6 Reasons to Befriend Your Professors
A new semester means new classes, new professors, and fresh starts. Take advantage of a valuable resource, your professors. Imagine this: you are trying to secure an internship, searching for your first job, or applying to graduate school … and you are asked to provide a reference. You suddenly realize it’s a struggle to come up with someone who can really attest to the wonderful and brilliant human you are. You can save yourself a lot of stress and scrambling down the road if you take some time now to build strong and meaningful relationships with some of your professors.
6 great reasons to build relationships with your professors:
Professors often know people who may be looking for interns.
Professors are experts in their field, which means they can be a great resource to help you explore career options.
You won’t have to ask your mom’s best friend to write you a reference - you will have a respected professional to reflect on your strengths and interests - letters of recommendation from people who don’t know you well are vague and not that useful.
It’s a lot harder for a professor to give a poor grade to a student they know is trying and interested in the subject.
Many students find it helpful to review rough drafts or study guides with their professors.
Most professors welcome opportunities to get to know their students - and they want them to succeed - that’s why they went into teaching.
We know that taking that first step can be hard! Here are some tips:
Introduce yourself after the first class, and tell the professor you're looking forward to the semester. If you are not comfortable doing that, make a point to at least say “Hi” and “Bye” to them. That’s easy enough! Then it will be easier to introduce yourself at some point.
Participate in class - don’t be that student in the back row half asleep. You don’t need to be in the front row, but sit close enough so the Professor can see you're engaged and paying attention - and raise your hand every now and then.
Attend office hours 2-3 times during the semester. Not sure what to say? Here are some great tips for how to get started:
Keep track of any questions that come to mind during lectures or when you’re doing your readings and use these as icebreakers.
You don't have to stay an entire hour. A ten-minute chat can be sufficient.
Share your study guides and see if you are missing any key areas.
Show the rough draft of an upcoming paper and ask for suggestions.
Research your professor online, review their bio page or their LinkedIn, see what their research interests are, where they have taught, and ask what they majored in during college. Professors are like all other people - they like to share their experiences … and who knows what you may learn when you listen!
All relationships take time, so why not make that first effort now? You never know where your educational path will take you, what classes you’ll have down the road, or whose help might make or break an important opportunity. Networking will be a critical tool from this point forward, so take the time to practice and befriend as many professors as you can!
Big school, small school, and anywhere in between - we work with them all. With College Success Plan coaching your student will have the tools they need to succeed wherever they choose to enroll. Schedule your free consultation to discuss your student’s particular needs.