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Can anyone (non-students) just walk in and audit a college class?

I

imported_Tomato

Diamond Member
I wondered about this back when I was at the University of Michigan. In lecture halls of 500+ people, what's to stop non-students from sitting in on classes? The professors of such classes rarely (if ever) check the identities of their students, and it appears one could take a number of classes "for free" by just walking in.

I wonder what the penalty (if any) would be if you were caught.
 
not if youre wearing a mini skirt and you have nice legs. preferably one of them plaid mini skirts with stockings.

at my school theyll usually let you audit the class if you ask nicely.
 
Are you thinking about auditing a college class? I've thought of that too. There is no way for them to monitor a class of 500 so anyone can sit in, if they want. It just might be embarrassing if someone asks you to study and you tell him/her that you've already graduated and that you're just sitting in for the hell of it. 😉
 
Originally posted by: Dezign
I wondered about this back when I was at the University of Michigan. In lecture halls of 500+ people, what's to stop non-students from sitting in on classes? The professors of such classes rarely (if ever) check the identities of their students, and it appears one could take a number of classes "for free" by just walking in.

I wonder what the penalty (if any) would be if you were caught.
Click to expand...

you wouldnt get the credit for it.

sure, you could sit in on it, but what good would it do you?
 
Originally posted by: Walleye
Originally posted by: Dezign
I wondered about this back when I was at the University of Michigan. In lecture halls of 500+ people, what's to stop non-students from sitting in on classes? The professors of such classes rarely (if ever) check the identities of their students, and it appears one could take a number of classes "for free" by just walking in.

I wonder what the penalty (if any) would be if you were caught.
Click to expand...

you wouldnt get the credit for it.

sure, you could sit in on it, but what good would it do you?
Click to expand...
Because you love learning 😕 🙂
 
I think you could easilly sneak into a big lecture hall - and never be caught. But the question then becomes: why would you do that? Sure there are some people who really crave education and will enjoy taking as many classes as possible - but why wouldn't they want the full credit or at least a true audit record (at my university an audit means you attend class and the professor sees you at class repeatedly, but you don't do homework or take tests - it will then show up on your transcript). An official audit would look much better on your records than no record of you at all. Plus few classes are ever taught in big lectures - and those that are are usually the classes where you learn the least. So if someone craved education, they wouldn't crave the big lecuture classes they'd crave the advanced 4-15 person classes. And there probably is little chance of sneaking in on a 4 person class...
 
Originally posted by: Walleye
Originally posted by: Dezign
I wondered about this back when I was at the University of Michigan. In lecture halls of 500+ people, what's to stop non-students from sitting in on classes? The professors of such classes rarely (if ever) check the identities of their students, and it appears one could take a number of classes "for free" by just walking in.

I wonder what the penalty (if any) would be if you were caught.
Click to expand...

you wouldnt get the credit for it.

sure, you could sit in on it, but what good would it do you?
Click to expand...

uh, you would learn? that's the *point* of going to school....
 
Originally posted by: gopunk
Originally posted by: Walleye
Originally posted by: Dezign
I wondered about this back when I was at the University of Michigan. In lecture halls of 500+ people, what's to stop non-students from sitting in on classes? The professors of such classes rarely (if ever) check the identities of their students, and it appears one could take a number of classes "for free" by just walking in.

I wonder what the penalty (if any) would be if you were caught.
Click to expand...

you wouldnt get the credit for it.

sure, you could sit in on it, but what good would it do you?
Click to expand...

uh, you would learn? that's the *point* of going to school....
Click to expand...

he needs babysteps gopunk. tell him it's a class about how to skin the gui of a browser.

 
Originally posted by: jumpr
Originally posted by: Walleye
Originally posted by: Dezign
I wondered about this back when I was at the University of Michigan. In lecture halls of 500+ people, what's to stop non-students from sitting in on classes? The professors of such classes rarely (if ever) check the identities of their students, and it appears one could take a number of classes "for free" by just walking in.

I wonder what the penalty (if any) would be if you were caught.
Click to expand...

you wouldnt get the credit for it.

sure, you could sit in on it, but what good would it do you?
Click to expand...
Because you love learning 😕 🙂
Click to expand...

You mean some people go to class because they love learning? OMFG teh noes!!!!111!1
 
Originally posted by: gopunk
Originally posted by: Walleye
Originally posted by: Dezign
I wondered about this back when I was at the University of Michigan. In lecture halls of 500+ people, what's to stop non-students from sitting in on classes? The professors of such classes rarely (if ever) check the identities of their students, and it appears one could take a number of classes "for free" by just walking in.

I wonder what the penalty (if any) would be if you were caught.
Click to expand...

you wouldnt get the credit for it.

sure, you could sit in on it, but what good would it do you?
Click to expand...

uh, you would learn? that's the *point* of going to school....
Click to expand...

maybe so, but the only point i could see in it is to make it so when you actually take the class for credit, it would be easier, or maybe sit in lectures of classes you're interested in (like history or something) just for the sitting in class learning about history. beyond that, i wouldnt think it very productive to sit in a class you get no credit for.
 
I did that once to survey an eng class of 24 people. I told the instructor if he will let me and he did. he is a cool guy, but his class was too hard. 😉
 
I was thinking about doing it at UCLA... I'd like to go back to school (eventually) to become a child psychologist/psychiatrist, and I want to stay updated on the latest research, techniques, etc. I also don't want to lose my "academic mentality", which has been fading fast since starting a full-time job.

Besides, learning is fun.... I'd even sit in on a history, etc. class. It's like reading a book, but live/illustrated/animated. 🙂
 
it would depend on the size of the class and the professor. in my department they don't mind if people audit as long as there are enough seats. but they also assume that everyone auditing is a grad student. and if the class is large, how are they going to find out? they can't. the real problem isn't auditing, it's the parking. unless you plan to take the bus to campus.
 
Originally posted by: gopunk
Originally posted by: Walleye
Originally posted by: Dezign
I wondered about this back when I was at the University of Michigan. In lecture halls of 500+ people, what's to stop non-students from sitting in on classes? The professors of such classes rarely (if ever) check the identities of their students, and it appears one could take a number of classes "for free" by just walking in.

I wonder what the penalty (if any) would be if you were caught.
Click to expand...

you wouldnt get the credit for it.

sure, you could sit in on it, but what good would it do you?
Click to expand...

uh, you would learn? that's the *point* of going to school....
Click to expand...

The point of going to school (college) is to get a little piece of paper at the end that verifies that you had no life for 4-5 years. The knowledge one could have taken away with them seeps out of your ears whilst sleeping just a few days after you are last tested on it. You learn what you really need to know when you get a job.

 
Originally posted by: BillGates
Originally posted by: gopunk
Originally posted by: Walleye
Originally posted by: Dezign
I wondered about this back when I was at the University of Michigan. In lecture halls of 500+ people, what's to stop non-students from sitting in on classes? The professors of such classes rarely (if ever) check the identities of their students, and it appears one could take a number of classes "for free" by just walking in.

I wonder what the penalty (if any) would be if you were caught.
Click to expand...

you wouldnt get the credit for it.

sure, you could sit in on it, but what good would it do you?
Click to expand...

uh, you would learn? that's the *point* of going to school....
Click to expand...

The point of going to school (college) is to get a little piece of paper at the end that verifies that you had no life for 4-5 years. The knowledge one could have taken away with them seeps out of your ears whilst sleeping just a few days after you are last tested on it. You learn what you really need to know when you get a job.
Click to expand...

nicely said ...
 
when i was in first year chem, it was the last class before the final and the prof decided to pick on kids he never saw in class before that.

he kept picking on this one kid because he didn't know any of the answers or have any assigned questions done.. and finally he said "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING, THE FINAL IS NEXT WEEK! HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO PASS?" and the kid finally admitted he wasn't even in the class, he just came along with his girlfriend.

it was hilarious.
 
I've sat in my one of my ex-girlfriend's class lectures. The class wasn't even that big, only about 50 or so, but I wasn't noticed.

OMG, so many cute girls in nursing. But noooooo, I had to go into computing... *smacks self*
 
Originally posted by: eakers
when i was in first year chem, it was the last class before the final and the prof decided to pick on kids he never saw in class before that.

he kept picking on this one kid because he didn't know any of the answers or have any assigned questions done.. and finally he said "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING, THE FINAL IS NEXT WEEK! HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO PASS?" and the kid finally admitted he wasn't even in the class, he just came along with his girlfriend.

it was hilarious.
Click to expand...

lol

Must have been funny as you stated 😀

So what happened in the end?

Koing

 
So do you have that much time on your hands and are that bored? I'd hate to sit in a class like a schoolboy again, LOL. However, I conduct college classes myself and can't say I like it all that much. It's a stage I have already been on once and I don't wanna go back there.
 
I took an entire year of Chinese in college without ever registering for it. The teacher didn't even care. She even let me take the midterms and graded them too. Well I guess her TA's actualy did that.
 
Originally posted by: Walleye

maybe so, but the only point i could see in it is to make it so when you actually take the class for credit, it would be easier, or maybe sit in lectures of classes you're interested in (like history or something) just for the sitting in class learning about history. beyond that, i wouldnt think it very productive to sit in a class you get no credit for.
Click to expand...
Those were the two main scenarios I thought about too. There are some classes our university offered that actually sounded very interesting to me and I would've LOVED to have taken them if I'd had the time (and didn't have to pay for them - yet another mild benefit I suppose.) I did actually sit in on a few lectures (with my friend who was actually taking the course which used the room right after mine) for an entry level communications course where they were talking about advertising and media buying because I always thought that was interesting. It's ironic since I now work at an ad agency even though that wasn't my major and planned career path.

And if I knew I would probably struggle with a class and wanted a chance to take a practice run then unofficially auditing it in advance might help bone up on things. I never had to do that though.
 
hehe, apparently you weren't on north campus...needless to say, you'd slightly stick out in a classroom full of engin geeks. 😀

I have 2 friends who are cute Chinese girls...they have fun with the selection. Granted, there aren't many good looking engineers either.

But as for auditing...shouldn't be a problem, but probably depends on the prof and the school.
 
I'm sure people have correctly said that you're not allowed, but I wouldn't mind people auditing my class as long as there was enough room for the people that actually paid for it.
 
Originally posted by: Dezign
I was thinking about doing it at UCLA... I'd like to go back to school (eventually) to become a child psychologist/psychiatrist, and I want to stay updated on the latest research, techniques, etc. I also don't want to lose my "academic mentality", which has been fading fast since starting a full-time job.

Besides, learning is fun.... I'd even sit in on a history, etc. class. It's like reading a book, but live/illustrated/animated. 🙂
Click to expand...

bah ucla psych classes (undergrad) you'd never get caught in the lecture ones as they are huge classes. the seminars you'd get caught.

almost any lecture class, you won't get caught. i used to go to class with with my bf all the time and no one ever said anything.
 
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