Which factors influence your seating preferences on the first day of a course?

<p>I always sit in the back-center, this is particularly entertaining in large auditorium classrooms with two levels (a lower floor and a balcony).
I don't like people behind me for extended periods.</p>

<p>The only exception to this general rule is in a medium-sized classroom with a professor known to be soft-spoken. Here I will sit in the front row, sometimes I am the only person in the front row. </p>

<p>I am waiting for a class to start and some people walk around the perimeter of the room once before deciding where to sit. </p>

<p>What is your seating strategy and why?</p>

<p>I’m actually the first people to show up to class since I have to leave my apartment early to not risk being late. I always sit in the front-center area, usually the third or fourth row. I don’t really have a specific preference, but it’s definitely good to be able to hear what my professor is saying. I also have bad eyesight, so i’ll be screwing myself over if I can’t even read what he is jotting down on the white board.</p>

<p>I like to sit in the front row, because I don’t always see very well, and I’m pretty short.</p>

<p>In my experience, the ideal slot is a little to the left of center, in the front third of the room. This is close enough to easily see/hear what the professor is saying, yet far enough that you are not constantly the center of attention, and tends to be the first place the professor looks when taking questions.</p>

<p>I usually sit in the front row off to the side.</p>

<p>I come from a small high school and my classes there ranged from about five people to fifteen. I sometimes had classes with eighteen and twice with twenty-one, but clearly, my classes weren’t very large at all. I have found that at my university, I don’t even notice the difference of being in a large class if I sit in the front where I can’t see everyone else.</p>

<p>Then again, in high school I always preferred sitting in the front row or second row anyways.</p>

<p>If it’s a smaller class that involves participation, discussion, or the prof writing notes on the whiteboard, I’ll sit somewhere near the middle or the front.<br>
If it’s in a large lecture hall where the professor just talks or puts a powerpoint on a giant screen I like to sit near the back because it’s fun watching everyone.</p>

<p>I just sit wherever. </p>

<p>In math I sit in the front row to the very right closest to the door. In biology I sit in the second to last row on the far right side. In chemistry I sit in the middle row farthest to the left. And in my freshmen seminar class it changes sometimes since there’s only 13 of us.</p>

<p>I don’t really have a system.</p>

<p>I automatically sit in the front row, towards the center.</p>

<p>It depends on the class and the room. For about half of my classes, I’m sitting in the front, off to the side. In the others, it’s more in the back. I know I’ll be participating a lot in the ones where I sit in the front, so it just makes it easier.</p>

<p>If it is a smaller class, I like to sit in the 3rd row or so. In larger lectures, i like the mid-center but I hate it when people sit directly behind me.</p>

<p>I care more about who I sit by rather than where I sit. I look for someone who looks friendly and is preferably sitting alone, and sit 2-3 seats from them and then try to casually strike up conversation. First day of class is a prime occasion to meet people.</p>

<p>I always sit in the front row, and much like RadicalCar I try to sit near someone who looks friendly (or a hot girl). I have bad eyesight so that’s part of why I sit at the front, but it also helps me stay focused.</p>

<p>Always in the front. Intentionally sitting in the back seems weird to me. I usually sit a little bit off to the side so that I’m not constantly right under the professor’s nose, but it has to be in the front row. You can hear the best and get the best chance to interact with the professor.</p>

<p>It actually depends. I’ve sat in the front, back, right, and left. It doesn’t really matter since I can see more or less everywhere I sit. </p>

<p>But like someone said, I’d prefer to sit next to someone who looks friendly.</p>

<p>I almost always sit in the back. I try to find a left-handed desk if I can, so I am usually on an aisle. I don’t really like having people on both sides of me.</p>

<p>I tend to prefer aisle seats since I feel less suffocated there, and depending on the class, I will either sit in front or in the back. For my Companion Animal Biology class, I sit in the front because the professor doesn’t use a microphone and I want to be able to hear her clearly, but in my Systemic Physiology class, I sit wherever there’s an available seat (my Companion Animal Biology class ends 10 minutes before this class on MWF and by the time I get to my Physiology class, almost all the seats are already taken). I tend to avoid sitting in front because it’s a really large auditorium and the professor uses Powerpoint, so sitting in front would mean having to crane my head back in order to see, and I really don’t want to have to do that. Sitting in the middle would allow me to just stare straight at the Powerpoint presentation without hurting my neck.</p>

<p>Usually in the front, but I try to avoid the first row unless the board is really far away. I absolutely hate sitting in the back since it’s harder to see and I don’t concentrate that well or I have to concentrate more to listen. I usually don’t care about left/right/center, it depends on where the board is placed in the room.</p>

<p>I sit back-center. Close to hot guys or friendly-looking girls</p>

<p>I think I could make a pretty amusing chart of seating choices by personality type, but there’s no linking to images so…</p>

<p>In classes I care about, I sit at or very near the front, usually a bit left or right of the center. I’m a lefty, but I only make an effort to find a left-handed desk if I’m going to have to write instead of type, as it doesn’t really matter when it comes to sticking my laptop on the desk.</p>

<p>If I don’t need to pay attention, I sit in one of the back corners.</p>