How to Build Effective Relationships With Community College Professors

by Chad Agrawal

community-college-professorDuring your time in community college you will find that there are few better resources for academic assistance than your professors.

Not only are these professionals giving the lectures, assigning the homework, and delivering the tests, but they are also a veritable font of knowledge that may never be covered in class.

Math instructors could offer all kinds of tips to help you get through tricky equations, but if you never tell them your problem they have no way of knowing how to help you.

And history teachers could provide you with plenty of juicy tidbits about the period you're studying (no doubt helping you to flesh out your final essay) if only there were more time in a given class.

Unfortunately, you might never get to know your community college professors well enough to take full advantage of their knowledge base, especially if you don't make any effort. So here are just a few ways to build effective relationships with your teachers and hopefully garner better grades in the process.

Step One: Help Your Professors Get To Know You

The first thing you'll want to do is get noticed.

This is not to say you should raise your hand every five minutes with ridiculous questions on the pretense of grabbing the teacher's attention; this is merely annoying, and disrupting the class unnecessarily won't win you any points.

But considering the average community college professor may see half a dozen classrooms worth of students come through each semester, it's not surprising that he's given up trying to learn names.

So you will have to go above and beyond if you want to interact with your professors.

You can start by sitting in the front row and paying attention.

Most professors giving a lecture probably won't recognize faces more than two or three rows back, and when you sit in the front you'll catch every word of the lecture, as well.

However, it's not enough to sit close and look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed; you also need to participate in class discussions, answering when called on and asking pertinent questions that help to drive the conversation.

Step Two: Help Your Professors Get To Know You

In addition, you're going to need to devote some time outside of class to speaking with your professors.

They have office hours for a reason, and that is to help any students that need it.

So you should not hesitate to drop by, or better yet, make appointments during office hours.

You can use this time to discuss points from lectures or reading that require further clarification.

Or you might discuss your future in a given field and how the academic subject under review might aid you in your chosen career path.

Remember that your teachers are there to help you prepare to enter the working world, and they have their own experience in addition to their knowledge of the subject they teach.

When your teachers know that you're paying attention and striving to do your best, they may be more inclined to go the extra mile so that you can get the best grade possible.

And whether you're shooting for a business degree or you'll go from a community college program for an RN to BSN online programs, forming relationships with your professors can help you to get better grades now and perhaps even open up opportunities for transfer, jobs, and lifelong friendship.

To learn more about how you can leverage relationships with community college professors, check out my community college transfer guide.

This post was written by Chad Agrawal

Chad Agrawal is the founder of CCTS, helping students transfer from community college to Ivy League, tier 1 or anywhere else by following this community college guide.

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