Anyone else sit in the back of the class?
Started by TheBatman
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
I usually sit somewhere in the middle. Close enough to hear the professor and look interested but far enough back that I still have plenty of people to people watch...
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
It's always the gunners that complain about other gunners I mean other alleged gunners.
The post was supposed to be satire 😛
I do sit in the front though. Profs get to know you which comes in handy, plus I feel I pay more attention in the front of the class.
I always sit in the front of the class, mainly for the reasons @Boolean laid out. Prof gets to know your face. People in the front also tend to be more engaged, I feel. At least, that's been my experience. I go to a large school, so it's been very beneficial to sit towards the front and raise my hand often.
Gotta go front, sometimes I get a lil sleepy during long lectures
That's never been my experience, fortunately. I can imagine what a pain in the rear it would be, though. I would really hate it if someone asked a question that they already knew the answer to. That's incredibly annoying and wastes class time.
Batman you should be lurking in that dark corner, out of sight, terrifying everyone when you raise your gravely voice to ask a a question.
I feel like if you want to get to know the professor, you should try to sit close to the front and be as engaged as possible. I go to a large school, too, and people in the back rarely get noticed. Another great idea is to attend the professor's office hours, and build some rapport there. This has just been my experience. Some people may have differences of opinion, but my game plan seemed to work for me.
That is definitely a viable alternative. My professors' office hours are crazy, too, but they tend to remember who you are if you go often enough. The route you took is definitely a more prudent one, as upper-level science courses are much, much smaller compared to, say, your General Biology I lecture, for instance, where it is very difficult to get to know the professors.
I go to a large state school and I always sit in the front. I just make sure to take the class with at least one friend so I can ignore the neurotic premeds that think that an A- in that class is going to ruin their chances to go to Med School.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Yeah, everyone knows it takes two A-'s. Question though: do you not feel taking a class with your friend may occasionally be distracting? Most of my friends operate on the same wavelength I do, so they're quite good as study partners, but I understand not everyone shares this experience.
My seat preference: 3rd row from front, the terminal seat toward the center.
It's the best of all worlds, you're close but not so much so that your nose is touching the white board. You can get up and leave early without crawling past people sitting in the middle of the row.
9/10 would sit again.
It's the best of all worlds, you're close but not so much so that your nose is touching the white board. You can get up and leave early without crawling past people sitting in the middle of the row.
9/10 would sit again.
Im pretty in tune with my friends when I take a class so studying and being productive is not an issue at all. Plus, we kind of keep each other awake 😉
When I actually went to class... I sat in the middle center.
It's honestly the only way to get a GOOD letter. At my school, proffs of large lecture hall type classes would only write these half page standard letters with your class rank, attendance, and grade in it. So it was pretty useless. I saw the mass hysteria and things pre meds did in large lecture halls and office hours to try and get letters. I realized it wasn't worth going with my fake questions just to get to know the proff for a letter. Get to know a professor of a lab you have to take or small upper lever science class, and they can give you a shining letter, since they will get to know you pretty well and see easily how well you did in class and such.
Me too, I liked how much more relaxed the back was. Plus I liked having a view of the whole class in front of me.
Allegedly
I think its irritating if its clear to them you're trying to get to know them for the SOLE purpose of a LOR, rather than a genuine interest in their field, experiences, or class material.
It's irritating to the average person if someone is only speaking to you for ulterior motives. It's not too hard to be conscientious about it and many know that this is a necessity for grad school as well as med school.
Right up front. I go to a state school, but my classes have < 30 people.
If is at in the back I would be texting it up/sleeping constantly... no bueno!
If is at in the back I would be texting it up/sleeping constantly... no bueno!
Totally depends on the class.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I always sit near the back, at the end of the aisle. Dat leg room...
I was told by a professor that faculty are required to give letters of rec to students if they ask. Although, that doesn't mean it has to be a positive letter, or has to be a well written letter. I was also told that this is a very normal part of being a college professor, and that as long as you have been respectful around the professor and get to know them, you should get a descent letter. But again this is mostly for smaller classes. Very large classes will get you a bad letter regardless.
It's part of being a professor. Most of them realize that. If you can genuinely interest them with unique questions and show genuine passion in their subject, their recommendation letter will be a lot better. Don't worry about irritating them.
Middle or back. How else was I supposed to play Egyptian Ratscrew in organic chem if I was sitting in the front?
This is a great practical joke to play on your fellow front row gunners, http://www.gomerblog.com/2013/08/med-student-gunners-ousted-from-lecture-hall-front-row/
You'd be surprised how many smart people sit in the back.
D
deleted407021
Second and third rows. It's hard to form groups when you're in the front, and it's no fun up there, anyway.
True. The "actual" smart people are out sitting in the back, scoffing at those in the front row.
I'm confused, OP. In your other thread you said:
Do all of your professors lecture from the back of the room?
Uhhh wherever I feel like?
But I must say, sitting in the front of my Bio class actually made my professor recognize my face, pretty cool but I feel like my 5'11 self is being watched.
But I must say, sitting in the front of my Bio class actually made my professor recognize my face, pretty cool but I feel like my 5'11 self is being watched.
Did you really just go to a previous thread quote it and posit it here days after this thread was already dead? You my friend need a hobby.
Only the sick kids sit in the back of the class at my school. But then school is like hierarchy for some reason now. Like the elite smart kids sit up front, the lazy smart kids in the middle, and the average to the back. Oh, but the back seats are for those who do not pay attention to the lecture and fall asleep while doing other things for classes.
False
I sat in the back so that I could doodle whatever the hell I wanted on my sheets of scrap paper without my classmates realizing I was screwing around all lecture. Only bit me in the *** when my professors would occasionally cold call on me when I wasn't paying attention, which would usually result in me saying either, "I couldn't hear the question" or "I don't know" to get out of. I didn't realize how important it would be to know my professors for LORs though, so my slacking eventually caused me to end up waiting foreeeever for my letters and scrambling from professor to professor to get them.
I always sit in the back, but only because all of my classes are huge lectures with 500 people and I want to be able to get out of the room quickly without getting slowed down by the mad rush.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
If it's a lecture hall, why wouldn't you sit in the place that is most comfortable, and gives you best view of the slideshow? That's the 'merican thing to do. I always sat right in the center of the class, gives you the best view of the presentation. Front row is a good place if you want to examine the pores on the professor's face. And every time you sit in the back, Rosa Parks strangles a kitten. Do the right thing, sit in the center.
I sat next to the professor. Like a boss! 
Always sat in the middle in undergrad.
Im going to a medical school that doesn't have recorded lectures and a small class size. So Ill probably sit on the back, behind somebody big, so I can nap and study for other classes without being chewed out by the professor.
Im going to a medical school that doesn't have recorded lectures and a small class size. So Ill probably sit on the back, behind somebody big, so I can nap and study for other classes without being chewed out by the professor.
I always sat in the area inbetween the middle and back rows. I figured that was the prime place to be to escape notice of professors since they're actively looking at the back rows thanks to the reputation of those rows, and obviously they can't help but look at the front rows. The middle row is likewise too obvious. Only times I didn't do that were in classes I was really interested in, and then I'd sit in the first two rows. One time I sat right in front of a professor's podium and was the only person in the entire first row, and that guy loved me for the rest of my time at that school lol.
Similar threads
