Written by Somayeh Zanganeh
The interesting thing about going and seeing professors is that there always seems to be a correlation between the students that go and talk to them the most and the students that do the best on the exams. The truth is professors care, if you give them the opportunity to care. If they get to know you better, they would be able to write a better recommendation letter for you in the future.
We always forget that faculty are people too and they can be cool. You need to have that interaction with your professor that is definitely helping you to know how to make a relationship with other faculty in other schools and networking with them. The more you go and talk to them, the more you would know what you are going to do. That’s just a fact.
Professor’s office hour is the hours they determine that they would be in their office and are available to help students. If those hours don’t go for you, you can always email them and ask for specific time. But remember, it’s better to schedule a time with them rather than just drop in.
Prepare in advance for the meeting! Come with specific questions, not just general questions. You can come in and say I have problem with organization of my paper, I’m struggling with the second page or I’m having issues finding resources for this part. Or you may say, I feel I’m not making any progress because of X, Y, Z. Have specific problems and questions you want to ask and come ready to ask them so they know what’s the problem and can help you more efficiently. Get familiar about their research and read couple of their papers. Tell them which parts of their research sounds more interesting to you. Don’t waste your time and don’t waste their time!
Be on time! Don’t be late. Professors are very busy and they have a lot of students want to meet with them and when you show up late that just doesn’t set the meeting in the right foot. If you come a little bit early, you can sit in the hallway. Better early than late!
Don’t ask your professor how to get an A! That’s a very frustrating thing for professors to hear. They are here because they want you to learn and make great things. The A is a byproduct of that. When you show up to office hours, you’re conveying you want an A. When you ask good questions, you’re conveying you want an A. Don’t just say how can I get an A. As a teacher that feels like you are not interested necessarily in the learning, you are there just for a GPA. Even if that’s true, don’t tell that!
Don’t ask professors about an assignment just two hours before the deadline! That is not a good impression at all. Show up a few days before the deadline and ask them your questions and express your interest that you like to do a good job on the assignments. Ask the questions that you really have, get some information on it and ask them with confidence. Get engaged with the materials on the course.
You might just like to give the professors some feedback about the class. That is totally fine. Go forward, be polite and give feedbacks. They would know that you truly care and think beyond just what is the responsibilities of a student.
Follow up! You set down with your professor, they give you their time and advise you and if you don’t follow up it feels like you discarded and don’t take their advice. So send them an email, thank them for their time and say I’ve done this and that like you said. You don’t have to expect a lot from them, don’t ask them for feedback. Just show them you appreciate the meeting and you put action on it. Even if you have a short conversation after the class, saying thank you so much for the meeting, it helped a lot. I’ve done X, Y and Z and I think it’s better now.
Office hours can lead to a great professional relationship that will last through your career. Take it more seriously and enjoy it through your professional life!