I’ve been staring at it and staring at it. So the current date is Thursday, October 8. So, unless I’m totally unable to do simple math here, October 29 will be a Thursday, October 30 will be a Friday, and October 31 will be Halloween, Saturday. So the student is suggesting that Monday, November 2, the day after a weekend of severe Halloween partying, would be a worse day for the exam than Friday, October 30, the day before Halloween.
What am I missing?
If you hadn’t put it into my head that there was some funny business with the dates, I’d assume the joke was just that some student wanted the academic schedule rearranged around his/her drinking schedule, and the professor told him/her to get bent. The audacity of some students! etc, etc.
I’d guess the implication is that the letter write thinks Monday is Nov 1 (that’s how I read the email).
I’d imagine that the prof is laughing because in addition to Sunday being a recovery day (a two-day Halloween party?), she probably wouldn’t postpone the test even if Monday *was *Nov 1 - your desire to get your drunk on is worthy of laughter from your professor, not a test postponement.
In other words, I think it’s more of a generic fail, as opposed to math fail.
I agree that it is not a math fail and more the idea of a supposed adult wanting to change the test day because of Halloween.
I looked at it, and thought it might involve a fundamental problem with dates (e.g. the dates end up being further apart than one might think, or one of the dates ends up being absurd like an August 31), but it all looks reasonable. I figured that it had to do with partying and the student wanted to get the exam over before some major partying.
August 31 is ok. Substitute September 31.
Why do you think you are missing anything?
Have you ever been to college?
In 2009, October 31st was a Saturday. Look at the date on the message.
The reason for the professor’s amusement I’m not sure of. Also apparently he sent his reply before receiving the message.
Err, no, he replied 11 hours after the original message was sent.
Damn, wrong again!
I find this explanation (that they’re just laughing at the idea of requesting a rescheduled exam) very unsatisfying. First of all, it has nothing to do with math. Secondly, it’s not like the guy is begging for an extension or something. He’s requesting that an exam 3 weeks in the future be moved EARLIER in time by one school day. I certainly don’t see that as being so ridiculous as to be LOL-worthy.
I find it completely satisfying. I wouldn’t have thought to ask a teacher to reschedule an exam if it happened to be the exact same time as my child’s funeral, much less interfering with recovering from a party. I find the professor’s “lmao” honest, funny, and the student should have expected nothing less.
Only fail I see is the Professor’s unprofessional response to a student’s question.
And I’ve had professors agree to give tests a few days early for any number of reasons, including just wanting to get on the road to visit friends or family out of town a bit earlier. All depends on the prof, the student, and how much leeway the school lets them have.
If I were a gambling man, I would suggest that the answer has to do with the line “realistically speaking”, and the fact that dates are written in a manner similar to division. I believe 11/1 is a real number, but that math was a long time ago.
I would rather give a late exam than an early one oftentimes. Sometimes not all the questions are written (I never reuse the whole test), while a day later just means I get to grade it right when the other ones are complete. Although 3 weeks is plenty notice. And I don’t care what the excuse is, as long as it’s made in advance, although ridiculous stories make me laugh.
And yeah, it’s called “Math Fail,” so math should be the issue with the email.
Heh, I’ve had a couple of professors who would suggest moving the exam themselves when it’s pointed out that they fall on the day just after a day known for drinking.
The Friday would have been 10/30, but I think that is a real number as well. It does seem like the joke should be something math related.
Maybe it was a math exam.
Any fraction with real numerator and denominator is a real number, so it’s not a play on “realistically”.