Anyone else sit in the back of the class?

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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...
 
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I used to always sit in the back. This was a strategic play though because I was always running a few minutes late to class. 😉
 
TheBatman said:
It's always the gunners that complain about other gunners I mean other alleged gunners.
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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
 
I sit in the back. I can't sit longer than a few minutes without tapping my feet and I don't want to annoy people with my neurotic behavior.
 
msquaredb said:
At my school it seemed like many people confused "engaged" with asking questions they knew the answers to in order to look smart. These were often veiled as "clarification" questions. I always thought "Ok...we get it. You understood this topic upon the first time hearing it. Good for you."
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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.
 
msquaredb said:
I'd be curious to know whether people sat in the front or back and then whether they went to a large school or a small school. I wonder if that makes a differences in someone's attitude/experiences with this topic...

Personally, I went to a really large state school.
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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.
 
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msquaredb said:
I went to a large Big Ten school as well. I know many people with that approach and it worked quite well, but I went about it another way. I actually made sure to take very small upper level science courses and crush them/get to know the prof that way I didn't have to sit in the front of the class or ever have to fight for attention in office hours. I don't know about your school, but large lecture office hours (for the main prof) were crazy! An absolute ZOO of desperate premeds jockeying for position.

I would suggest this approach as a viable alternative. This approach is probably easier if you are taking a gap year since many of those small upper level courses aren't available until junior/senior year.
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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.
 
msquaredb said:
I'd be curious to know whether people sat in the front or back and then whether they went to a large school or a small school. I wonder if that makes a differences in someone's attitude/experiences with this topic...

Personally, I went to a really large state school.
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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.
 
MedTerp said:
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.
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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.
 
Boolean said:
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.
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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 😉
 
somewhere between the front and middle....an aisle seat if I can get it. (in case I have to get up to pee. I have a diet wild cherry pepsi addiction.)
 
When I actually went to class... I sat in the middle center.
 
I sit where I don't have a sore neck the next day from having to be at an odd angle relative to the projector screen. Preferably the further forward the better, so I can hear the prof better. Otherwise, I don't really care so long as those two conditions are met.
 
jefgreen said:
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.
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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.
 
msquaredb said:
I always sat in the back in undergrad. I got sick of listening to the types of conversations people have near the front. You will find that the front few rows are full of people who are sucking up to the prof before class or humble bragging to other gunners. I just got tired of it, and realized I had had a choice. Could I have ignored it? Yes, but I found that I liked that back because everyone was either texting, sleeping, or were people like me who just wanted a more chill environment.
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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.
 
I sit in the middle of the front row. Sitting in the back is hella distracting IMO and I'm not in school to blend in with the pack. (lol gunner except not being In the front row has enabled me to get to know some many professors easily)
 
msquaredb said:
Serious question for everyone: Do you think professors enjoy a bunch of different students (every semester/every year) trying to "get to know" them in lecture and office hours for the obvious purpose of getting a LOR?

I was always afraid I'd irritate them. Honestly, I know that it does irritate some of them (not all of them are there because they like teaching people who aren't interested in their field), and I bet it results in LORs that aren't as glowing as some people would like to think.
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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!
 
msquaredb said:
Serious question for everyone: Do you think professors enjoy a bunch of different students (every semester/every year) trying to "get to know" them in lecture and office hours for the obvious purpose of getting a LOR?

I was always afraid I'd irritate them. Honestly, I know that it does irritate some of them (not all of them are there because they like teaching people who aren't interested in their field), and I bet it results in LORs that aren't as glowing as some people would like to think.
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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.
 
msquaredb said:
Serious question for everyone: Do you think professors enjoy a bunch of different students (every semester/every year) trying to "get to know" them in lecture and office hours for the obvious purpose of getting a LOR?

I was always afraid I'd irritate them. Honestly, I know that it does irritate some of them (not all of them are there because they like teaching people who aren't interested in their field), and I bet it results in LORs that aren't as glowing as some people would like to think.
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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.
 
Second and third rows. It's hard to form groups when you're in the front, and it's no fun up there, anyway.
 
I'm confused, OP. In your other thread you said:
TheBatman said:
My freshman year I had to complain to the dean about my professor that kept touching my shoulder randomly when she was lecturing.
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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.
 
Reckoner said:
I'm confused, OP. In your other thread you said:

Do all of your professors lecture from the back of the room?
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Life Sucks said:
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.
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:smack:
 
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.
 
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