Teen Removes Other Student’s Name from Final Group Project Before Turning It in, Now Wonders If She Was in the Wrong

A college student made a tough call on a group assignment: after one classmate repeatedly failed to communicate or complete her portion of the work, the student removed the classmate’s name from the final submission. Now, she’s questioning whether she handled it fairly.

In a post shared on Reddit, the student explained that she’s wrapping up a fully online chemistry course at the end of the semester. For the class’s final lab, the professor assigned a three-person group project and gave students about a month to choose an experiment, complete the work, and build a presentation.

The student said she tried early on to coordinate with both teammates, but one group member — identified only as “B” — was hard to reach and slow to respond. Communication stayed inconsistent, and when the group scheduled a Zoom meeting to divide tasks, B canceled just 10 minutes before the call.

While the student acknowledged that people have jobs, responsibilities, and unexpected issues, she felt it still wasn’t unreasonable to expect basic updates — especially when a shared grade was on the line.

The deadline got close — and B still hadn’t started

With two weeks left before the project was due, the student said she and the other teammate had already completed their sections. B, however, hadn’t started her part of the document.

The student sent a reminder in the group chat, urging everyone to finish their sections at least a few days before the due date to avoid late submission and leave room for edits. She said no one responded — until she later messaged B directly and told her that she would handle the slides herself and leave B’s name off the project if B didn’t contribute.

That message finally got a reply, according to the student. B promised she would complete her section by the next night — but didn’t follow through. So the student removed B’s name, completed the missing slides herself, and submitted the project three days early. She also informed the professor about what happened, and said the professor supported removing B from the official group list.

The student added that the professor had encouraged students to report unfair participation so that those doing the work wouldn’t be penalized for someone else’s lack of effort.

After submission, B acted like nothing happened

After the project was turned in, B began texting the student asking whether the presentation had been submitted with blank slides for B’s sections. The student said this made it seem like B hadn’t even opened the slide deck during the entire month — and hadn’t requested edit access at any point.

What’s striking, the student said, is that B didn’t ask why her name wasn’t on the submission. Instead, she appeared unaware that she was about to receive a zero.

Was it fair — or too harsh?

Even though the student believes she gave B more than enough time and reminders, she’s still conflicted because the assignment was worth a large portion of the grade and could seriously impact B’s semester.

Most commenters, however, sided with the student. They argued that accountability matters, especially in college — and that group projects only work when everyone participates or at least communicates honestly.

One commenter noted that people who coast through group work can be frustrating in real-world jobs, where missing deadlines affects everyone. Another said that if B wanted credit, she needed to contribute or be upfront about any issues instead of disappearing.