How To Have Great Relationships With Grad School Professors

By Elana Goodwin on August 23, 2016

This article is brought to you by Kaplan, the leader in test prep for over 90 standardized tests, including the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT.

College professors are not only teachers — they’re teachers who can be valuable contacts, mentors, and references to have at your back as you go through life.

As a grad school student, it’s more important than ever to have great relationships with your professors — and here are some tips on how you can have the best possible relationships with your graduate school professors.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

1. Be early or on-time to class.

When it comes to class, try to get there early so you can sit wherever you want, get yourself ready to take notes, and have a few minutes to breathe before the class begins. You’ll be more focused, centered, and able to jump right in if you’re not still scrambling to get your stuff out and find a pen or pencil.

Additionally, by coming in early, you’ll likely have a chance to talk to your professor before other students arrive as many professors get to class early as well, in order to set up materials and to avail themselves to students who want to speak with them prior to class.

Of course, if you can’t be early, then at least be on time; it’s annoying for professors to have students come in late, especially when the class size is small, as it disrupts their lecture, other students, and the whole classroom environment. By coming to class early or on-time, you’ll be able to start building a good foundation on which you can establish a great relationship with your grad school professor.

2. Come prepared and ready to participate.

Just showing up to class won’t really help you develop great relationships with your grad school professors; no, you have to actually come prepared for class and ready to participate. Prior to coming to class, you should always do the reading and your homework, as you’ll get more out of the class that way and be more likely to contribute to discussion since you’ll feel better prepared.

You should be ready to participate in discussion, answer questions, and be an active and involved participant in the class so your professor will start to have an idea of who you are and put a name to your face since you’re so engaged in the class. Knowing you are interested in the course and material, ready to learn and participate, and have come to class prepared will impress your professor and make them more eager to get to know you and establish a relationship with you.

3. Introduce yourself.

It’s not enough to just be more than a name and face while sitting in class; if you really want to have a great relationship with your grad school professor, introduce yourself. On the first day of class for the semester or early on in the year, go up to the professor and introduce yourself and tell them why you’re taking the class or what you’re most looking forward to.

If you’re hoping to get into the specific field they’re in or to take another course with them, tell them that so you can start finding commonalities and building a connection that will blossom into a great relationship. Having that great relationship with your grad school professor will be an asset to you throughout your years as a grad student and afterward, as you enter the real world with an advanced degree.

4. Go to office hours.

Pretty much all professors include information about their office hours in the syllabus that they give out at the start of class and will remind students during the semester about their availability; yet, professors often go unvisited during these times. This means that you going to office hours and getting to know your professor will be a wonderful opportunity for you to start building a great relationship with them.

Attending office hours shows you’re mature and committed to learning and the class, as well as getting everything you can out of your professor. Professors want to get to know their students so you taking advantage of their office hours regularly to stop in and talk about class, your studies, any interesting and related articles, etc., will really allow you to start developing a strong rapport and connection with your professor.

5. Consider extra opportunities.

Talk to your professor about doing an independent study, research assistantship, or some other worthwhile opportunity that will allow you to work with them or be mentored by them. Doing an independent study will allow you to expand your knowledge about a certain topic and may provide you with the chance to co-author a paper with your professor about the subject or help conduct a study with them.

You’re more likely to be offered the opportunity to have a research assistantship with your grad school professor if you have a good relationship with them, but simply doing one will give you the chance to build a great relationship with your professor if you haven’t already. A research assistantship will strengthen your relationship with your graduate professor, which will be beneficial when it comes to you writing your thesis or pursuing a doctorate.

Keep these five tips in mind upon your beginning graduate school or returning to grad school this fall, and you can start to build or further solidify your great relationships with your grad school professors.

Learn more about Kaplan’s test prep options and start building the confidence you need for Test Day.

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