Kind of jumping off this thread (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/1799586-if-i-could-change-something-about-freshman-year-p1.html), I’m curious to hear when you guys think it’s best to go to a professor’s office hours. I’ll be a freshman in less than a week (!), and I find it interesting to see that so many on that thread wish they’d have gone to office hours more often. Which situations do you think would have been improved had you gone to office hours? When you were assigned your first paper, before a test, just to ask questions you didn’t get to in class?
Glad my thread could inspire you! I’m going into sophomore year and still have no clue how to appropriately use office hours. So I’m looking forward to reading what other people say as well!
I always get the idea that I should go to office hours in order to “get to know” professors so they can write me recommendation letters. I don’t know how that works, though.
I’ve heard that too! And that seems really awkward to me haha so I don’t know how to approach it. I met a professor at orientation (who I don’t have this semester) and she told me to come see her during office hours. So I assume it’d be more a social visit than an assignment-related one, but I’m not really sure what to say. Next semester I’ll have a professor that’s really close to my field of interest, so I really want to get on her good side. In high school, I’d just stay five minutes after class if I wanted to do that, or if I had a lingering question about an assignment, but now I’m supposed to save that for office hours, I guess?
So what I’ve heard from some seniors at the college I’m going to go to is that you usually go in with a question, and then it kind of evolves into a discussion and eventual social visit. Or you go in and share your thoughts about the lecture/topic of study and start a conversation? Their advice gave me the impression that professors are usually really eager to talk about what they teach (and by extension what they study/research).
In high school I used to sometimes hang out in the offices of teachers I was close to when I had a release hour, and we just talked about a lot of different things, and it sounds like office hours can work similarly to that.
It really just depends on the student and what you want out of it. I had some friends who went to office hours every week, and I had other friends who never went to office hours. I went to office hours a grand total of 1 time all throughout college (and it wasn’t even technically office hours–I made an appointment because I think I had class or something during his office hours). I had a question about an assignment that the TA couldn’t help with, so I went in to ask the professor. Other than that, I never really had any questions, and I did research and worked so I didn’t need the reference. Some professors got to know me anyway, but I never really did it through office hours.
But if you have questions about the material, you should go to office hours. If you want to talk to the professor, you should go to office hours (or see if there’s a time when they are available to meet with you). It depends a little on the class and the professor. Some professors will have very busy office hours because there are lots of students that need help or just want to chat with them. Other professors will have no one come to their office hours and will just generally be bored. It’s never a bad idea to go to office hours, but how often or frequently you need to go depends on what you want or need. My general rule of thumb is that if you ever wonder if you should go to office hours or not, then you should go. It’s better to go and (at worst) waste some time, then to not go and realize later when it’s too late that you really should have gone.
My school had programs where you could get lunch or coffee with a professor and the school would pay for it–you could see if you’re school has something like that too. That’s another way to meet professors. But if there aren’t a lot of people at the professor’s office hours, there’s no harm in stopping by to chat. If you’re worried about what to say, a good conversation starter is to ask them about their research (if they do research). Professors can generally talk forever about their research. Another thing you could do is just tell them you’re interested in/majoring in their field and you were wondering if they could tell you a little about their story of how they got to where they are. And then just kind of branch off from there. Maybe you’re interested in graduate school and were wondering if they had any tips. Or maybe you’re thinking about teaching or research and you wanted to know how they like it. Professors are used to students asking questions, and they’re usually willing to chat, as long as they have the time to do so.
In my experience, many students will try to catch the professor right after class, and it’s never really a good idea in my opinion unless the professor has the time and invites people to chat. They usually have places to be, and you can’t really stand around the lecture hall because the next class needs to get in and start. You can ask if they have a minute to chat after class, but they might tell you to come to their office hours instead. And if it’s a quick question, there’s always email.
@baktrax How did you get the research opportunity without talking to professors in office hours?
My freshman year (last year), I only truly went to office hours once. That was linear algebra in the fall and I had overslept and missed class that day (the only time I ever missed her class). After my 2nd class that day, I went to meet with my professor and review the homework for that day. She was really nice about the whole thing!
First semester, my seminar professor happened to be my advisor so I ended up at his office hours a lot. I still go to his office hours to discuss administrative things and my course work. Second semester, my seminar professor assigned us a major paper where we were required to go to her office hours to get our topic approved and such.
Usually, I just talk to professors after class if I have a question or need to tell them something (like I’ll be absent). I’ll discuss testing with them after class too, since I don’t usually take my tests with the class (extended time). Often, though, I’ll just email my professors with bigger things. I think it really depends on your school though.
@halcyonheather One year, I did a research program for freshman at my school that was through an application process before school started. The other research positions I had I got by applying to positions on my school’s job site online. Besides my first year, I never really did research on campus. They were all at off-site locations that were affiliated with my school, but I don’t know if they were technically a part of my school.
I was really into one of my technical electives, so I went to office hours a lot. I would ask about a homework question, and I would casually bring up something about another class or she’d ask me about my major or something. It was nice.
Disclaimer: I go to a small liberal arts college where all professors hold regular office hours and most students take advantage of them. My experience may or may not apply to other schools where this is not the case.
My time in office hours was the most rewarding, fascinating, and genuinely fun part of my academic experience freshman year. I’ve had some amazing profs who love talking to students and sharing their brilliance with us 
I’ve been to my bio prof’s house for dinner with her family, and my religion prof has become an incredible mentor. College is a little different from high school in that the students are now adults, and while you still respect your profs, there’s a new element of camaraderie.
If I’m not particularly interested in the class and don’t have a desire to get to know the prof, then I rarely go to office hours. If, however, I either 1) am having trouble with the material, 2) have questions about the reading/lecture/assignments, 3) am taking a class in my major, especially with a prof I’m likely to take again, or 4) really like that prof/class, I go to office hours fairly regularly (~once every couple weeks).
Tips:
–Try to go to office hours at least once per professor relatively early in the semester (first few weeks) just to introduce yourself, maybe ask a question about the syllabus or an upcoming assignment. It’s good to start early so that profs know who you are asap. Also, that way you’re not one of the nameless masses jostling for office hours in the 11th hour of the semester.
– Double-check on the office hours policies: some profs want you to email in advance, others have sign-up sheets posted on their doors, others give upperclassmen priority.
–Prepare for office hours by jotting down a few questions you have. For a science or math class, this could involve going through your problem sets and choosing one or two questions you struggled with. For a humanities class, this could involve a passage from the reading you didn’t understand or you disagreed with. Or it could be something else, like a cool idea the prof mentioned in lecture he didn’t expound on, or a news article you recently read that has to do with the class. Showing up at office hours with some relevant question will help break the ice.
–If the prof doesn’t seem too busy, feel free to discuss your question in-depth and really pick his/her brain. This can become a sort of social visit, but let it develop organically.
–Once you develop a good relationship with a prof, it’s awesome to ask questions about the department/other classes in the department, your major, your career plans, etc. Profs often have great insights, plus it will open up the conversation re: letters of recommendation for the future.
tl;dr: If you make the effort to go to office hours and take some time/thought to prepare for them, you will be richly rewarded. Just do it 
I very rarely go to office hours and I think it’s a mistake. There were a lot of times where I simply liked the professor and wanted to get to talk to them outside of lecture but I felt too self conscious or something 
If you want to introduce yourself to your professor near the beginning of the year, are office hours the time to do that or should you simply quickly introduce yourself after class? And if you go to office hours to introduce yourself, should you do so only if you have a question?
If you’re taking a class which is writing-intensive and need any help finding a good direction for your essay idea to go, go to office hours with your rough draft!
If the professor isn’t rushing out of the room after class, that can also be a less intimidating way to initiate contact. Share an example inspired by the lecture, ask a question, or just express appreciation for the topic (be specific rather than general if possible: “your explanation of how to eat an oreo really clarified things for me” works better than “I just looooove cookies!”).
@Elizabeth1315 I prefer to go to office hours because a lot of people have questions after class and it’s easy to forget names and faces. Having a short conversation one-on-one is better. I always bring a question to office hours, to break the ice if nothing else. Doesn’t have to be a super complicated question; for my organic chem class, I said something along the lines of “I know this is a really difficult class-- what are some of the common mistakes students make and how can I avoid them?”
In my experience, it’s better to talk to instructors during their office hours - if you try to catch them at the end of a class, you risk interfering with them getting to their next class on time.
That said, every instructor I’ve ever had has been very enthusiastic about me and other students coming to them during office hours. Good teachers like teaching, and showing up at their office hours tells them that you’re interested in the class and are invested in your studies.
You can’t really show up too often - during my math classes, I would go to my teacher’s office hours every time I had questions about the material, just to be sure I had a solid grasp of the material. During some sections of the class, that meant I was showing up every day.
Don’t worry about annoying instructors with too many questions - they set aside office hours for the express purpose of answering questions. View those office hours as a resource just like the tutoring center and the library - and if you aren’t using those when you need to be, start using them too! There’s no shame in asking questions, and no worthwhile instructor will ever make fun of you for asking a question.
I’m speaking as a GSI (what most schools call TAs) rather than as a professor. When I teach a class, the prof rarely has open office hours (it’s by appointment only) and defers to us. This is solely from my experience as that’s obviously all I can go on.
- Come to office hours whenever you have a question, a thought, need a clarification, etc. I'm happy to answer over email but emails can be misunderstood. My office hours are for YOU and are very much underutilized.
- Come to office hours if you're interested in a topic that you'd like to delve further into. It can be directly related to the course or related to my area of research/field.
- Please don't come at the very end of office hours with a long question unless you arrange it with me first.
- Truly, I am there as a resource to you. I don't think I've ever found a student to be annoying or judged him/her for coming. I want to help. I want to be sought out.
- A good way to start out a relationship at the beginning of the year, before you'll really have content questions, is to come ask questions about the course (please, not something that can be found in the syllabus). For my field (history-ish), this can be relatively easy. "Hi, I'm looking forward to this course but I'm wondering if we're covering blah blah topic" or "I'm wondering if we'll be discussing blah blah at all." We know that the first few weeks of class are the add/drop period and I (at least) want students who are going to get something out of the course. I don't want them thinking we'll cover X topic and we don't even touch it.
Hope that’s helpful!
PS- I’ve written lots of LORs for the students that have worked under me on an independent study/research project that I’ve overseen for 2 years. I’m currently writing one for a former student looking towards law school and another one going into public health. Even when they ask the prof (which I generally recommend they do as LORs look better coming from profs than grad students), she forwards it to me, has me draft the letter, and then she’ll put final touches on it and sign her name because she knows I’m closer to the students and know their strengths better.
Speaking as a faculty member (caveat: I’m at a public regional comprehensive, and so your mileage may vary at other types of institutions), office hours are incredibly underutilized by students. I end up getting a chunk of work done during them while I’m waiting for students to come by (which they usually don’t), but it makes for a nice break when someone drops in. I mean, sure, there’s some of us who feel like their students are wasting their time, but that’s rare—most of us are in this business in great part because we like interacting with students. (So if you’ve run across professors who haven’t liked it when you’ve come by, don’t let it sour you on the rest of us!)
If all you want to do is drop by office hours to introduce yourself and you don’t have any real questions, that’s fine; if you have questions about course content or assignments or somesuch, that’s fine, too. The only time I’m likely to be annoyed at a student coming by my office hours are the occasional students who struggle through the whole semester, don’t respond to my suggestions that they come by and talk to me, and then suddenly show up at the end of the term begging for extra credit or special treatment or something like that—that’s just bad form.
(Well, there’s also the occasional student who comes by a couple times each week because they’ve developed some sort of weird clingy attachment thing to a particular professor. But that’s just weird even outside of a student-teacher dyad, you know?)
So yes, please do come by. If nothing else, I’ll be happy that you’ve made my day a bit more interesting.
I second everything @dfbdfb said.