And if you have to MISS CLASS, here is an example of the BEST email to send your professor.
How to apologize for being late to class
If you arrive late to class, come in quielty and sit in the back row. After class, you can approach your professor and tell them that you arrived late and apologize for any disruption or inconvenience this may have caused them. And thank them for the lecture too. Let them know that you missed some lecture material but obtained notes from a classmate.
You could also add why you were late to class and what you are going to do to avoid this in the future. Perhaps you were late because of traffic. You could tell your professor that you are going to adjust your alarm to wake up earlier so you can leave earlier.
Can you be late for college classes?
Some professors allow students to arrive late for their college classes, while others may not allow late students to participate. As a former professor, the vast majority of professors WILL allow students to arrive late for class. You did pay for it after all. However, a professor’s lecture and other students’ learning may be really disrupted by late arrivals so they may not allow it.
For example, if you are working in a group setting, like a lab, the professor may not be able to allow late arrivals because the group has already started their work.
Other times, professors may have attendance policies that penalize you for arriving late so while you may get to show up, you won’t get attendance points for it. But in my experience, most professors allow students to show up late.
To make sure, you should check your professor’s policies in their syllabus to see if they mention anything specific.
Remember, it is better to show up late than to not show up at all.
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