College Search: Making a Good Impression
Here you are, plopped down in a strange place, feeling a bit like Dorothy transported to Oz. Your first goal is to make a good impression, showing your best self to those who will be important in your life for the next four years and even longer.
Faculty members come in all ranks, from the graduate assistant, who teaches part-time while pursuing a degree, to a lofty full professor, who teaches primarily graduate students. Though different in rank and seniority, they respond to their students in roughly the same ways. They are, after all, people, with families and relationships much like your own. To have a good working relationship with them, try the following suggestions:
- Make up your own mind about your instructors. Listening to other students talk about teachers can be confusing. If you listen long enough, you will hear arguments for and against each of them. Don’t allow hearsay to affect your own personal opinion.
- Get to know your instructors firsthand. Set up a meeting, during regular office hours. Don’t try to settle important issues in the few moments before and after class.
- Approach a discussion of grades carefully. If you honestly believe that you have been graded too low, schedule a conference. Do not attack your instructor’s integrity or judgment. Instead, say that you had expected your work to result in a better grade and would like to know ways to improve. Be serious about overcoming faults.
- Don’t make excuses. Instructors have heard them all and can rarely be fooled. Accept responsibility for your mistakes, and learn from them.
- Pay attention in class. Conversing and daydreaming can insult your instructor and inhibit the learning process.
- Arrive ahead of time for class. You will be more relaxed, and you can use these moments to review notes or talk with classmates. You also demonstrate to your instructor a commitment to the class.
- Participate in class discussions. Ask questions and give answers to the instructor’s questions. Nothing pleases an instructor more than an intelligent question that proves you are interested and prepared.
- Learn from criticism. It is an instructor’s job to correct your errors in thinking. Don’t take in-class criticism personally.
- Tell the truth. Your reputation is your most important asset. When you make an agreement, keep it.
Impressing Fellow Students Favorably
Relationships with other students can be complex, but there are some basic suggestions that may make life easier in the residence halls and classrooms:
- Don’t get into the habit of bragging. Frequent references to your wealth, your outstanding friends, your social status, or your family’s successes are offensive to others.
- Don’t pry. When your fellow students share their feelings and problems, listen carefully and avoid any tendency to intrude or ask embarrassing questions.
- Don’t borrow. Borrowing a book, a basketball, or a few bucks may seem like a small thing to you, but some people who have trouble saying no may resent your request.
- Divide chores. Do your part; agree on a fair division of work in a lab project or a household task.
- Support others. Respect your friends’ study time and the “Do not disturb” signs on their doors. Helping them to reach their goals will help you as well.
- Allow others to be upset. Sometimes, turning someone’s anger into a joke, minimizing their difficulties, or belittling their frustration is your worst response. Support them by letting them release their emotions.
- Don’t preach. Share your opinions when asked for, but don’t try to reform the world around you.
- Tell the truth. Your reputation is your most important asset. When you make an agreement, keep it.