In most cases, real objectivity is impossible. This specifically applies to professors and grading, because sometimes, even if you try your darndest on assignments and tests, your professor just won’t like you. This could be a problem for more than just grading; you could lose a possible reference or even earn a bad reputation in the staff room. Face it: Your grades depend on more than what is listed in the syllabus.
1. Approach the first few assignments from an angle that no one else in the class will consider. If you’re asked to make a sculpture of something that is important to you, look around to see what other people are making. Chances are, they’re all trying too hard to impress and pulling out all of the stops. Make something simple and go against the grain. If your professor hasn’t noticed you specifically in the first few class sessions, you don’t have much chance of excelling.
2. Naturally, it doesn’t hurt to know all the right answers. Try to anticipate what the classroom discussion will be about and do a little skimming so you can make some informed contributions. Nothing is worse for a professor than a one-sided discussion devoid of participation from students.
3. Talk to people who have experience with the professor. You can do this online at sites like www.RateMyProfessors.com or just by word of mouth on campus. Learn from them what they wish they knew when the class first started. Ask them if there are any tricks to getting on your professor’s good side.
4. Everything about you should be a positive contribution to the class. Dress to look approachable, look the professor in the eye and don’t ever make negative remarks about the class itself. Negative remarks about issues in class discussions are fine, but never demean or belittle the professor.
5. Even if you know nothing about the subject, try to contribute. Don’t worry about saying the wrong thing and embarrassing yourself. Also, don’t worry about asking silly questions. This exposes you to your professor as a sort of blank canvas — a favorite type of student among professors.
6. Especially in large classes, it’s easy to forget that you are interacting with a real human being. Don’t treat your professors like a channel for knowledge or a steppingstone to graduation. Remember that they have lives off campus just like you.
To deliver the best experience, The UVU Review uses cookies to personalize content, analyze traffic, and improve our site. By accepting, you support our mission to bring you quality journalism.
You can change your preferences anytime. Declining may affect some features.
Thank you for supporting Independent Student Journalism!
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
