When did you go (or should have gone) to office hours?

Student Lounge College Life
21

I went to office hours quite frequently for my freshman English class last fall. It was writing-intensive, and I wanted to go to my professor for advice on my papers. She always looked over them and gave me advice on what I should do or change. She always guided me on how to get the highest possible grade. I got a better grade on each essay, and I feel like the office hours helped because it showed her that I really cared about my work. She was a younger professor and was always fun to talk to. I don’t ever regret going to her office hours.

I also went to my math professor’s office hours during my fall semester, mainly because I just thought he was a cool guy. I understood the material just fine, but he was also fun to talk to.

I think office hours really helped me in my first year because they made me feel less awkward around my professors. A lot of professors see it as a compliment when students take the time out of their day to ask questions regarding course material.

22

I’ll concur with dfbdfb and NewBeginnings3 and add this about catching instructors after class. If I’m in a hurry and a student asks me a question, I’m apt to respond without thinking and give bad advice or even misinformation. If I’m careful, I’ll tell the student to come to my office when I have time to give a good answer – but sometimes I forget, and I say something off the top of my head. Just as an example: say a student is late with a paper and asks for an extension. If I’m rushed, I might simply say, “No,” where if the same student came to me when I had time to think about it, I might say, “Yes.”

For your own sake, don’t put your instructor in that position.

23

Let me just point out that I did say

and my example was a quick question.

I am a professor, btw.