Good recommendation letter

[NP545]

How do you get good recommendation letters from professors?

I know you're supposed to go to their office hours, but I don't really want to talk to them about the class or material if I'm already doing well in the class. What are some other things I can talk about with them?

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[dancingmate]

Maybe go in to office hours the first few times to ask questions about the class and develop an initial relationship. Once they recognize you, start going in to ask them about their research, or look up their past projects/papers and ask them specific questions. Likewise, if you are researching, you can tell them about your projects. Tell them about your future goals. Some of them know a lot about the application process and may give good advice. Let them get to know you so they can speak about your character, not just your stats as a student.

 

[moisne]

Do you ever have any quick questions? I sometimes dropped in for a 5 minute question and then if no one around, we have some small talk (ex- one of my prof has a cat who is getting really old so we talk about that, another about their dog/family, and one other likes food so I would ask they have ever tried such and such).

You are just a number to them until you have made yourself stand out.