by Bobby Coles

Created on: August 02, 2009   Last Updated: May 07, 2012

Developing a positive rapport with your professors involves initiative, personality, and a desire to succeed. A professor does not want to carry on relationships with students, but a healthy and mutual respect can be achieved with relative ease. To get in with your professors, you have to be memorable in a positive manner, and display insight during lectures.

Asking questions and seeking out extra assistance can also be helpful. A key to getting in with your professors is to never disrespect them, show them up during class in front of their students or peers, and to be genuinely interested in them as a person and an educator.

Getting in with your professors does not involve becoming a teacher's pet, rather it takes a positive attitude, confidence, and integrity. Professors rarely have the time, nor do they make the time, to mingle amongst the student body. Professors tend to allow their Teaching Assistants and Seminar Leaders to deal with students directly. Getting in with a professor involves a different approach.

If you are an astute learner, and you are readily engaged during class discussions, then the professor will take notice of you at some point. Make an honest effort to greet the professor prior to class, and make a comment or two immediately after class. These should not be insincere, like an Eddie Haskell comment from Leave it to Beaver.

Outside of the classroom, make certain to introduce yourself by name to the professor, and let them know what it is about their class that you truly find engaging, making sure to not mention anything of a negative nature.

Once you have gained a slight rapport with your professor, be certain to be an active participant during class discussions and debates. Have something of importance to say before you open up your mouth. Be the kind of student that gets noticed in a setting that rarely affords the opportunity.

In college and university, students are numbers, not names. This keeps the relationship strictly authoritarian, but if the professor begins to know you by name, then the social barriers will be broken down, and a possible friendship or alliance can be built.

Find out when the professor has office hours, and take advantage of these moments. Stop by for a quick question, and perhaps become engaged in a lively discussion of something else, like perhaps his or her work on a recent journal article. If you know something about your professor, then you can have an avenue of conversation built right in once you are

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