7  Terrifying Tales of Group Projects Gone Wrong

Group work can be as polarizing as candy corn: there are those who love it and those who despise it. Those who love group work see it as a perfect opportunity to be lazy and exploit the other hard-working group members, and those who hate it subsequently hate the people who love it. Teachers think that group projects — a collaborative effort to inspire creativity and get you engaged with your classmates — are an exciting sweet treat. These assignments should be a relief, alleviating the pressure of having to complete a whole assignment by yourself. But, no. They are almost always a cruel trick, leaving everyone tired and frustrated. 

Group projects are almost as horrifying as a tapas restaurant experience. Awkwardly divvying up who takes what, constantly surveying how much others are taking to avoid taking too much, and inevitably always walking away unsatisfied. Splitting the bill is the jump-scare of receiving a group grade: unfair and aggravating. 

Unfortunately, tapas are an avoidable decision, and group projects are thrust upon us unwillingly. With these dreadful assignments comes a series of horror stories, and in light of spooky season, we asked students to share some of their worst group project experiences. 

All names have been changed for privacy. Responses have been edited for clarity and length.

Diana, 21: “We didn’t even know his name.” 

“We got assigned random groups of four and had to make a presentation and work on it individually outside of class. One of the kids in the group wouldn’t answer any of our emails or GroupMe messages, didn’t pitch in at all, and then showed up the day of the presentation. We didn’t even know his name. He didn’t even do a slide; he just read off the screen like he knew what he was talking about.” 

Grace, 21: “My groupmate developed a crush on me. Twice.” 

“It was really awkward being in a group project knowing he had a crush on me. I didn’t want to schedule time to work on the project with him because I knew he wanted to kiss me after hours.” 

Hannah, 22: “He went to the zoo instead of coming to the group meeting.”

“He went to the zoo. I found out on Snapchat because he wasn’t answering the group project group chat, and I was alone with this other group member who was being very weird. We did the group project in his dorm room because he refused to take his COVID test, so we couldn’t go to the library, but we ended up doing his part, and then he finally pulled through for the last meeting.” 

Bridget, 22: “We hated his idea and we let him know.” 

“We had to pitch an idea for a movie we would direct, and one guy really wanted to do his idea. He took extensive notes, filled out a whole pitch document, and started working on the slideshow, but we hated his idea and let him know. We sat down for lunch and confronted him with a brand-new, completely different idea and told him we were abandoning his.”

Caroline, 21: “I was taking an online class and no one would respond to me.”

“Financial planning. I was taking an online class, and no one would respond to me. I had to do the whole thing by myself.” 

Maddie, 21: “It was so hot, their music choice was terrible, and the field trip took 20 minutes.”

“I had to drive an hour and a half with random people in my class for a group field trip. It was so hot, their music choice was terrible, and the field trip took 20 minutes. We did get free Papa John’s afterward, though.” 

Annie, 21: “I sent a photo of his frat composite in the project group chat.” 

“I was at his fraternity on a night out, and I took a photo of his composite and sent it into the group chat for our project. He didn’t respond until the next day, and all he said was ‘Lol.’” 

Hopefully, this October brings more treats than tricks and fewer group projects. But if you do get assigned group work, at least you might get an entertaining story out of it.