<p>"don't some of them WANT students to come by to talk? "</p>
<p>Certainly professors who like teaching (and not every prof does. Some view having students as a necessary evil that allows the profs to pursue their real lives -- research) enjoy talking with students.</p>
<p>However, I think it's important for students not to waste professors time by dropping by just for idle chatter while the student, for example, fills time between classes.</p>
<p>A prof is not a chum, a peer, an ever ready ear to listen to one's drivel. If one is simply lonely or has time to fill, call Mom, stop by the student union or go to the library and study.</p>
<p>It's important to realize that when the professor is in his/her office, they are at work. Just as if one has idle time on the job, one wouldn't just stop by one's boss to chit chat, the same thing goes for using professors' office hours.</p>
<p>When one stops by, have a plan and a point. Fine to follow up on points in the prof's lecture, thoughts on a book related to the prof's field, fine to stop by and get career advice (particularly if one has done some preliminary work finding out info. Just moaning, "What should I doooo for a job?" is passive, lazy and irritating). </p>
<p>Remember that professors can be wonderful references that one can use when applying to jobs and grad school. Consequently, one wants to show them one's best side by being thoughtful and considerate. Don't use a profs' office hours to talk about one's romance problems, roommate problems or gee should you bother to get a flu shot or not.</p>
<p>When I taught college, I thorougly enjoyed it when students used my office hours to talk about my classes or to get career information related to the classes. </p>
<p>There was, however, a student whom I wished would stop dropping by. She simply wasted my time with thoroughly idle chatter. It seemed that someone had told her that it was a good idea to get to know me because I had lots of contacts and could write good recommendation letters.</p>
<p>The student therefore would stop by for absolutely no reason and would talk about absolutely nothing. It was simply empty headed chatter. She also would ask me very basic questions about the field -- things that she could have easily found the answers to by simply thinking or doing a quick Internet search. </p>
<p>There's a big difference between asking a prof whether one should wear a blue or black suit, flats or high heels to a job interview and asking a professor to look over a resume that one is submitting for a job related to the prof's field. Of course, the second example is the type of thing that is not a waste of the prof's time.</p>
<p>An example of the type of question that doesn't waste time and also enhances the prof's opinion of you is the type that occurs after you thought about what you want in a grad program and then thoroughly researched graduate school programs in your field. If after doing those things, you ask a professor for their input on which program would be best suited to your needs, that's the kind of question that is impressive. </p>
<p>What's wonderful about this kind of question is that the student isn't expecting the prof to magically know what's best for him/her. The student also has taken the time to do basic research instead of expecting the prof to do all of that work. This also allows the prof to give a far more useful answer in their limited time than if they are expected to read the student's mind and then provide an overview of all graduate programs.</p>
<p>Back to Morrie: I had the pleasure of working with Mitch Albom the author of "Tuesdays with Morrie." Mitch is the kind of writer who is always thinking about writing. Even when he drives down the street, he's thinking about metaphors that he can use in his writing.</p>
<p>I truly doubt that when Mitch was a college student who used Morrie's office hours, Mitch was just filling up free time with idle chatter.</p>