I (undergrad) got into a 2 week field course abroad with a professor who I currently have for a small class. I really like this professor and think she is a true genius and wonderful person; its no wonder she is so renowned in her field. Needless to say, I would like to keep a good impression on her.

My issue is, I have around 8 disorganized large, pink, and thick scars on my arm near the crease of my elbow from when I had a mental health issue last year. It is not an issue anymore and not something I like to have to think about so I have covered up at my university in fear of being unfairly judged/seen as unprofessional. I think it can maybe pass as an accident to 50% of people, but i'm sure my professor is aware of signs of mental health issues given my university's reputation. The trip is somewhere tropical so I do not want to have to wear long sleeves while hiking or to sleep.

What i'm getting at is: if you were my professor, would you say anything? Would it change how you viewed me if you already had me as a student? I am very conscious that at my prestigious university making connections right now are everything, and the impressions I make on people could help shape my future career, especially being in a niche field. So be brutally honest, would seeing scars on an otherwise high-achieving student make you see him as unstable and unreliable? Is this just an unavoidable thing that people who I work closely with will find out about me?

Bored PhD student doomscrolling TikTok here. I’ve come across a trend where students try to guess their grade on a given exam. Of course, the popular ones are the ones where the grade is comically low. This got me thinking, though, about just how much of an adverse effect AI has had on in-person exam grades.

I TA’d for my first two years and noticed a stark difference between homework grades and in-person exams (not exactly earth-shattering). However, I had only really started grading in-person examinations AFTER the dawn of the modern day LLM.

For those of you who have been giving in-person exams both before and after ChatGPT/Gemini/etc. Just how much (if at all) have the median/mean grades slipped (or perhaps improved) for said exams? If they have changed, why do you suspect AI has hindered the study skills of students? From my perspective, it seems like it would only help studying as it can provide direct answers, but as a researcher, I also understand the value of actively trying to find the answer you’re looking for.

Hello everyone,

I have an upcoming PhD interview, and the professor has asked me to prepare a 15–20-minute presentation to evaluate my qualifications.

I would appreciate advice from professors or faculty members on what you typically expect from applicants in this type of presentation.

Any guidance on how I should approach the presentation would be very helpful. Thank you for your time!

I recently found a lab assistant job that is honestly perfect for what I’m looking for and my qualifications and applied to it. I really want the odds to be in my favor and I was wondering if emailing the professor that runs the lab is appropriate. My dad always tells me to email at every chance I get, and send follow ups as soon as 3 days after. I’m worried his advice may be outdated or not appropriate for this situation. If it helps, the lab is new so i could use that as a reason to email and inquire about the research etc.

Apologies if this post rambles a bit I’m really anxious right now. I’m a 3rd year Computer Science major. I was working on an assignment earlier today and I ran into a problem I was really struggling with. I read through my own notes as well as the lecture slides my professor had posted but I was still struggling. If I can I try and figure things out on my own the best I can before going to my professor for help, so I started doing a bit of research online into the concept. I didn’t use Ai, I didn’t google any solutions, but Im worried I violated academic integrity I because eventually reached a correct solution based on the research I did. I don’t know what to do. It didn’t even cross my mind at the time and I already submitted the assignment. The syllabus for the class says we can’t use the Internet to “find hints, strategies, or solutions” for assignments. I’m sitting in front of a draft email I’m debating sending to him about discussing this and seeing what he thinks.

I don’t know what to do. This has me really worried about my future here at my university. I’ve never been in this position before. From your perspectives, what do you think would be the best course of action?

Hi professors. it’s been really hard to concentrate on the readings lately because, even though I don’t want to say it as an excuse, I do have ADHD. And there are just simply too many readings to do. But I don’t want teachers to think I’m lazy or don’t want to try. Is there anything I could do to amend or help? Thanks!

Hi guys, i recently had a midterm, and I’m kind of worried my prof might’ve thought i was cheating. For context I fidget a lot (usually under the table during exams, near my knees), and I was doing it in the exam. I noticed a weird look from my prof, and I’m scared she might’ve thought i was using my phone. I wear really really baggy pants, so im worried she might’ve thought i was using my phone under my pants and taking advantage of the bagginess.

When I handed in my exam, i had a question. Her and the TA answered it (without telling me anything about what I did during the exam), but my prof was still looking a bit ‘off’.
Does she have to let me know if she thinks im cheating? How will i defend myself if she thinks i am?

Sorry if this doesn’t make that much sense, super stressed as im writing this lol

Hello! I am a college student and I have an exam tomorrow but I noticed this past week there’s been something going on smell-wise. My washer/dryer hasn’t been cleaning correctly and I feel as if residue is being left which mixes with sweat. I’ve been trying all the fixes, gone to [r/laundry](r/laundry) etc. When I put the clothes back on there’s this like odor re bloom (and like retained mildew scent) and I’m just lost. I normally shower every day in the mornings and I washed all my clothes last night (and glycolic acid and clinical strength deodorant, still trying other fixes), but there was still a smell and people drinking water during class. It’s like an ammonia smell but I’m not sure if it’s a health problem at this point. This stresses me out more and the stress just makes it worse cause then apocrine gland sweat doubles down more on the smell…

I’m genuinely scared to go into my exam tomorrow and I don’t know if I should email my professor some sort of (hey, sorry, i really don’t mean smell this way, and ask for some sort of accommodation or sit at the very corner of the classroom)

It probably passes some boundaries but at this point it’s not going to be fixed before the exam.

Or any laundry tips or tricks for help as well, anything is fine!

I wanted to ask about cold mailing what things i should attach, how should i write, what to write in first paragraph 😭😭😭😭😭i don’t know anything. Whatever videos i have watched in youtube i don’t know why but they seems extraordinary students.

Please help me out with this