Good excuses for not going to school formal?

[Souljette_93]

What can the school possibly do to you for not coming? I guess it's really up to you if you do or don't want to go-you never know, you may change your mind by then. But for now, just get your parents to agree and tell your school your honest opinion and your 'rents are cool with it.

[DarkVisor]

Go, you won't regret it

[flash36]

If you can't get a hold of a few bucks to hire a suit and buy a few drinks at your year 12 formal with the group of people you'll never be with together as a whole ever again, just so you can study for a few extra hours, I question your integrity a great deal.

[Hutchoo]

nothing like hitting the d-floor after a good study sesh

This.

MANG, It's year 12! This is literally a once in a lifetime opportunity (unless you repeat year 12).
Just go.

[minilunchbox]

Year 12 formal wasn't that amazing. But ours was a senior formal and there were year 10s and 11s there as well.

Graduation/Valedictory dinner was where it's at.

Anyway, just say that tickets are too expensive and get your parents to call/write a note.

[taiga]

If you can't go because of a lack of money , nothing at school can really be compulsory. You're at Haileybury another 200 bucks added to your several thousand isn't all that much; and for a guy, a good suit is an investment not a once off thing.

If you don't want to go because you're not outgoing, man up and attend.

The other common one is that you don't want to go because you can't find a date; girls love formals and will go with almost anyone they know reasonably well, either way even if you don't have a date, people won't really care/notice.

You will probably (even if only slightly) regret it if you don't go.

P.S if I knew you in person/full circumstances there would be a high chance of a lot of cursing/swearing/teasing/belittling at you in this post (did this on a regular basis to people who were whining about formal last year).
PPS. those people had fun so give it a shot and maybe you'll like it

[Russ]

The other common one is that you don't want to go because you can't find a date; girls love formals and will go with almost anyone they know reasonably well, either way even if you don't have a date, people won't really care/notice.

Hell, I would go to the formal of someone I didn't know at all, they're very rarely crap

[slothpomba]

Probably worth while for us to know why you don't want to go exactly, so we can help more.

If you're not comfortable sharing it thats fine.

At our school it wasnt compulsory, if you didnt buy tickets and didnt go no one really called you up on it, well except your mates maybe but if you told them enough im sure they'd understand.

[Romperait]

"Couldn't pick up on the train" = Good excuse

[RainerWolfram]

I, ______, will be at a teacher's union protest demanding better pay and conditions for our hardworking teachers and hence cannot attend the formal.

Yours Faithfully,

_________

[_henwee]

Why do you need an excuse? if you REALLY don't wanna go, then just don't. =]

[bomb]

If you can't get a hold of a few bucks to hire a suit and buy a few drinks at your year 12 formal with the group of people you'll never be with together as a whole ever again, just so you can study for a few extra hours, I question your integrity a great deal.

You're being a bit harsh.

If he doesn't have the money, then so be it - $200 can go a long way towards other, essential things. His family has spent thousands to send him to a good school so maybe finding money for things like the formal gets tough at times.

If it's because you want to study, trust me those extra few hours wont make much of a difference. The time you saved will be consumed by your friends telling you how great it was or telling you that you should have come - to be honest, you probably wont study most of that time anyway.

Although, if you can get a hold of $150 (When's the formal anyway? Start saving?) I daresay you can get a decent suit or maybe even hire one.

The formal isn't even that great, well ours wasn't anyway. You'll be fine without it, you'll probably regret it for about a week lol.

[QuantumJG]

I just want to say that it's 3 years since I was in year 12 and those memories of me trying to dance still haven't gone away.

For me the best part of the formal was being in a suit - that probably doesn't fit me anymore. I'm just not a sociable person and when I am, I engage in probably the most geekiest conversations like me and my friends arguing about how to pronounce 'Fourier'.

[ninwa]

If you don't want to go because you're not outgoing, man up and attend.

That's easy for you to say. Some people are actually get physically sick at the thought of being around so many people. Not everybody is as popular/outgoing as you are.

$200 can be a lot of money. Just because he is at Haileybury doesn't mean he is well-off. Maybe he's on a full scholarship and his parents are struggling. Who are you to judge?

To the OP, if you tell your school you don't want to go they can't really force you to sign up. I know how annoying private schools can be about this sort of thing. Just be firm about it - what can they possibly do?

edit: what is a "good reason" to them? Can you plead financial hardship? They're hardly going to make you give them a copy of your parents' bank accounts or something.

[taiga]

I don't think popularity is really a factor of it, nor should my personality be used against me in an argument. To suggest that the formal is for popular/outgoing people is also a bit ridiculous; most schools have an overwhelming majority of their students attending their formal/ball. I know you are trying to emphasize with such types of personality, but is the habit of feeling sick at the thought of being around people something which anyone, especially a school, is trying to endorse?

Your argument about money is perhaps understandable (as somewhat addressed in my post), but I am pretty sure that the formal is made compulsory to both make the event as fun as possible for everyone, and also somewhere in the back of someone's mind, it is to encourage appropriate social behavior.

If you are actually in some financial hardship, just to weigh it up; a Limo will cost 30 dollars (if you want one), your ticket(s) are probably 90(180) dollars, a corsage is 20 (if you want one); and as I said before a suit is an investment, so if you can spare it, I think it is worth it. That said, your mates will (should) understand completely if you just come on your own (having a date doesn't matter much).