How to make professors talk to you?

[omare61]

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My professors are not interested in their students. They seem to be really dull and they just want to get your questions answered to they can move on. I can't seem to have a conversation with a professor because they all keep trying to change the subject and they give hints that show that they don't want to talk. I also email my professors a lot. Is this wrong? Am I making them hate me?

I'm just trying to get to know them and maybe get a letter from them, but this isn't going to happen because they don't want to talk. It is honestly a selfish thing, the only reason why I am even approaching them is for that letter. In reality, I would never talk to them-they can't get any more dull! Maybe they realize this and they hate this attitude.

What should I do? I keep emailing them and asking questions, and they answer them, but that's it. I feel like I am making them hate me.

 

[circulus vitios]

15) Q: I want all of my LOR's to be TOTALLY AWESOME! How can I get to really know all of my professors?
A: Unless you're an incredibly hot female and your would-be LOR author is a single male, your professor has absolutely no interest in getting to know you. Unless, of course, you have something meaningful to contribute to his field or life, such as a productive research assistant.
16) Q: Can't I just go to his office hours to get to know him?
A: Sure, go this person you don't know and try to start up a conversation about something that would interest him. I'm sure someone 20-30 years older than you would love to postpone his busy schedule of writing exams, failing premed students, research activities, grant writing, or going home, to entertain whatever irrelevant bull**** someone half his age has to converse about. Your inorganic chemistry professor doesn't care about getting to know you, he just wants you to get the hell out of his office so he can work or go home, or get to know the incredibly-hot-yet-stupid premed peer of yours.

🙂

 

[SaintJude]

office hours?

 

[yellowfish]

My professors are not interested in their students. They seem to be really dull and they just want to get your questions answered to they can move on. I can't seem to have a conversation with a professor because they all keep trying to change the subject and they give hints that show that they don't want to talk. I also email my professors a lot. Is this wrong? Am I making them hate me?

I'm just trying to get to know them and maybe get a letter from them, but this isn't going to happen because they don't want to talk. It is honestly a selfish thing, the only reason why I am even approaching them is for that letter. In reality, I would never talk to them-they can't get any more dull! Maybe they realize this and they hate this attitude.

What should I do? I keep emailing them and asking questions, and they answer them, but that's it. I feel like I am making them hate me.

In my experience you can't make a professor who doesn't care, care. Spend time looking for those who do instead.

 

[DrChels]

In my experience you can't make a professor who doesn't care, care. Spend time looking for those who do instead.

Agreed. I went to a random lecture seminar last semester one day being given on resumes and letters of rec and the professor giving it seemed AWESOME. Maybe it was a little extreme but I actually signed up to take her class the next semester and I plan to get a LoR out of her in the end... bwahahaha.

Con: I ended up taking an easy-peasy geography class that I didnt really need
Pro: Excellent professor who knows me by name and can definitely write one of my LoRs

 

[mimelim]

Why do you want a LOR from someone that has no interest in you? Why should the professor care about you or spend time with you if all you want is to get them to write you a letter?

 

[cheechootrain]

I don't know, but for me, I went to my professors office hours and would ask questions about the lecture and such. Then I would proceed, derail, the conversation and go off tangent. Usually, if I say something that interest the prof, then we would talk about said item. Don't force the convo, let it flow out naturally.

Worst comes to worst, bring a gift, such as a gift card to starbucks.

 

[Geebeejay]

My professors are not interested in their students. They seem to be really dull and they just want to get your questions answered to they can move on. I can't seem to have a conversation with a professor because they all keep trying to change the subject and they give hints that show that they don't want to talk. I also email my professors a lot. Is this wrong? Am I making them hate me?

I'm just trying to get to know them and maybe get a letter from them, but this isn't going to happen because they don't want to talk. It is honestly a selfish thing, the only reason why I am even approaching them is for that letter. In reality, I would never talk to them-they can't get any more dull! Maybe they realize this and they hate this attitude.

What should I do? I keep emailing them and asking questions, and they answer them, but that's it. I feel like I am making them hate me.

What year are you? You might want to wait till you take more upper-level, smaller and intimate classes before you start asking for letters, as opposed to asking your orgo, gen chem, or phys/bio 101 professors.

 

[Ruminate]

Also to let you know, these professors are people too. Some of them were that super shy kid sitting next to you in class...not everyone is going to talk to you.

Just have some excuse to go talk to them and if they engage, so be it. Just don't push it. I'm sure four out of the at least 20+ professors who teach class will talk to you...

 

[TxResident]

Throw a pie in his face. Pumpkin pie preferably due to the time of the year.

 

[Ravizzle]

Dress really slutty.

Sent from my Galaxy S2

 

[pv515]

Treat them like people, not textbooks that can move to and from their offices.

From my point of view, if you have a lecturer who you like, who seems to really work at what he does and wants students to be successful, then chances are that person is extremely passionate about either his area of study or teaching.

An easy way to start a conversation would look something like this:

"I've heard a lot about (insert tough class, such as orgo), and how you have a unique approach to teaching it. I figured it would be cool to meet the man behind the mystery!"

"Hey, I really enjoyed the lecture today. Is that the field you do your research in? (better yet, look that up beforehand so you can wait on that lecture to arrive) I would love to hear how you got started in that field/Do you teach more advanced courses in that area?/etc."

The thing you need to remember is that people are interested in the people that make them feel important. Let me repeat that.

People are interested in the people that make them feel important.

You make people feel important by letting them know you see them as different or special compared to others. So many people make the mistake of thinking all professors in a given subject are the same, when it just isn't true. Just try to honestly take an interest in what the professor has dedicated his life to, and see how far you get.

 

[red doctober]

This was actually an unforeseen benefit of doing honors at my college. It required me to do additional projects for classes in my major (usually a library research paper.) I had to meet with my profs to negotiate an appropriate project and update them during the semester. By the end of the semester, I would have a good enough rapport with them to be comfortable asking for LORs.

I felt as if the non-science prof letter was the hardest to garner. I didn't have the opportunity for one to get to know me until I took an upper-level literature class that had ~25 students (as opposed to ~250 in my intro lit classes.) I was sure to always add input during discussions and went in during office hours to talk about the essays, etc.

 

[lobo.solo]

Be interested in the class, ask smart questions, be cool, etc.

 

[Acetone2]

Do well in the class, go to the office hours and ask questions and eventually you might get them to talk to you about other things too. Just show them that you care about the class. Going to their office seems to be the best way. Also, some professors are crackheads, no matter what you do they are not gonna care. So look for the ones who are at least a little nice and interested in their students.

 

[MDwannabe09]

Office hours.

Ask questions that you're genuinely interested in, (preferably ones that have to do with the class and don't make you look like an idiot). I would hold off on the emailing. Professors get a lot of emails and wouldn't you rather them get to actually know you, in person? I went to one of my professors' office hours earlier to talk about a biochemical pathway question, and ended up talking to her for over an hour on various topics.

It helps that when you go to talk to a professor, you know what's going on in class and have been doing the associated work. Also, if you have an professors that seem remotely interested in their class and actually have office hours with them personally, (some of my professors only have office hours with TA's), then try to get to know them first.

 

[KnuxNole]

Bake cookies for your professor!

 

[Bangersandmash]

You're going about it all wrong, but the professors might just be antisocial. Most professors (and people) for that matter can tell who is just sucking up versus who really takes an interest and wants to talk. Some professors might be unwilling to deal with students, but most are not and their eyes light up when you talk to them about things that they take an interest in.

In my experience, from the professors I asked letters for, asking mundane questions about material is the absolute wrong way to get on their good side. They want to see you go above and beyond the usual idiotic populace of the class. Ask a question, or discuss a problem with them in a manner that shows understanding and some thought about what you are talking about. Talk about their research and field (in a casual manner of course. It can usual come up considering they teach what they research).

Some people treat professors like yet another cog in the system that is medical school pre-reqs. They are people and if you treat them as such, they will treat you as such.

 

[Beandog]

People are interested in the people that make them feel important.

Boom.

And, if you want them to talk to you and get going down a path of LOR, get to know the material very, very well. When you do run into a snag that bogs you down, genuinely go and ask for help from that professor. Your heightened level of knowledge will not make you just another dweeby college kid who wants something from them, but, perhaps, a real mind. They like that.

 

[Praefectus]

Dress really slutty.

Sent from my Galaxy S2

If push comes to shove, don't be too hesitant to go down either.

 

[MedPR]

My professors are not interested in their students. They seem to be really dull and they just want to get your questions answered to they can move on. I can't seem to have a conversation with a professor because they all keep trying to change the subject and they give hints that show that they don't want to talk. I also email my professors a lot. Is this wrong? Am I making them hate me?

I'm just trying to get to know them and maybe get a letter from them, but this isn't going to happen because they don't want to talk. It is honestly a selfish thing, the only reason why I am even approaching them is for that letter. In reality, I would never talk to them-they can't get any more dull! Maybe they realize this and they hate this attitude.

What should I do? I keep emailing them and asking questions, and they answer them, but that's it. I feel like I am making them hate me.

Are you a hot girl? If not, my answer doesn't apply.

 

[Wipeout416]

Yeesh.. rough thread. The profs at my university were more than willing to have a conversation about almost anything. Glad I chose where I went 😛

 

[Doctor Strange]

This year, my major has nine people in it. Needless to say, I got to know my professors very well without even trying. Six letters of recommendation was absolutely no problem for me.

Moral of the story: small classes!