# Would you hand in a paper that's short a few pages?



## chatsnaps (Jan 21, 2016)

It's the end of the year and I have so much stuff to do and I just feel so done with everything
I am 3 pages short and I went back and expanded on ideas and there is nothing else that I can add. 
The paper is already 27 pages long our of the 30 it needs to be. 
Would you hand it in 3 pages less or would you find some random things to fill 3 pages worth? :mum


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## supes (Apr 17, 2016)

yeah.. it's only 3 pages short of 30.. If it was 3 pages short of 8, that'd be a different story.


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## Wings of Amnesty (Aug 5, 2015)

I did that once and the professor called me to his office and asked why I thought it was okay to submit a paper that didn't meet his requirements. If there's a 30 page requirement, meet that requirement.


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## supes (Apr 17, 2016)

Wings of Amnesty said:


> I did that once and the professor called me to his office and asked why I thought it was okay to submit a paper that didn't meet his requirements. If there's a 30 page requirement, meet that requirement.


I've never had a professor that strict before.. I always felt it was quality over quantity.


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## chatsnaps (Jan 21, 2016)

On the marking rubric there is a section for the length of the paper, its worth 3 points if not met. So if anything I will probably lose a few marks but  I don't know, I want to do well but also I really don't know what else to add and this paper is draining the life out of me.


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## chatsnaps (Jan 21, 2016)

Wings of Amnesty said:


> I did that once and the professor called me to his office and asked why I thought it was okay to submit a paper that didn't meet his requirements. If there's a 30 page requirement, meet that requirement.


Did you get in any trouble? Or were significant marks taken off? I've submitted 7 pages instead of 8 for a paper and my professor didn't comment on it


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## Wings of Amnesty (Aug 5, 2015)

chatsnaps said:


> On the marking rubric there is a section for the length of the paper, its worth 3 points if not met. So if anything I will probably lose a few marks but  I don't know, I want to do well but also I really don't know what else to add and this paper is draining the life out of me.


I don't know what type of paper it is, but generally you should be able to pick one of the points you made and expand on it/explain it even further than you did. Just go into a higher degree of depth on something you only shallowly touched on.


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## Wings of Amnesty (Aug 5, 2015)

chatsnaps said:


> Did you get in any trouble? Or were significant marks taken off? I've submitted 7 pages instead of 8 for a paper and my professor didn't comment on it


He refused to accept it, made me submit another version that was the full page length and took off points for being late.


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## chatsnaps (Jan 21, 2016)

Wings of Amnesty said:


> He refused to accept it, made me submit another version that was the full page length and took off points for being late.


Wow!! I have never heard of a professor doing that before. Unbelievable D:


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## Skeletra (Aug 30, 2012)

Is it written in word?
Font size 12, Line space 1,5? If it's line space 1 now, this will increase the page number a bit. Not sure if it's enough but it's only 3 pages. This will also make it easier to read.
Try out the "courier new" font. If it's a pain to read a whole page, don't use it.
You could also make the spacing between the letters a tinsy bit bigger. And shrink the margins a little bit.


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## chatsnaps (Jan 21, 2016)

Skeletra said:


> Is it written in word?
> Font size 12, Line space 1,5? If it's line space 1 now, this will increase the page number a bit. Not sure if it's enough but it's only 3 pages. This will also make it easier to read.
> Try out the "courier new" font. If it's a pain to read a whole page, don't use it.
> You could also make the spacing between the letters a tinsy bit bigger. And shrink the margins a little bit.


I can only use New Times Roman font but hehheh I will try the margains and the line spacing trick, thank you! >


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## Greys0n (Mar 30, 2016)

It all depends on your professor. Once I had to write essay of 25 pages but I had only 20. I had no options so I ordered the missing pages on https://www.privatewriting.com/ 'cause I didn't have time for it. I got A-


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## rdrr (Dec 31, 2008)

Might reflect on your grade


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## SuperSky (Feb 16, 2011)

Add a diagram. *****es love diagrams.


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## JohnB (Oct 14, 2015)

Add 3 pages becsuse i agree points will be tsaken off. If its summited online they will notice front and. Margin changes also


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## hmweasley (Sep 12, 2013)

Only if I was absolutely desperate and had no other option. Otherwise I would do everything in my power to meet the requirements. You'll definitely get points taken off for not having the right number of pages unless you have something you can make sound like a really good excuse to your professor. How many points would get taken off depends on the professor though. You can probably guess how strict they'd be about it if you've had them in class all semester.


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## 8888 (Oct 16, 2014)

In my experience, if the paper is well written if it's a bit short it doesn't effect your grade too much. Teachers don't want to read 3 pages of you rambling either, they'd take off for that too likely, so if you feel you've done the best you can I'd turn it in.


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## Memory (Mar 4, 2011)

Yeah I've handed stuff in that was too short but my professor didn't care because the quality was good and he gave me 100%. It depends on the professor.
But that was only because I ran out of time. If you have the time maybe expand on some ideas, reflect on stuff, give your own experiences or opinions, etc.


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## Fredderika (Mar 27, 2014)

chatsnaps said:


> I can only use New Times Roman font but hehheh I will try the margains and the line spacing trick, thank you! >


Another trick is to use the "find and replace" function word programs have and make all the periods a few sizes larger. Probably less noticeable than line spacing or margins, and it does work.

I've often handed in papers a few pages short, and even if the professor makes comments like, "you could have expanded on this a little more," they don't seem to take marks off specifically for the number of pages, at least not when it is close. But I expect it does depend on how strict and nitpicky your instructor is.


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## Ominous Indeed (Sep 6, 2015)

SuperSky said:


> Add a diagram. *****es love diagrams.


I agree with this. Explain with diagrams and pictures.


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## Divinity95 (Apr 26, 2016)

Yep, it's better than handing in no paper at all.


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