I definately agree with damasa.. try your best to get mercy from the prof
Whenever I need to do that, I always email and then have an office visit so the prof remembers your name (hey, it might come in handy when they are putting in the final grades
)
Last minute cramming can actually be done.. one of my friends never went to class, never read the book.. and was failing the class. We decided to switch notes and study together for the final.
I had all the lecture notes and she did all the reading & took notes. It worked out quite nicely.. we both did pretty decent in the class
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