The best way to conquer notorious professors

[Samiamm]

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Ok, so I'm registering for my classes next semester. Right now, I got this guy, genius, UofC graduate, for chem 1 lab. I already know his personality and what he's like, and he's one of those ones with a crude sense of humor that doesn't spoon feed, baby, etc., and has notorious tests, the COMPLETE opposite of my professor now. So I decided to take him. I go on rate my professor, and the first comment is "HE MADE ME CRY," lmao.

So anyways, I'm up for the challenge of getting an A in this guy's course, and plus, its CHEM 2, which isn't as difficult as the upper levels, so I should be ok. But, I'm just wondering, for all of you that have been through this, how do you conquer notorious professors?

 

[dsk89]

Don't you have to be notorious for something? Like you can't just be notorious right? Is he just notorious for writing hard tests? If so, try to find past students that have had him and see if you can get a hold of their tests to get a good idea of what his tests will be like. If you can't do that, then just study your ass off and know the material as well as you can and just go and take the test. Just do everything you can under your control (prepare well, practice, etc), and the rest you just have to kind of accept. Also you said it seems like he doesnt spoon feed. Which means you will most likely be doing a lot of your learning independently outside of class. Don't rely on lecture too much in that case. Also take rate my professor with a grain of salt. A lot of those people are slackers and they just complain about a professor on there because they didn't want to put in the work/effort during the class.

 

[Samiamm]

Don't you have to be notorious for something? Like you can't just be notorious right? Is he just notorious for writing hard tests? If so, try to find past students that have had him and see if you can get a hold of their tests to get a good idea of what his tests will be like. If you can't do that, then just study your ass off and know the material as well as you can and just go and take the test. Just do everything you can under your control (prepare well, practice, etc), and the rest you just have to kind of accept. Also you said it seems like he doesnt spoon feed. Which means you will most likely be doing a lot of your learning independently outside of class. Don't rely on lecture too much in that case. Also take rate my professor with a grain of salt. A lot of those people are slackers and they just complain about a professor on there because they didn't want to put in the work/effort during the class.

I meant notorious for being a hard prof. in general, as in, tough grader, hard tests, intelligent and cocky, condescending when he feels you ask stupids questions, etc.

 

[Samiamm]

and yeah I understand what you mean about ratemyprof., but like I said, I have the guy right now for lab, and I can tell that his personality matches the comments on there in every single way. That being said, I "love" the guy, he's incredibly smart.

 

[mcloaf]

I'm not sure what sort of pro tips you're looking for, other than work harder.

 

[Samiamm]

I figured hard work is what it would get down to, but I was wondering if people had "outside the box" tips like finding old tests to get in his head, I heard his tests are worded certain ways to trip you up

 

[Samiamm]

Man, you ask the most pointless questions. Stop it.

Why do you even care, you have 37 posts, and about 10 of them were on the religious and political threads. Matter of fact, who are you??? I've never seen you contribute anything worthwhile here.

 

[deleted127837]

This sounds very much like you making a bad decision you didn't have to make due to rationalizing the situation poorly. Professors who pride themselves on their difficult tests love to take down people like you.

Since nobody here knows you or your professor, though, advice is limited:

1) Buddy up to them. Tell the prof. outright why you're taking his course. Challenge him. Or, do the exact opposite. Depends on the prof.

2) Work hard.

3) Avoid arrogance.

4) See #3.

Edit: Is UofC "Chicago"? Where do you go that that's a factor in his personality? And why does where he went matter? Am I supposed to think that UofC, whatever it is, makes arrogant douchebags professors?

 

[Samiamm]

This sounds very much like you making a bad decision you didn't have to make due to rationalizing the situation poorly. Professors who pride themselves on their difficult tests love to take down people like you.

Since nobody here knows you or your professor, though, advice is limited:

1) Buddy up to them. Tell the prof. outright why you're taking his course. Challenge him. Or, do the exact opposite. Depends on the prof.

2) Work hard.

3) Avoid arrogance.

4) See #3.

Edit: Is UofC "Chicago"? Where do you go that that's a factor in his personality? And why does where he went matter? Am I supposed to think that UofC, whatever it is, makes arrogant douchebags professors?

Yea I could've/should've gone the easier route, but I figured if I take tough professors at low level classes I'd be better prepared?

 

[Bangersandmash]

Lol at this guy trying to game his professor.

I've learned that most ratemyprofessor ratings are generally off base. Many "bad" professors are rated poorly by angry little ****heads that didn't do well in the professor's class because they didn't try. Many "good" professors are simply easy and don't require a lot.

I'm a fan of taking hard professor's classes, provided the professor doesn't just give unnecessary busy work. I like a general challenge and the personality hard-nosed professors have, compared to meek spoon-feeding professors. But then again, I'm also a cocky ******* who does well in every class.

But to answer your question, you have to do the same thing for a hard professor as you do an easy one. You just have to do more studying and critical thinking for the harder one.

 

[Samiamm]

Lol at this guy trying to game his professor.

 

[Bangersandmash]

Yea I could've/should've gone the easier route, but I figured if I take tough professors at low level classes I'd be better prepared?

Better prepared for what? Unless your professor is completely inept (and should be fired), no matter who you take, you will learn the material if you put the time in. A hard-nosed professor won't necessarily teach you any better and if everyone is following a similar curriculum, no one should teach you more or less. Besides, studying for the MCAT is a different monster and you'll do what you need to for it, regardless of what you learned in class.

 

[Samiamm]

Plus if I can get him to like me, he graduated from the university that's my first choice, LORs would probably be pretty strong.

 

[Samiamm]

Don't you think a "hard-nosed" professor would better prepare you for rigorous courses though? Or is that just a dumb guess on my part

 

[deleted127837]

Yea I could've/should've gone the easier route, but I figured if I take tough professors at low level classes I'd be better prepared?

A professor who is notorious for writing tricky tests won't prepare you to learn more advanced material. Do what you've always done. All the "secret methods" of success in this med-school game will turn you into a soulless automaton who'll inevitably burn out some day.

You got this.

 

[Bangersandmash]

Plus if I can get him to like me, he graduated from the university that's my first choice, LORs would probably be pretty strong.

You're playing with fire. He could write you a poor LOR too. The professor you're describing sounds like one at my university. He absolutely despises undergrads and thinks they are all *****s and treats them like it. A simple A in his class probably won't make him think you're great - it might even irk him. If you're going to try and game him, you're going to have to know your stuff, even above and beyond a gen. chem 2 level. Take an interest in his research and ask questions about the material that go above and beyond what is expected of an undergrad.

 

[Samiamm]

**** you, you piece of ****. I've had it with ****ing sdn. I have 37 posts because they've banned my last 10 ****inr accounts for "trolling" for saying nothing wrong. Most of you a-holes on here can't take a joke. I can't believe I'm such a ****in loser for spending time on here. I've learned some, but ******* people like you, Agent B, and others make me worry that you are the future of medicine. And the ******* religious ***** that are so shortsighted that they cant realize that they have been indoctrinated since birth piss me off too. You might think Im a lunatic from this post, but Im the best lunatic in the world then. Yall can kiss my ass, cuz Im done with ****in SDN. Ban me, Do it. Delete my little rant, What do I care? Yall can have fun in your virtual world wit your cocks out butt ****in each other, rubbin your special cum on each other to cheer each other on. Yall prolly on here cuz you have no friends anyways. And the wtf is with all the people who think that any one who disagrees with **** is a troll. across the history of all my accounts I have been called a troll so many times it pisses me off. And screw yall asians and your social awkwardness. And wtf is up with the middle east...it is such a screw up ****hole. all I know is I am truly someone special in this world. I know I am going to make such a ****in big difference and learn more than all you a holes ever will. Maybe Ill be president if my partner doesnt hold me back and stuff. Oh you think Ill troll ya biitch. Im not- this is true stream of consciousness cuz yall make me so angry. And wtf is up with that prissy, fat fkcu nicknaylor...you need to get a life dude and stop braggin to all these premed ***** how little you study. yall are focusing too much on being doctors and not becoming actually learned... and btw you might think im an iditor by i got such a high score on the mcat without trying that hard unlike you *******es than cant get over 30. whats the world coming to. lol at dos to btw. im not saying i dont have flaws but i know im better than almost all of you.

so ban me sdn. suck my 7' dick and gargle it real good.

I really wish I had a great butt hurt meme right now, but I don't. LMAO

 

[Bangersandmash]

**** you, you piece of ****. I've had it with ****ing sdn. I have 37 posts because they've banned my last 10 ****inr accounts for "trolling" for saying nothing wrong. Most of you a-holes on here can't take a joke. I can't believe I'm such a ****in loser for spending time on here. I've learned some, but ******* people like you, Agent B, and others make me worry that you are the future of medicine. And the ******* religious ***** that are so shortsighted that they cant realize that they have been indoctrinated since birth piss me off too. You might think Im a lunatic from this post, but Im the best lunatic in the world then. Yall can kiss my ass, cuz Im done with ****in SDN. Ban me, Do it. Delete my little rant, What do I care? Yall can have fun in your virtual world wit your cocks out butt ****in each other, rubbin your special cum on each other to cheer each other on. Yall prolly on here cuz you have no friends anyways. And the wtf is with all the people who think that any one who disagrees with **** is a troll. across the history of all my accounts I have been called a troll so many times it pisses me off. And screw yall asians and your social awkwardness. And wtf is up with the middle east...it is such a screw up ****hole. all I know is I am truly someone special in this world. I know I am going to make such a ****in big difference and learn more than all you a holes ever will. Maybe Ill be president if my partner doesnt hold me back and stuff. Oh you think Ill troll ya biitch. Im not- this is true stream of consciousness cuz yall make me so angry. And wtf is up with that prissy, fat fkcu nicknaylor...you need to get a life dude and stop braggin to all these premed ***** how little you study. yall are focusing too much on being doctors and not becoming actually learned... and btw you might think im an iditor by i got such a high score on the mcat without trying that hard unlike you *******es than cant get over 30. whats the world coming to. lol at dos to btw. im not saying i dont have flaws but i know im better than almost all of you.

so ban me sdn. suck my 7' dick and gargle it real good.

Lol. You let the other guy win dude.

Don't you think a "hard-nosed" professor would better prepare you for rigorous courses though? Or is that just a dumb guess on my part

AbeLincoln is right. You're asking a lot of annoying questions that are already being answered.

 

[Samiamm]

Alright, well thanks for the help guys!!

 

[deleted127837]

Plus if I can get him to like me, he graduated from the university that's my first choice, LORs would probably be pretty strong.

Well, they probably do committee letters now, so this is less of a concern than usual. But your LORs usually come from: 1) a physician, 2) your research PI, 3) a person in humanities, 4) someone who taught you in an advanced course.

So unless you're going to try to work in his lab...

Edit: I need to stop trying to help. 🙁 Or learn to type faster.

 

[phikapdoctor]

An old fashioned reach around never hurts the grade.

All serious bear just have you the best advice you'll get.
A)
Form a study group. Often more than one perspective helps you understand so much more.
B) find terrible students and tutor them, if you can teach it you have mastered it.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app please excuse punctuation and spelling

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

**** you, you piece of ****. I've had it with ****ing sdn. I have 37 posts because they've banned my last 10 ****inr accounts for "trolling" for saying nothing wrong. Most of you a-holes on here can't take a joke. I can't believe I'm such a ****in loser for spending time on here. I've learned some, but ******* people like you, Agent B, and others make me worry that you are the future of medicine. And the ******* religious ***** that are so shortsighted that they cant realize that they have been indoctrinated since birth piss me off too. You might think Im a lunatic from this post, but Im the best lunatic in the world then. Yall can kiss my ass, cuz Im done with ****in SDN. Ban me, Do it. Delete my little rant, What do I care? Yall can have fun in your virtual world wit your cocks out butt ****in each other, rubbin your special cum on each other to cheer each other on. Yall prolly on here cuz you have no friends anyways. And the wtf is with all the people who think that any one who disagrees with **** is a troll. across the history of all my accounts I have been called a troll so many times it pisses me off. And screw yall asians and your social awkwardness. And wtf is up with the middle east...it is such a screw up ****hole. all I know is I am truly someone special in this world. I know I am going to make such a ****in big difference and learn more than all you a holes ever will. Maybe Ill be president if my partner doesnt hold me back and stuff. Oh you think Ill troll ya biitch. Im not- this is true stream of consciousness cuz yall make me so angry. And wtf is up with that prissy, fat fkcu nicknaylor...you need to get a life dude and stop braggin to all these premed ***** how little you study. yall are focusing too much on being doctors and not becoming actually learned... and btw you might think im an iditor by i got such a high score on the mcat without trying that hard unlike you *******es than cant get over 30. whats the world coming to. lol at dos to btw. im not saying i dont have flaws but i know im better than almost all of you.

so ban me sdn. suck my 7' dick and gargle it real good.

 

[mcloaf]

**** you, you piece of ****. I've had it with ****ing sdn. I have 37 posts because they've banned my last 10 ****inr accounts for "trolling" for saying nothing wrong. Most of you a-holes on here can't take a joke. I can't believe I'm such a ****in loser for spending time on here. I've learned some, but ******* people like you, Agent B, and others make me worry that you are the future of medicine. And the ******* religious ***** that are so shortsighted that they cant realize that they have been indoctrinated since birth piss me off too. You might think Im a lunatic from this post, but Im the best lunatic in the world then. Yall can kiss my ass, cuz Im done with ****in SDN. Ban me, Do it. Delete my little rant, What do I care? Yall can have fun in your virtual world wit your cocks out butt ****in each other, rubbin your special cum on each other to cheer each other on. Yall prolly on here cuz you have no friends anyways. And the wtf is with all the people who think that any one who disagrees with **** is a troll. across the history of all my accounts I have been called a troll so many times it pisses me off. And screw yall asians and your social awkwardness. And wtf is up with the middle east...it is such a screw up ****hole. all I know is I am truly someone special in this world. I know I am going to make such a ****in big difference and learn more than all you a holes ever will. Maybe Ill be president if my partner doesnt hold me back and stuff. Oh you think Ill troll ya biitch. Im not- this is true stream of consciousness cuz yall make me so angry. And wtf is up with that prissy, fat fkcu nicknaylor...you need to get a life dude and stop braggin to all these premed ***** how little you study. yall are focusing too much on being doctors and not becoming actually learned... and btw you might think im an iditor by i got such a high score on the mcat without trying that hard unlike you *******es than cant get over 30. whats the world coming to. lol at dos to btw. im not saying i dont have flaws but i know im better than almost all of you.

so ban me sdn. suck my 7' dick and gargle it real good.

You seem like someone who should see patients someday soon.

👍

 

[487806]

**** you, you piece of ****. I've had it with ****ing sdn. I have 37 posts because they've banned my last 10 ****inr accounts for "trolling" for saying nothing wrong. Most of you a-holes on here can't take a joke. I can't believe I'm such a ****in loser for spending time on here. I've learned some, but ******* people like you, Agent B, and others make me worry that you are the future of medicine. And the ******* religious ***** that are so shortsighted that they cant realize that they have been indoctrinated since birth piss me off too. You might think Im a lunatic from this post, but Im the best lunatic in the world then. Yall can kiss my ass, cuz Im done with ****in SDN. Ban me, Do it. Delete my little rant, What do I care? Yall can have fun in your virtual world wit your cocks out butt ****in each other, rubbin your special cum on each other to cheer each other on. Yall prolly on here cuz you have no friends anyways. And the wtf is with all the people who think that any one who disagrees with **** is a troll. across the history of all my accounts I have been called a troll so many times it pisses me off. And screw yall asians and your social awkwardness. And wtf is up with the middle east...it is such a screw up ****hole. all I know is I am truly someone special in this world. I know I am going to make such a ****in big difference and learn more than all you a holes ever will. Maybe Ill be president if my partner doesnt hold me back and stuff. Oh you think Ill troll ya biitch. Im not- this is true stream of consciousness cuz yall make me so angry. And wtf is up with that prissy, fat fkcu nicknaylor...you need to get a life dude and stop braggin to all these premed ***** how little you study. yall are focusing too much on being doctors and not becoming actually learned... and btw you might think im an iditor by i got such a high score on the mcat without trying that hard unlike you *******es than cant get over 30. whats the world coming to. lol at dos to btw. im not saying i dont have flaws but i know im better than almost all of you.

so ban me sdn. suck my 7' dick and gargle it real good.

This guy is a disgrace to one of the greatest presidents of the US. Good thing he got struck down (for trying to strike me down for no reason...)

 

[Skull Pell]

I feel like its always the meanest of professors who mean well and the easiest one's who just doesn't care but that's always a gray area asI've had my share of each. Smarts are attracted to other smarts. So i would, like you, gravitate toward the harder professors. It's just that I always end up with them because of late registration/last pickings.

I'd go with the harder professors for the subjects you're really interested in learning; an A caliber student will always get an A imo especially if you have that resolve that you sound like you do. I'll just take the less interesting subjects with the easier profs (I'm doing that for calc and stat/biostat )

 

[Fedekz]

Don't you think a "hard-nosed" professor would better prepare you for rigorous courses though? Or is that just a dumb guess on my part

A lot of how prepared you are for future rigorous courses is based on you, not so much your professor. That may hold true in high school, but not so much in college from what I have found. If you have a easy professor, you probably won't study as hard as if you had a "hard-nosed" professor ... deciding how much to study is on YOU.

But seriously, what kind of response did you expect from your question? you basically asked how to do well in a class with a difficult professor - a quick use of the search function would have been useful ... or using common sense .... study.

 

[Geebeejay]

This thread really picked up some steam

Don't do anything different than the rest of your professors. Go to lecture, ask questions, attend office hours if you need to, and study. People have difficult professors all of the time. Life's tough.

 

[jlescher]

Most people think professors are hard because they aren't that smart, or the professors is bad at explaining things. Typically I've noticed that when people ask questions and the professors acts like it's a stupid question, it usually was... By this I mean the person didn't read, wasn't listening, or could have goggled the answer. Like some one said above, the professors I had that were rated poorly on RMP were usually the good professors that asked hard questions and people just didn't like to be challenged.

 

[Mountaineer12]

Almost every single professor that ratemyprofessor said to steer clear of I ended up loving. Most people on ratemyprofessor whined about them going over too much information or having impossible tests and while some of these professors were tough, the classes were definitely doable if you worked hard.

I'd say the best thing to do is go in with an open mind. Don't let other people scare you out of a class that you're interested in or is at a convenient time because of the professor. You can always test them out for a bit and then switch classes before getting a W if it's really that bad.

 

[Ashley1989]

Go into it aware of their reputation but with an open mind. All of the notorious professors who I've had end up being the best because they're demanding but love to see you work hard and learn. Also, I've made it a point to go to office hours so they get to know me, and they've all been really really nice. Pay attention to rumors, but don't let that bias your view of the professor from the start.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

Work as hard as possible. Go to his office as much as possible and show him that you are serious and go to chem group meeting. Chemists like other chemists.

 

[jlescher]

Go into it aware of their reputation but with an open mind. All of the notorious professors who I've had end up being the best because they're demanding but love to see you work hard and learn. Also, I've made it a point to go to office hours so they get to know me, and they've all been really really nice. Pay attention to rumors, but don't let that bias your view of the professor from the start.

+1
Office hours are a must! Go with thought provoking questions. Professors are often bored. Typically they are teaching you concepts that are way below their level. Imagine teaching 2+2=4 year, after year, after year... (nothing against elementry school teachers, whatever floats your boat). Even if you go in for office hours and just talk about weird chemisty topics so he/she can get to know you and know you are interested. (Caution! Feel this out and don't waste their time if they seem to be annoyed by you being there just to chat. They are busy.)

 

[DylanE]

Almost every single professor that ratemyprofessor said to steer clear of I ended up loving. Most people on ratemyprofessor whined about them going over too much information or having impossible tests and while some of these professors were tough, the classes were definitely doable if you worked hard.

This. My Ochem and Bio teachers both have terrible ratemyprofessor profiles, but those ended up being my two of my favorite subjects, by a long shot. Study like crazy and don't miss lectures, and you'll certainly come away from the class some more than if you'd taken someone known for being mediocre.

 

[Praefectus]

Yea I could've/should've gone the easier route, but I figured if I take tough professors at low level classes I'd be better prepared?

That's like running 10 miles a day vs. swimming 10 miles a day to get you prepared for a marathon. You're putting yourself through more hell than you need to.

 

[Planes2Doc]

The funniest thing happened to me during my post-bacc. Due to some initial registration difficulties, I ended up in the only open classes after everyone already registered. These professors had terrible reviews on RateMyProfessor.com, but they ended up being some of the best professors ever! I'm not talking about the "oh my god they were so hard but I learned a lot" type of professors, but the professors that are like a good girlfriend... "Easy and to the point."

I have no idea what people were talking about!