Freshmen, Learn How to Hook Your Professors!

 by: Linda Correli

To commence something new is difficult from one side, but very exciting and interesting from the other. You never know what to wait and get ready for, though the feeling of unexpectedness makes new undertakings unusually thrilling and fabulous.

By starting your freshman year at college you are turning over a new leaf in your life, opening a door to the world with a spate of opportunities. The feeling of agitation, anticipation and joy you experience on the threshold of college education are incomparable and unforgettable sensations, which retain with you for a long time and usually turn into vivid recollections. After all, student life is one of the most notable and impetuous periods in people’s life.

How will your freshman year look like?

Always remember that your first year of studying at college is a challenge you have to confront and respond to it with dignity, as all the decisions and actions you will make will have a great impact on the rest of your college education. Don’t expect anyone to stand back, remember that a law of jungle rules here, so that you have to survive and find ways how to thrive in your studying.

Your freshman year will be a hard nut to crack, because you will have to adapt to the new surroundings, to get familiar with a new place to live in, to find a rapport with your roommates, to work hard on your studying. Nevertheless the biggest challenge you will have to encounter is to win a position of prestige. It means that you will have to make a good showing before your tutors.

What does it mean to hook your professor?

It can seem a trifling thing, which you actually don’t want to treat seriously. Though, I don’t recommend you to neglect it, because producing a good impression on your tutor and winning of the favorable attitude are not peanuts. Literally it means to hook your professors by establishing a rapport with them.

I don’t summon you to become a favorite student of your professors by all possible means. Quite the opposite. I intend to reveal you the ways how to find an appropriate appeal to your tutors and enlist their support and understanding. After all, it can prove useful to you when you run into some snags.

Bear in mind, that many professors you have your freshman year will give you lectures and conduct seminars in your group again and it will help you a lot if they recognize you as a good student.

How can you find those pegs which will hook your professors? What is this code with rigorous rules and principles which every freshman has to be consistent with to hook his professors?

A secret code which guarantees you a favor of your professors

Rule 1.1 Attend lectures regularly and try to occupy the places in the first rows. It is a great strategy to stick in memory of your professors and pass face control at the exams. According to the monitoring of Andy Tucker, a professor of Durham University, students, who attended less than 30% of lectures invariably failed their exams and dropped out. At the same time, ALL of the students who gained a first in their final degree classification had attendance rates of 90% or more. And a student who attends 85% of lectures is statistically going to gain marks that are 10% higher than somebody who attends only 50% of lectures.

Rule 1.2 Be all ears during the lectures. Show your professor that you are genuinely interested in his subject and that his lecture is the only thing that matters for you now. Your intellectual curiosity and thirst for knowledge should be evident to your professors.

Rule 1.3 Always follow the thread of your professor’s thoughts in the course of the lecture and ask to the point questions. Though, never interrupt your lecturer even with the wittiest and most appropriate questions, because it provokes dissatisfaction of your tutor. Moreover, that he loses the train of his thoughts, he remembers you as an upstart rather than a forward student.

Rule 1.4 Be active during the seminars. Give your original views and perspectives on the problem, come out with interesting suggestions, show your thorough work with primary sources, feature and analyze the positions of scholars. In a word, a seminar is a great chance for you to show your competence in different fields.

Rule 1.5 Be versed in your course requirements and due dates. Your professors should understand that you are organized and responsible person, who can be always relied on. Take advantage of office hours professors schedule for the purpose of meeting with their students. Turn to your professors with all academic issues and ask for help when you need it.

Rule 1.6 Deliver all your written assignments before the deadline and always be prepared for your classes. Show an example of persistence and diligence.

Rule 1.7 Be involved, join Athletics, UIL, Clubs or Student Government. Take initiation and it will be paid off generously by helping you build up your reputation. Remember that involved student is a successful student.