I saw this a while back, and I love it. As a former college instructor, I heard all these excuses at one time or another. Professor Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, pretty much lays down the law in his list of "Top Ten No Sympathy Lines." His home page is here.
Some of my favorite replies include:
- "Leprechauns, unicorns, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, hobbits, orcs – and students who know the material but don't do well on exams. Mythical creatures."
- If they complain the course covered too much material: "Great! You got your money's worth! At over $100 a credit, you should complain about not getting a lot of information. If you take a three credit course and get $200 worth of information, you have a right to complain. If you get $500 worth, you got a bargain."
It is a great list, so go take a look.
