3 by 5 foot notecard for test

Reb Beatty/Facebook

This student used a 3-by-5 notecard, but no one said anything about ‘inches’

Who said anything about inches?

 

Jay Hathaway

Internet Culture

Posted on Sep 22, 2017   Updated on May 22, 2021, 4:34 pm CDT

One of the things science teachers try to impress upon their students is never to forget the units. There’s a huge difference between miles and millimeters, between ounces and tons. Accounting professors, on the other hand, might not be as rigorous. When one of them allowed a 3-by-5 notecard for use on an exam, she forgot to specify “inches.”

So, here’s what one student at Anne Arundel Community brought to the test:

It’s a 3-by-5 notecard, technically, even if it happens to be three feet by five feet. There was no rule against it, so Prof. Reb Beatty decided to throw her hands up and allow it. Next time, and every time after that, she’ll definitely remember to specify inches. And you can bet this student’s legend will be passed down through future classes, along with the old stories about instructions at the end of the test that say to leave the paper blank and being able to leave if the professor is 15 minutes late.

Unfortunately, the photo of the notecard is becoming so popular online that it might be a while before an instructor lets anyone get away with this again.

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*First Published: Sep 22, 2017, 11:42 am CDT