How to Get Along with TAs and Professors, Get Better Grades, and Get the Most out of College

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>This post is intended to help starting college freshmen (and maybe some upperclassmen) understand how TAs and professors view their interactions with students and how to leverage that knowledge to be successful in the classroom.</p>

<p>As a little background, I started graduate school last year in my mid-30s. I had been to college, completed a professional degree and spent almost a decade in work force before returning to campus. During my first year, I was offered the opportunity to teach my own course to a small group of students. I was impressed with professionalism and work ethic in my class and felt that the dire predictions about today’s youth lacking conscientiousness reflected only the views of cranky senior faculty that would rather not be teaching anyway.</p>

<p>Then, over the summer, I worked as a TA for the first time in a lecture course designed for 250 students. Night and day. </p>

<p>As with many places, success in college is at least partly a matter of managing image and expectations with the people in charge of evaluating your perfomance. Students that appear professional, confident and courteous get better grades, better letters of recommendation, suggested for better internships and ultimately get better jobs. They are also (and this is extremely important) better prepared to deal with challenges in the workplace, so I expect their careers continue to outstrip their colleagues from school in a variety of ways. </p>

<p>So how can you pull it off?</p>

<p>1) Know Your Job</p>

<p>In the workplace, you’ll get some training and afterward you’ll be expected to know what your job is; where to be when, what to do, how to do it. More importantly, you’ll be expected to know where to go if you have questions about your job description and employer’s policies. At work, you have employ handbooks and corporate websites designed to keep you from popping your head into your boss’s office or the HR department every twenty minutes. In college courses, we have a syllabus. </p>

<p>If you keep asking your boss questions about the company or about your job that you could easily find in the resources available to employees, she will get annoyed. After a time, she will start to wonder if you have what it takes to <em>do</em> the job, since you can’t seem to read or look up basic information. You want to avoid your employer having this sort of impression of you. (The same goes for just plain screwing up your duties, like turning in an assignment late because you couldn’t be bothered to check the due date.)</p>

<p>Your TAs and professors will feel the same if you ask questions that could be answered by reading the syllabus, assignment prompts or university policies to which they refer. Now, academics are often remarkably unclear when they write these documents. So what to do if you read the syllabus or prompt and still have a question? </p>

<p>Ask it! But be sure to reference your point of confusion. As a general rule, before you send an email or approach the staff with a question that could or should, in principle, be answered for you already, you should be prepared to quote the part of the syllabus where the answer should be. (“Dear TA, I am confused by the syllabus’s requirement to X, does that mean I should A or B?”) Even if your question appears obvious to the TA, it will be apparent that you did not simply attempt to shift the burden of your own question immediately onto him. (Later I’ll explain why that’s important.)</p>

<p>Similarly, we get a lot of students asking for feedback on midterm exams they never picked up. The expectation seems to be that we’ll head back to my office, rifle through the stack of 150 midterms looking for yours, then retype the comments we already made on the paper so that they can do better on the final. This type of request communicates a lot of things to a TA, and none of them are helping earn a good grade.</p>

<p>2) Don’t Cut Corners</p>

<p>Look, we read essays all the time. We know 2.5 spacing. We know extra margins. Sometimes we don’t feel like pointing it out, but in all cases, you get docked. (I work in the social sciences; I’m sure there are similarly obvious cheats in more mathematical disciplines.) Not only do you get docked, but for the rest of the time we’re grading you, we think of you as being a lazy cheater. Well, lazy, a cheater, and lazy at cheating. Also, TAs are overworked and they latch on to excuses to cut corners themselves. Don't give us an excuse to do so with you.</p>

<p>We all know that students need to make choices about allocating time. We often assume that your hard choice was between studying for your final and beer pong, so we really don’t like to be tricked. This is again similar to the workplace. Your bosses have lives and they understand that you need to prioritize (unless you become a lawyer or investment banker). But they don’t want to get jerked around when you didn’t finish the TPS report because Boy Child had an Important Soccer Game. They want to know how close you are to done.</p>

<p>So what to do if you slacked, or are really having a hard time meeting the requirements even though you’re trying?</p>

<p>There is a delicate balance between stretching what you <em>do</em> know into a good product and coming across as a fraud. I can’t really articulate the difference, but being mindful of when you strain credibility will help. Be honest without giving away the farm. If you didn’t read Doyle you don’t need to admit to it. But skimming for a good quote to integrate will look better than trying to bloviate about an argument you clearly don’t understand. The former strategy won’t get you full credit for understanding Doyle, but probably neither will the latter and you’ll look like an ass besides. And, bottom line, trying to fudge the formatting on your paper always falls on the fraud side of the line. I penalize students less for coming up short in the page count than I do for formatting cheats.</p>

<p>As an aside, if you decide not to prioritize a certain class because other classes, or a romantic relationship, or a sport seem more important to you, fine. Just don’t complain about the obvious results of your priorities when they accrue. If it’s worth getting a B- in British Lit to be on the crew team, then be on the crew team and take your B-. As an aside to the aside, it’s not always easy to know your limits in this way and you will sometimes end up de-prioritizing something without knowing it. Don’t beat yourself up over that, learning how you work best (and worst) is also a huge part of your education. Take the opportunity to learn it. If you succeed at everything all the time, you probably aren’t pushing hard enough. But before you complain about your grade (to your TA or to yourself) take a look at your performance and ask whether you slipped a little.</p>

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<p>3) Understand the Job of Your Evaluators</p>

<p>Know how your output and questions relate to the job (and life) your boss has to do. Tailor your output in form and function so it fits smoothly into the larger project to which your work contributes. These things will get you a lot of credit as a team player and a person of high professionalism in the workplace, but what does that mean in college? </p>

<p>For starters, you need to understand that your TAs are over-busy and underpaid. Most of us are on the verge of quitting to get a real job basically every day. Things that make you look organized and your TA’s life easier are a great double bonus. </p>

<p>Some of this (and what we’ve discussed above) is aimed at saving your TAs and professors time that they’d rather dedicate to research, their own coursework, real teaching, or finally seeing their spouse for dinner. Some of it is just about coming off like a student (and later an employee) that has it all together. (Using a salutation and introducing yourself the first couple times you email is a good example.)</p>

<p>I don’t have the time or inclination to list all the ways you might do this, but here is a simple, pro-forma one. Imagine that you are a TA grading midterms for a class with 200 students. You are about to get 200 emails from students and each one will have an attachment titled “Midterm” or some version thereof. What’s the frustration? What is the first thing you probably have to do? That’s right; open every document, get the students name or ID number and rename the documents. Fun! As a professional and well-organized student, you might title your file “Last Name, First Name - Course Midterm”.</p>

<p>(True story: I worked at a law firm that threw away CVs that didn’t have the applicant’s name in the file name. The Harvard degree couldn’t save them, we never bothered to open the document to know. Practicing these skills can be the difference between getting your dream job and not.)</p>

<p>You can do this inside your essays, too. Lead me by the nose through the requirements of assignment, ripping the language directly from the syllabus or prompt if that makes it clear. Give me a reason to skim your essay knowing that you will highlight the most relevant information. Bosses LOVE this behavior; they have 40 TPS reports to read and summarize for their own bosses and a tee-time at 4. You save them time? “I like the cut of your jib, Johnson.” </p>

<p>Bottom line: put yourself in the shoes of your TA, prof or boss. What information would make the task (maybe of giving you an A or a great performance eval) easier? What format is convenient for consuming that information? Do that.</p>

<p>Good luck and have fun.</p>

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<p>“Students that appear professional, confident and courteous get better grades”</p>

<p>I don’t think I buy this. So the kid wearing a suit and tie to class everyday tends to get better grades than the guy wearing sweatpants? That hasn’t been my experience. My experience is that the people who know the material well enough to earn a better grade…are the ones that get better grades. I don’t think appearances really matter in that respect. </p>

<p>I could see more merit to it as far as letters of recommendation and better jobs go. </p>

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<p>I think you’re reading “professional” in a way other than it was intended. Professionalism in this post refers to the ability to behave appropriately for the expectations of colleagues in academic or work settings. No one expects or even hopes that a student wear a suit to class. I might even consider that unprofessional, depending on the circumstances. Most professors or TAs do hope that students read the syllabus and write clear, concise emails when they have questions or concerns. </p>

<p>When I teach my own classes, I replace “participation” credit with professionalism expectations. (I started doing this after meetings with professors at the law school where I worked as an instructor complained that new students were coming in under-professionalized and often left little better.) When I TA, I’m aware of the bias that disorganization in a student causes toward my expectations of their work and I know that many of the TAs I work with feel the same way. I think it definitely has an effect on grades, particularly at border between them.</p>

<p>In any event, if you agree that it prepares students better for most workplaces and offers advantages in terms of other benefits that accrue from impressing your evaluators, it was probably still worth posting to me. I care less about my students’ grades and more about their ultimate success.</p>

<p>edit: speaking of professionalism, the grammar in this post was shockingly bad.</p>

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<p>My friend is co-teaching a community nursing class at our local university. She has been SHOCKED at the lack or professionalism of the students. One kid kept showing up late. She finally mentioned it to him, and he smiled condescendingly and said, “Oh, I understand that that is important to YOUR generation…” What the heck?? And some of the girls come in with everything spilling out of their clothes, and they are going out in the community that way. So this semester, she and the other teacher are spelling out in great detail, in the syllabus, the expectations for professional behavior. She can’t believe that these upper-level students haven’t already figured this stuff out.</p>

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<p>GopherGrad, do you have a problem with those who wear yoga pants and pajamas to introductory classes?</p>

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<p>Eh, probably not. For one, large lectures at big universities (in particular) have become so informal that it’s hard to fault students for dressing way down. It’s also hard to pin a student’s face (or dress) to a name, so it probably doesn’t filter back to your reputation as easily as a triple-spaced midterm or an email asking about what day the final paper is due. </p>

<p>I know that lots of faculty and TAs (myself included) roll their eyes at particularly slovenly or revealing outfits (not just women, there’s a lot of forehead slapping about bros in the sleeveless t-shirts that basically tie together at the bottom). Given that, I’d advise a slightly higher floor in smaller sections.</p>

<p>My main point in making this post is that image management is a skill and college presents you with a low-cost opportunity to <strong>learn</strong> how to impress a boss-like character with your professionalism and organization. Part of this is about learning what mistakes offend TAs, but it’s more important to take the time to get a handle on what you’re going to feel and act like at the office. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to get into the habit of waking up early enough for lectures to shower and get dressed. Learning to manage a calendar and schedule so that you’re ready and alert at the right times is also something of a skill.</p>

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<p>I am teaching an upper level writing class in a social studies dept but I don’t agree with everything here. (Disclaimer: I didn’t read it all. Skimmed everything but there was wayy too much text and I read enough writing!) </p>

<p>The number one thing to remember about profs/TAs/whatever is that we are human, too. Don’t talk to us like you wouldn’t want to be talked to. Don’t assume we don’t notice things… we do. I promise, we notice. Don’t lie to us- you’re a bad liar no matter how good you think you are. If you’re honest and falling behind, please come talk to us. We want to help- to an extent. We will not help you the day before the final and you have a D in the class. We will not help you the day before a paper is due and all you have is an outline. I will not do a “pre-read” of your paper but if there is something specific that you’re stuck on, come talk to me. </p>

<p>I, truly, do not give two hoots about what you wear to class as long as you don’t smell. Then again, I <em>was</em> the pajama kid and now I’m teaching you so I get it. I really do, and I’m not going to judge you. </p>

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<p>I may have misunderstood your meaning in some way…but I don’t think being professional or not should really affect ones grade, short of an attendance portion of the grade. If there’s an attendance grade and the student is late or missing class, then it’s a requirement that they’ve failed to meet. </p>

<p>If they’re otherwise fulfilling the obligations of the class though, they should be graded on their performance. Not their “professionalism.” Could you clarify what exactly you mean by professionalism? </p>

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<p>I provided several examples in the original post, including consulting the syllabus before asking questions about due dates, properly formatting assignments, and tailoring submissions or communications with TAs and faculty in ways that respect their time. I also explained how these particular behaviors relate to similar failings I’ve seen in my employees, and in how bosses react to those failings.</p>

<p>First (and again), the portion of this post that has to do with getting better grades is really most minor of the consequences of acting professionally toward professors and TAs. The major reasons I advise students to approach their academic relationships professionally are as follows: 1) they will stand out positively from their classmates as better prepared for the job market, and 2) image management in the workplace takes practice and college is valuable at least as much for the opportunity to professionalize as to learn substance. </p>

<p>Second, it’s not necessarily a question of whether professionalism SHOULD affect the students’ grades, but whether it WILL. </p>

<p>Finally, my experience hiring for a sophisticated employer has convinced me that some companies care as much about professionalization as much as they do about substance, and that image management is an important skill for developing early careers. In other words, to the extent that the students’ job is to prepare for a career, professionalism IS part of performance. I think good teachers should set out clear expectations and rewards that encourage students to use their academic relationships as practice for their working ones later on.</p>

<p>You seem to have some issue with college students taking this advice. What disadvantage could possibly befall a student that took a little extra care to appear organized and courteous when dealing with the people that evaluate their work? Even if you disagree with some small measure of the benefits, it seems like a fairly costless set of ways for a student to save some headaches.</p>

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<p>It doesn’t affect my grading. Our papers are anonymous though so we grade based on the paper and not on how we view the student. </p>

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<p>If your own opinions of a student are changing their grade, then you should not be grading papers in an academic setting. Plain and simple. You should grade a paper based SOLELY on a students performance. </p>

<p>Are you saying that a student who otherwise earned an A, might have their grade reduced because they seem unprofessional? I feel bad for the students in your class if that’s the case. </p>

<p>I don’t take issue with students taking this advice. I take issue with the adherence to this advice playing a part in a students grade. A grade should be based on nothing but what is in the syllabus. College is not a career. If the syllabus says “60% exams, 20% homework, 10% quizzes, 10% attendance,” then that should be the grade. There should not be an extra “secret portion” of the grade based on a students unprofessional appearance for asking about a due date that they could have found in the syllabus. </p>

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<p>I suppose if this were a discussion board or a thread about how educators are supposed to grade, I could see your objection. Since it’s about how students should react to the likely, entirely human, biases of the people who evaluate them (and how they can apply these lessons in image management to get a jump on finding work), the whole discussion about what educators <em>should</em> do seems irrelevant. </p>

<p>If I believed everyone were as immune to bias as roman and curt, I could comfortably retract the advice to the extent it relates to grades. Since I hear professors and grad student (and managers) complain frequently about inconsiderate or disorganized behaviors in their students and employees, I assume that on the margins it might affect evaluations. The righteous knowledge that one only missed out on an achievement due to unfair treatment is cold comfort, relied on repeatedly unless and until one learns how to manage one’s image.</p>

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<p>As for feeling bad for students in my class for having super-secret elements to their grading, you’ll notice that I wrote explicitly “When I teach my own classes, I replace “participation” credit with professionalism expectations.” In circumstances in which I TA, I said that “I’m aware of the bias that disorganization in a student causes toward my expectations of their work”. </p>

<p>At no point do say that I use professionalism as a secret way to determine grades; in fact I acknowledge and attempt to correct for biases (which is a damn sight better than denying they exist). In addition, I take the time to talk with employers and replace empty, nebulous requirements like “attendance” and “participation” with skills that I think will actually affect my students’ ability to get and maintain good jobs. </p>

<p>Your objection to my advice, even to the part of it that implies how we should teach, doesn’t appear to be based on anything I actually advocated, but some type of pedagogy you’ve fabricated and ascribed to me.</p>

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<p>@comfortablycurt‌ I don’t see why a professionalism aspect of grading is bad. There are plenty of people who are talented but can’t work because they just don’t have a sense of professionalism. They show up to interviews in clothes they would where while hanging out with their friends. You can bet that those people will be judged based on how they dress and act. Talent and intelligence have very little to do with how successful you are; if you just look at a person and talk to them for 5 minutes you can usually tell how successful they are by how they carry themselves.</p>

<p>I think there is a lot more places that are more casual and those job opportunities are growing but for now I wouldn’t mind if more people were graded on professionalism.</p>

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<p>And suddenly I’m glad that so many of my profs insisted on anonymity in grading things. </p>

<p>Again, pajama student here. I’ve held a full time professional job for quite a while. In a top grad program. Know how to be professional in a professional setting and, IMO, that’s not the classroom. As long as my students are participating and engaging, I do not care what cloth they choose to cover themselves with. </p>

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<p>I find it incredibly unfair to hold students to the degree of professionalism that would be expected in a career. College is not a career. College students are practically SUPPOSED to be lazy and unkempt. </p>

<p>College is about learning. The professionalism comes into play by meeting the requirements for the material that is being taught. If they have done that successfully, then they have completed the course with an air of professionalism. </p>

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<p>If professionalism includes using proper grammar and punctuation in emails to professors and TAs, then I’m all for it. It never really factored into their grade (at least, not intentionally), but it certainly made me want to be less helpful to them. When I was a TA, I’d put in extra effort when helping students who were nice, respectful, and were clearly working hard. Students who were rude, immature, or who put in a minimum effort certainly got a minimum effort in return.</p>

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<p>I’m glad that curt and roman have settled on such egalitarian, bias-free ways to run their classrooms. It’s truly heartening.</p>

<p>Students, the take home lesson is that there are horrible, unfair ■■■■■■■■ like baktrax and me who probably aren’t quite as perfect. The silver lining to the cloud of ever having us as your educators is that we also exist in the real world (in greater numbers!). You have the opportunity to learn how to handle us when all that’s on the line is a single grade instead of your mortgage. </p>

<p>Think of it as a college version of Pascal’s Wager. If you’re impressing the biggest jerks on faculty, you’re clearly fine with the most forgiving professors. Don’t set your behavioral standard based on the expectations of the people in your life who think you are “supposed to be lazy” in whatever stage of life you find yourself. You should always take away more than your teachers expect you to learn. You’re paying for this experience. Go the extra mile. Squeeze everything you can from it that will help you meet your goals. You will not be disappointed in the results.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>There’s a difference between communications and wear IMO. One actually impacts knowledge transfer and one doesn’t. </p>

<p>I expect my students to put effort into the class and communication both written and verbal. </p>