what to do when a prof makes u feel inferior?

[woohoo]

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I have this anatomy prof that I swear has it in for me. In lab we started a while back with dissection, well I was extremely sick and probably shouldnt have come to lab.... anyways, I walk out b/c the smell of formaldehyde (or whatever chemical it was) was making me nauseous. the next class period when I ask the prof something, she scolds me in front of the whole class and tells me "if you'd been in class you would know that!" Then when i ask about a certain muscle in the animal we're dissecting, I get scolded again in front of the whole class, for making the incision wrong and making the specimen "worthless." Its not just this incident, shes always making me feel like i should automatically know the answers and not have to ask anything. I dont know what to do. THis prof seems so nice to the other students, maybe she just has it in for me? advice please

 

[Califlower]

There are some professors who are verbally abusive. It is sad, because students don't have much power against them. I would say the best thing to do is to stick close to your classmates, make some good friends. Get close to the students that the professor likes. Direct your questions to them, and sort of lay low. I found that professors can't direct undeserved meanness if you are surrounded and supported by students that he/she respects, simply because then those students will feel that the professor is being flagrantly unfair, and harbor resentment. At least, I hope so.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

What schools is this? My anatomy professor was a real bitch today, somewhat like what you described.

 

[indo]

People like that will wet their pants if you flat out ask them what the problem is. The teacher will tell you some excuse blah blah blah and when she is done tell her that if she has a problem with you to come directly to you instead of making passive agressive references in front of the entire class. throw in the words "ethical" and "mature" and it might grab her attention.

 

[Sophie]

Califlower and indo both had great suggestions. Also, if you feel up to it, I'd recommend knowing as much as you possibly can about the subject ahead of time. I've seen a few professors pick on people by asking them lots of questions to try to show the class how "stupid" the student is, and when the student is able to answer everything easily it shuts the prof up. Plus, if she really is nice underneath, she might realize you are interested in her class and she'll appreciate that.

 

[Brickhouse]

"inappropriate" is another favorite word of mine.

I am generally a bitch right back to those professors that are nasty to me. Not the most popular approach, but sometimes you gotta fight fire with fire.

for example, prof says "You ruined this sample"
you say: "Are you sure it didn't get ruined when you looked at it, you ugly medusa?"

 

[Selisa]

 

[Califlower]

Originally posted by Brickhouse
"inappropriate" is another favorite word of mine.

I am generally a bitch right back to those professors that are nasty to me. Not the most popular approach, but sometimes you gotta fight fire with fire.

for example, prof says "You ruined this sample"
you say: "Are you sure it didn't get ruined when you looked at it, you ugly medusa?"

OMG!! I just wish I had the guts to say that to someone who has the powers to alter my grades!!!

 

[~EnnI~]

I personally don't think you need to make any effort to please this witch. Seriously, professors like the one you have are experiencing serious menopausal/hot-flash/mid-life crisis issues. Do what you have to do to get an A in the course, and if she tried to humiliate you in front of the class again, I suggest you take indo's advice. If that doesn't work, tell her to shove it up her a$$. Ok, well, maybe not to that extent, but if you really want to.....

 

[speter33]

The toughest professor in my school teaches orgo2, besides making it the hardest subject the 70 year old dooche bag is also a dick. He refered to students as dummys, idiots, ....etc. Well I made a point not to stop speaking to the dooche for the entire semester, even though he was also my lab instructer. I got out of the class ok in the end.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

This isn't really a problem with the professor as it is a problem with the institution of womanhood. Women...generally speaking...are bitches (yes, every one of them). All it takes is one small incident (maybe they smudged their cosmetics in the morning before work), and they are in straight bitch mode for the rest of the day. If I were you, I would just call this woman what she really is (and you know what that is)...to her face.

As long as you keep all of your graded exams+labwork...she can't just go in there and drop your grade to a D when you were earning an A. Professors know the rules and what they can and cannot do....they CAN be complete bitches to their students and get away with it...they CAN'T screw around with the grades for their courses because that can actually be audited. The next time this old heifer starts going off on you....just say, "Look bitch...I don't know what your problem is...you yell at me EVERY time I try to ask a simple question...just CALM DOWN and be professional about this." (Don't yell though...you need to speak in a very calm and collected manner).

Personally, I have a long and splended history of trashing high school teachers I didn't like, professors I didn't like, etc. In high school...I told a teacher to shut the **** up...I blatantly mocked a teacher by mimicking what she said after she said it...and I called another teacher "clinically braindead" (to her face). I graduated in the top 10% of my high school class (small magnet school in Tarzana, CA) and got great recommendation letters from my AP chemistry teacher and AP English Language teacher (I applied to lots of private schools during senior year...all of which required LORs). 🙂 🙂

 

[superdevil]

This isn't really a problem with the professor as it is a problem with the institution of womanhood. Women...generally speaking...are bitches (yes, every one of them). All it takes is one small incident (maybe they smudged their cosmetics in the morning before work), and they are in straight bitch mode for the rest of the day. If I were you, I would just call this woman what she really is (and you know what that is)...to her face.

oh my god! that's the funniest stuff i've read on sdn in a LONG TIME!!!

thanks for the post/laughs, BerkeleyPremed. 😀