College tips that no one will tell you, but that are critical to your college success are the essence of my guides for college students, including my book "College Success Your Way" What Your Professors Won't Tell You and Your Friends Don't Know." Some college students haven't quite thought through some of the things they say on the spur of the moment. Here is one off-handed comment I've seen tighten the jaw of many professors. Be socially savvy and spare yourself (and your professor) this much 'honesty.' Never, ever admit that you hate the class. I do not care if you consider the admission, as one misinformed student said, "just being honest." While just being honest is normally a noble trait, there's no need to have full disclosure about something that might offend the person with the power to flunk you, or to make the semester very unpleasant. Think for a moment about how many brain cells your professor has sacrificed on the academic alter to get her PhD (or Master's, for that matter) in her chosen field. Quite a bit, thanks for asking. For years, she gave up watching television, spending time with friends, and reading books with no social redeeming value so that she could devote her time to study, write and research, days, months, and years on end to immerse herself in this particular subject. Now, you're going to moan and groan about how this course has nothing to do with your chosen career field, and you can't for the life of you understand why anyone in her right mind would make her life's work in this silly subject for Pete's sake, and why, oh why, couldn't you just take only those classes which have real appeal for you? Let me give you some tough love here. A college education purposefully exposes you to a well-rounded education. If you only want to study one topic, see if you can get into a trade school somewhere. A balanced curriculum is one of the great benefits of advanced education. To complain about a class and go on about how you don't see its value not only insults the person who has made it the nucleus of her work, it also makes it look like you don't "get" the concept of higher ed. Such is not a great way to impress your teacher. Raise your awareness about how your professor feels about her chosen career field. Too many clueless students have innocently stated that they can't stand the class they're in, nor can they fathom why they have to be subjected to the torture of taking the class when they can see no value to it. What in the world would possess them to say such a thing right in front of the teacher? Not only right in front of her, but sometimes, right to her face? Who knows? Just don't you be one of those clueless college kids who runs like a bulldozer over the teacher by going on about how stupid and useless the class is. It will only reflect poorly on you. Your professor's impression of you, like it or not, will be consciously or subconsciously in her mind every single time she grades one of your assignments or tests. Give her the opportunity to think the best of you. So, if you don't like the class, you're probably not the only one, just keep it to yourself. |
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