Freshmen new to college often find themselves entering a bizarre world that is part high school and part job: They have classes, homework and extracurricular activities, yet they are also expected to behave in certain ways that prepare them for professional careers. Sometimes, the social rules of college are made explicit by instructors, sometimes not.
All students want to make a favorable impression upon their professors, and most professors are forgiving of students when they commit an occasional faux pas; nevertheless, students can make things a little easier on themselves and on their professors by thinking twice before making any of the following statements.
Statements That Reflect Immaturity
“Are we doing anything important today?”
When students ask this question, they usually mean, “Are we doing anything that I’ll be graded on if I miss class?" From the professor’s perspective, however, everything in class is important: lectures, class discussions, activities, and tests are all designed to have a cumulative effect on students.
By the end of the semester, each student should know the subject well enough to more than pass the final exam; the student should be able to make use of course content in future classes and in their lives and careers outside of college.
Thus, the answer to this question is always, “Yes.”
“I just want a good grade. I don’t care about (fill in name of subject).”
Professors know that students want good grades. They also know that not every student will fall in love with the professor’s pet subject. Still, this comment suggests that the student isn’t thinking beyond immediate gratification or that the student isn’t open-minded enough to consider the broader implications of the subject.
Students may leave a course on Irish drama without finding good leisure-time reading in the works of William Butler Yeats or Samuel Beckett, but each student should understand the cultural significance of such works.
Statements that Show Lack of Preparation
“What did we do on Monday?”
Students often ask this question right before class time on Wednesday. On the surface, it’s an honest request: a student who was absent merely wants to know what she missed. However, there are two problems with this question: 1) It is usually asked while the teacher is focused on the class for today; backtracking to remember the discussion, exercises, or quizzes given two or more days ago causes a disruption that may delay the start of class, and 2) it shows that the student is unprepared.
College students are expected to keep up with coursework even if they are absent. For this reason, many professors encourage students to exchange contact information with two or three other students in the class. Having a pool of people to call upon for missed information saves the student from having to find out five minutes before class that there will be a test over Chapter Four!
Emailing or calling the professor for missed information may yield results, but professors have different policies regarding such inquiries. Many professors place a higher priority on grading papers and planning classes than on responding to requests for information that the student should already know or can find out through other means.
Some professors also include detailed lesson plans in their course syllabi, although others do not. Checking the syllabus before asking what was missed at least shows that the student tried to be prepared.
“Here’s my paper, but it’s not very good.”
Let the instructor be the judge of that.
Students say this when they aren’t sure they fully understood the assignment or when they have little self-confidence to begin with. They are saying, in essence, “Don’t expect much out of me.” But such a comment usually does not predispose the instructor to take pity on the student; rather, it can have the opposite effect. It may sound like an attempt to manipulate the professor into "going easy" on the student.
Most professors do not expect perfection from students; rather, they expect the best effort the student has to offer at that moment. Even students who have done their best work still have room to grow. Besides, students should have a little faith in themselves; they may do better on assignments than they think.
Asking for Extra Credit
“Can I make up the assignment with extra credit?”
Professors use extra credit in different ways, if they use it at all. Some offer it as an incentive for students to do their best work or to introduce students to a topic related but not essential to the course’s main content. However, students who seek to get out of completing regular course work by doing extra credit are asking for trouble. Extra credit is by definition extra; it should not be used as a substitute for missed assignments.
Learning what to say and what not say to a college professor is good practice for how students will one day address an employer or clients in their professional lives. With a dash of forethought before speaking, students can avoid looking unprepared or worse.
