Midterms at the U of A will begin over the next few weeks. As your student starts their test preparations, encourage them to meet with their professors and touch base on their progress. This is an opportunity for your student to check their progress within each class, ask questions about upcoming exams or assignments, and review previous subject material for clarification. Meeting with their professors is very beneficial to your student, especially if they are in a class that is particularly difficult.
Encourage your student to talk with each of their professors and establish a relationship with them; this relationship can ease stress when your student needs to ask for help or when they need a recommendation in the future. These meetings also provide your student with a better understanding on how to study for the class. Beyond encouraging your student to meet with their professors, these few tips might help your student ensure that their meetings go smoothly and the stress levels remain low.
- Set up the meeting. The best way to set up a meeting with a professor is through e-mail, unless otherwise instructed. Remind your student to write with a professional tone in their e-mail and also have a clear goal for the meeting. If they want help, encourage them to specify the areas where they want help, in order to help the professor prepare to help your student. Most professors list office hours on the class syllabus. Your student should meet with the professor during those office hours, if possible. If not possible, your student can ask the professor for an appointment outside of office hours.
- Prepare for the meeting. If your student wants guidance on a paper topic, remind them to bring what they have written so far (or send it to the professor ahead of time) so the professor can give them feedback. If they want clarification on something covered in class, encourage them to bring their notes. If your student makes a list of questions to ask during the meeting, the professor and student can make the most of their time together. The meeting with the professor may not be long, so they will want to ensure that they ask the most important questions first and save the more simplistic questions for last.
- Arrive early. If your student is nervous about meeting with their professors, arriving a few minutes early to review the questions they want to ask could help ease the anxiety. Remind your student that both their time and the professor’s time is valuable, so they should arrive on time, get the help they need, and not be rushed due to other obligations of the professor.
- Have casual conversation. Encourage your student to talk to their professors as if they were meeting the professor for the first time. Your student should drive the conversation, for they are the ones that have the questions to ask or concerns to address.
- Take notes. Encourage your student to take notes during the meeting. Remind them to write down the specifics of their conversation with their professor: ideas for paper topics, subjects on the test, and even thesis statements and outlines discussed during the meeting. This will help your student remember what they talked about as they sit down to study or work on a paper.
- Recap the meeting and thank the professor. Have your student take a minute or two once the meeting ends to review their notes to ensure that the student understands the professor’s expectations and advice. Then, the student should thank the professor for their time.
- Relax. In most cases, your student’s first visit to a professor’s office is the hardest, but once your student feels comfortable talking to professors, these conversations ultimately become a rewarding and beneficial experience. This is a great opportunity for your student to build relationships for recommendations and independent studies in the future.