<p>I am currently attending summer school and my professor has office hours for one hours per week only during lunch. Although I am quite shy, I would normally be alright sitting down and talking to the professor, but there are always students talking to him! What am I supposed to do? Do I interrupt them? Do I just sit down? Do I wait until they're finished?</p>
<p>If you come unannounced just wait until they’re done. If the professor gave you a time, show up at that time.</p>
<p>Say, “Excuse me, should I wait outside?” If you have some questions you want to ask about class, add that that’s why you’ve stopped by.</p>
<p>If it’s just a social type of conversation, more than likely you’ll be invited to join in. Some professors attract lots of students who like to talk about a variety of things that aren’t directly related to class. If it’s an academic conversation, the prof probably will ask you to wait outside.</p>
<p>You also can ask the professor after class for a specific time to come by during office hours so you have an appointment or you could make a point of getting to the professor’s office just before office hours begin.</p>
<p>I have an addition question…I want to make it a point to get to know my professors better, but I feel akward going to office hours to just “say hi”…can anyone give me some pointers on how to get conversations going? I mean, if I need clarification on something in class, that part’s easy. But I need some advice on how to establish rapport with my professors if anyone can offer any tips?</p>
<p>I’m a Junior transfer psych major at Berkeley if that helps :/</p>
<p>Find something you found especially interesting about the class and go and talk to him/her about it. They will be more than happy to talk about their own class and then you can eventually branch out into other topics of conversation.</p>
<p>Professors are normal people like all of us. They’re just passionate (most of them) about what they teach. but they do have lives outside of the classroom. They have interests too. they want to get to know students and not all professors want to talk about their subjects during office hours.</p>
<p>Its not hard really. just drop by their office, if they’re with someone, just wait. When you get to talk to them, start off with saying your thoughts about the class and then ask them about themselves, maybe ask for advice at school or your major</p>
<p>As a former professor, my advice is that it’s a good idea to start the conversation by asking a question about the reading or lecture.</p>
<p>Office hours are a time for professors to help students with their studies, not socialization time. Given the fact that due to the economy, most professors are teaching more students and have less administrative support, if you just stop by to idly chat and brown nose, that will probably allow the professor to know you, but not in a way that is useful to them.</p>
<p>When I was a professor, I used to internally cringe when students stopped by just to chat about nothing because apparently someone had told them that’s the way to get to know professors. If you want to make a good impression then ask questions about the professor’s course that go beyond what the lecture and reading covered.</p>