Do’s & Don’ts for meeting with your profs

Don’t let office hours intimidate you. Our tips for meeting with your profs!

Pursuing a Bachelors? Masters? Maybe a Doctoral degree? Regardless, you will frequently encounter interactions with your professors.

Whether or not these interactions are good or bad depends on you.

Read these tips to ensure you have successful interactions with your academic mentors.

First, a few key characteristics professors appreciate:

• Readiness — You come prepared. Ready to learn, ready to engage, ready for success.
• Curiosity — You have good questions. This shows you thought about the course materials.
• Balance — You can balance your schedule, your workload, and everything in-between.

Second, a few characteristics for successful interactions:

• You are prepared — Arrive knowing what you want to talk about & what outcomes you would like.
• You have good questions — Ask the who, the why, and everything in-between. This shows you know the material.
• You are flexible — Be ready to adjust. Be flexible with your schedule to meet the demands of your personal and academic life.

Common Interactions — The Do’s & Don’ts

You don’t understand an assignment or concept

• DON’T: Complain or dwell about not understanding a topic
• DO: Explain what you do understand, ask about parts you don’t understand

You forgot to do a reading and/or a discussion

• DON’T: Arrive to class unprepared
• DO: Adjust your schedule to ensure you arrive for success

You need to confess to an incomplete assignment or project

• DON’T: Write a lengthy explanation email
• DO: Communicate your situation before the deadline by setting up a brief meeting

Tip: This will reduce back and forth emails between you and your professor

Key Takeaways

• Ensure you are aware of ALL deadlines
• Remembering ALL classes are important
• Keep to a scheduled routine — and be flexible!

These tips will help you present yourself in the best way possible and make you one step closer to becoming an #NAUGrad!