<p>I've been curious about this for a while. Is it safe to say that smaller classes will lead to a better relationship (assuming you actively engage of course)? Or are all the profs more interested in research?</p>
<p>I have zero relationship with most of my professors. I never had any occasion to speak to them and I didn’t feel any need to attend their office hours. when I needed help (and I did, in most cases) I’d use the TAs.</p>
<p>the professors who I do know are pretty cool people, though. I’ve only had one instance early on freshman year where a professor was rather offensive. that wasn’t so good, though, because I was just getting used to Cornell and I felt pretty dejected about it for the rest of the day.</p>
<p>^is this common? can you connect with professors? i will need a few letters of rec for law school applications, so this makes me nervous</p>
<p>My son went running with one of his professors every week. She sent out e-mails to students inviting them to join her. My other son had dinner with one of his professors.</p>
<p>I had one prof. who hosted a weekly coffee hour in his office. I went just about every week and we chatted about everything. </p>
<p>It’s not impossible to form a good relationship with your professors.</p>
<p>Really these relationships are as personal or impersonal as YOU make them. It’s fairly easy to go to office hours and stuff like that, although for first-year courses in larger lecture halls it’s unlikely you’ll develop a relationship since it’s easier to just ask your TA.</p>
<p>Admittedly, my d is in a small major, but as a freshman she had dinners, brunches at profs’ homes, emails giving heads up on campus jobs, endless office hour visits…probably a better experience than her HS!</p>
<p>i dont talk to any of my professors. its not that bad if you try though…</p>
<p>If you want to develop good relationships with your professors, it’s up to you to take the initiative to do so. Nobody is going to make you go to office hours or accept their lunch invitations. I reached out a lot to my profs as a freshman and I’m glad I did.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to start this thread off on a negative note. the most of the few professors whom I have spoken with were great, and I have been to one house for dinner which was excellent and so fun. </p>
<p>what do/did you say when you talk(ed) to a professor? all my questions seem better suited for a TA’s attention. besides questions, obviously the professor knows way more about the subject than I do, so it’s not like we can have a mental sparing match…what’s left to chat about without being a waste of time?</p>
<p>It’s true that lots of questions are better suited for TAs, but going to office hours doesn’t mean you need to talk about academics. I had a long conversation with one prof about careers in psychology (and got to know a lot about his past, his family, etc. - more fun than it sounds). I also had a chat with another prof about the psych major, which ended in him offering to serve as my advisor until I’m able to declare the major and am assigned to somebody.</p>
<p>Some majors are better suited than others for this.</p>
<p>i agree its all up to the student…</p>
<p>the careers/majors conversations do sound useful. I think I’m mostly fulfilling the need for chats like that by working in a lab…there’s the professor, obviously, but you also get to know grad students and fellow undergrads who can offer valuable guidance too. so perhaps things aren’t so dismal for me as they at first seemed!</p>
<p>Well, whenever I go to my professor’s office hours, I feel like I’m attending another recitation. There are so many kids who go to office hours that it’s almost impossible to get individual attention or get to know your professor. I’m a rising senior, and I have yet to have a class in my major that has less than 100 students. Keep in mind that I am an engineer. Candidly, the school of engineering is generally not at all good in facilitating student/professor interaction. It may depend on your college and major though.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it is possible to be close with professors in Engineering (CS is particularly good I find). I’m on a first name basis with one of my professors, who I do research with. Two or three other profs I’ll say hi to in passing, and have met with outside of class context (granted, for other academic things, but still).</p>
<p>From my experience, the professors/lecturers in my department (neurobio and behavior) are approachable and excited to discuss most things with students.</p>
<p>I’m going to be in engineering and I hope that you can have a good relationship with your professors. My high school physics teacher is currently one of my best friends and someone who I discuss nearly everything with, including personal problems. I really hope I can have similar relationships with the faculty at Cornell.</p>
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<p>You can definitely have great relationships with engineering profs. It’s just that a lot of engineering students aren’t all that sociable so they don’t take the initiative.</p>