By Koh Shin Robbie (26A01A) and Lerraine Neo (26A01A)
Put your hand up if you’ve ever handed in late work. If your hand isn’t up, you’re lying. Getting swamped by work and missing deadlines is a canon event for students; for those looking to stay out of trouble, so is asking for extensions.
Yet not all extension requests are made equal. Some are successful, while some end in a curt message about how “you should have managed your time better” and a late-night crashout detailing every slight mistake your teacher has ever made.
In order to determine the best possible method of requesting an extension, we set out to conduct a social experiment. With the help of a few friends, we’ve tested out our top ten ways to ask for an extension.
The Experiment
The experiment itself is pretty simple. First, think of a request method, then beg/bribe a friend to carry it out, and finally, record the results. There’s just one key issue: the teachers.
Some teachers are indisputably more lenient than others, and it would be disrespectful of their individuality to treat them all as one and the same. So we came up with an equation:
where S = success score,
base = base value of success,
M = mood of teacher’s reaction, and
R = teacher’s receptiveness
I = importance of the assignment
For the base value of success (base), participants in our study were asked to evaluate the degree of success they achieved in their requests, with ‘0’ being complete failure and ‘8’ being full success.
They were also asked to evaluate the mood (M) of the teacher when faced with the various request methods, with ‘0’ being anger, ‘1’ being reluctance, ‘2’ being indifference, ‘3’ being confusion,‘4’ being understanding, and ‘5’ being amusement. When more than one mood was applicable, the average was calculated.
Participants would also evaluate the teacher’s typical openness to extensions requests (R), with ‘1’ being absolute strictness and ‘4’ being pure benevolence. Lastly, the importance of the assignment (I) was taken into account on a scale of 1 to 5— was it just a random tutorial, or did it count towards the student’s grade? With the equation, we were able to more accurately generalise the success scores of each method across various teachers.
1. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Literature is the study of the human condition, and what is more human than being behind on your homework?
When confronted with this outpour of creativity, this teacher went through a myriad of emotions: bewilderment, worry, amusement. Eventually, he settled on a vaguely confused smile, and granted the extension immediately.
This was an overwhelmingly successful attempt. The class was laughing, the teacher was entertained, and the extension was granted without hesitation. The poem did not specify any new deadline, and neither did this teacher when agreeing to the extension. In other words, our tester was technically granted an indefinite extension.
The only drawback of this method is the time needed to write the poem. We tried to get around this by using ChatGPT, which promptly incurred a one-point deduction when our teacher found out. But for the creatively inclined, this is a solid option.
Final value: 7.8 (base=8, M=3.7, R=4, I=3; one point deduction at the teacher’s request for using ChatGPT to write the poem)
2. Handwritten letter
From graduation letters to secret messages, handwritten letters have often been used to signify one thing: importance. It seemed fitting, then, to use a handwritten letter for our next method to show the extent of our sincerity.
Complete with washi tape, stickers, and ink from an extremely fancy glass pen, this letter was the epitome of effort and earnestness. And after a full day of waiting, this student’s effort was returned.
We aren’t really sure what the target practice card is for, but the Griffles sticker earns this method a bonus point. From the patterned envelope to the scattered stickers, it’s clear how much work went into this extension approval.
Using this method too often might get a bit expensive (on account of the washi tape), but beyond that, it produces stunning results.
Final value: 5.3 (base=8, M=5, L=3, I=1, one bonus point for Griffles)
3. Asking your friend to ask for you
Sometimes when faced with pressing deadlines, the words just don’t come out correctly. That’s where a friend could come in handy, representing you as their client to your teacher.
When used to seek an extension on Assignment 6A: Differentiation Techniques, the teacher was perplexed to say the least, requesting that the student themself come to seek the extension. Nonetheless, this would have set a good stage for the student in question to make their case and seek an extension. Overall, this method was probably a more neutral one, and may be considered a “less radical route” in achieving some degree of success.
Final value: 2.7 (base=2, M=2, L=3, I=2)
4. My dog ate my homework
Your teacher can’t make you submit your homework if it no longer exists. In times of desperation, perhaps complete annihilation is the key.
This method was not part of our initial plan. But when one of us accidentally spilled hot milo over a classmate’s assignment, the opportunity was simply too good to ignore.
When the teacher walked into class, this student simply pointed to the stained and tattered mess on his desk. At first, the teacher attempted to salvage his work, asking him to scan and upload it instead. But as he lifted a page only to have it rip instantly, it quickly became evident there was no saving this essay.
Unfortunately, this method may cause some emotional distress, especially if you’d stayed up till 2am to finish your essay the night before. But for the truly desperate, it is extremely impressive.
Final value: 16.5 (base=4, M=3, L=2, I=5; one point deduction for emotional distress)
5. Legal contract
When we ask teachers for extensions, accountability is expected on our part to uphold our promises and keep to agreements. What better way to enforce these than a full-fledged contract?
The teacher laughed at the sheer formality of the contract, but remarked that she would not sign legally binding documents. Reciting each clause with a chuckle, she laughed at the lengths students would go to seek extensions. Ultimate conclusion: maybe trust is the secret sauce to extensions.
Final value: 6 (base=5, M=4, L=3, I=2)
6. Crashout
According to Urban Dictionary, to crash out is to “go insane or do something stupid.” To the sleep-deprived student, crashing out can mean sending your teacher reels over MS teams.
The response was—interesting. For context, the homework in question was for Knowledge and Inquiry, specifically a section which required the student to evaluate a given argument. And this teacher chose to respond with… an evaluation of the student’s argument.
Let us paint a scene. After sending the extension request, this student watched in trepidation for over ten minutes as the “…” typing bubble appeared, disappeared, and reappeared again. Then this monster of a text popped up.
On an emotional level, this was a terrible experience. But on an extension level, this worked out perfectly.
Final value: 8.0 (base=8, M=4, L=4, I=3; one point deduction for emotional damage)
7. Ask WAY in advance
The last thing you would want is to send an extension request close to the deadline. Asking in advance is a textbook example of guaranteeing higher success rates, but how early is too early?
For this, our participant sought an extension for his assignment before it was even assigned. Confusing as it was, his teacher actually agreed to the outlandish request, adding that he could “take as much time as [he] need[ed]”. Success? Definitely.
Final value: 4.29 (base=8, M=2, L=3.5, I=1.5)
8. Sob story
When all else fails, emotional manipulation is always an option. Using the intense power of pathos, our participant tugged on their teacher’s heartstrings with a compelling tragedy of the loss of a (non-existent) hamster. And a power outage. And borderline insanity.
Unfortunately, this did not work out as planned. Admittedly, the story crafted was just slightly on the unrealistic side, which may have tanked this student’s believability. Nevertheless, it was a valiant effort and an interesting read.
(For the curious, JTB stands for justified true belief.)
Final value: 3 (base=1, M=2, L=3, I=3)
9. PowerPoint
Perhaps the experiences of Arts students differ from that of Science students. As such, we co-opted 26S03B to present reasons to receive an extension for Chemical Energetics with a presentation! With engaging visuals and clear, spelt-out reasons, they managed to elaborately convince their Chemistry teacher to grant the extension.
Other points (read: threats) cited by the participants included the following:
- Refusal of an extension would lead to public meltdowns, threatening social cohesion
- An offer to not take unglams of the teacher
- Consistent diligence in the subject
The teacher had a good time laughing, and the Science students believe they achieved a good level of success in negotiating (somewhat) favourable terms for their extension.
Final score: 6.75 (base=6, M=3, L=4, I=3)
10. With a rap
Unfortunately, we tested too many methods out on the same teacher. When we tried to corner him with an impromptu rap, we were met with: “This is for that thing!”
The farce was up, but the teacher still agreed to listen to the rap (once again written by ChatGPT). He seemed to be enjoying it, bobbing along to the beat and tapping out his own complementary rhythm on the desk. If this had been a successful experiment, the extension probably would have been granted.
But alas, we’ll never know. (Unless you’d like to try it out yourself!)
Final value: N.A.
What makes a good extension request?
Looking back at all the different, wacky methods adopted by our participants, the secret to success depends on not just timeliness and politeness, but also trust and candidness between student and teacher. Of course, who could say no to a little creativity? The next time you’re stuck in a pickle while completing your assignments, don’t be afraid to try one of our methods to get an extension, or try one of your own! After all, the worst they could say is “no”.
(Full disclaimer: Raffles Press is not liable for the consequences of poorly made requests and rejection; all candidates sought their extensions despite having completed the work)
Special thanks to: Alaric Chia (26A01A), Ian Poh (26A01A), Jasper Chow (26S03M), Jeanette Tan (26S03B), Lai Jay Young (26A01A), Lee Guat Ghee (Li Yueyi) (26S06B), Lee Zhi Ying (26A01A), Nomita Anna Adhiguna (26A01A) and Odelia Teo (26A01A) for their help in making this article happen!
