How To Use the Professor At Office Hours To Maximize Your College Success Quickly and Over Time

That is you when things aren’t going well isn’t it?

Are you confused about how to use the professor’s office hours?

Do you want to know the secrets on how to get the most out of the professor that can also completely transform your college career for the better?

If that’s you, then you have come to the right place for learning about what to do at office hours to get the most out of what you are going to them for.

So without further ado, let’s jump right into the post!

Every section of the post list each step that you must do to fully take advantage of office hours and they explain in detail why and what you must do to get the most out of them.

So keep that in mind while reading this post!

Here we go!

Ask Questions; A LOT OF THEM

Before I move any further in this post, I want to make one thing clear:

The professor’s job during office hours is to answer any and all questions that YOU have for them regarding the material in your class.

Read that again so that it’s clear.

If they don’t do that or if they try to put you down during office hours, they are NOT doing their job.

They are abusing it.

And if they abuse that obligation, simply don’t argue with them, let them go on their ramble, and report it on the survey at the end of the semester or to their supervisor.

And at that point, if they become argumentative, it’s better not to ask them any more questions and just let them be so that the situation doesn’t get out of hand.

Having said all of that, here’s what you prior to office hours:

1. A) Write down all of your questions and have the corresponding work ready before going.

This is crucial because if you go in there unprepared, then you are not going to get the most out of the office hour.

Why?

Because there is no direction and you have no clear goal of what you are achieving.

Now, after you come up with that list, that’s when you will go to office hours.

With regards to how to introduce yourself at office hours, you can simply just state your name and that you have questions for them with a warm smile.

Nothing fancy. Just some simplicity to get them excited.

Now at office hours, you’ll do as the title of this section implies and that is to ask all of the questions that you have prepared.

And if there are a lot of questions that you need to ask, just ask them.

And don’t stop.

This is probably the main reason as to why students don’t attend office hours for the most part.

The professor might try to stop you because, let’s be honest, for the most part, talking with students is actually the most frustrating part of their job and they want to end that as much as possible.

But, as long it is office hours, keep on going and keep on asking until you get every question answered or the official office hours end.

And don’t stop until you get every question answered.

And if they are a good professor, then they would want you to ask all of those questions.

It’s what students normally don’t do.

But it’s those students that put in that extra work that go the extra mile.

And let me put this into perspective for you:

You are paying for your college education (note: college education, not self-education; there is a difference between them that’ll work wonders for you if you understand it, but I’ll talk about that later in the post).

What this means is that you are paying for the right to go to class and to ask questions to a professor who knows this more than you do.

Don’t you think that you should utilize that?

Of course!

So don’t be scared to go to office hours!

You know, it’s so mind boggling as to why people who are paying for college actually end up cutting class and sleeping in class.

You are paying to abuse your product?

Give me a break.

At least that won’t be you after this post (I hope).

And now here’s a very critical point that might get you ahead if you understand it and implement it:

Get To Know Them

You will only do this after you have asked all of your questions.

If the chemistry between your relationship starts to build up, ask some questions about them like their research and their work experience.

When you do this, you will come across as someone who is interested in the field of study and you will stand out amongst you peers.

If you ask questions that the professor is interested in hearing, then they will remember you more and it might be useful to you later on when you might need a recommendation letter of some sorts or even a grade bump up if you are on the border between percentage points.

Obviously, don’t go too far with this like asking about their marriage or asking about anything too personal that should be kept private, but anything professional is fair game and it is more than appreciated by professors.

They will love this since no one does this and it actually builds a relationship with them just like I mentioned earlier.

If you want proof of this, I have some in the blog posts below to show you:

Post 1.

Post 2.

Pretty neat right?

From letters of recommendations to internship opportunities, assuming that you have your goal lined up with college, networking with professors does pay off.

That’ll REALLY get you ahead in your field.

And now how do you maintain this relationship?

This:

Continue The Momentum

And that’s what we want to go for here.

You have to keep pumping blood into the heart that is the relationship between your professors that’ll keep getting you opportunity after opportunity.

That means keeping on participating in class, keeping on going to office hours, keeping on asking them questions about their profession and research and the industry, etc.

Just showing that you are a motivated student driven to achieve their goals.

Whether they admit it or not, that is what they REALLY want to see in all students who come across their lecture halls.

They don’t want to see those in their classes on their phones and talking about random gossip during class time.

That’s not what college is about.

College is really supposed to be about using it to achieve your particularly well defined goal that YOU have formulated prior to arriving.

And interacting with your professor during office hours is a great way to achieve that goal.

Now, notice in this post that I mention that you need a particularly well defined goal before attending college.

Well, that is true (at least if you are in the United States).

The problem with most college students is that they go into college with no goals at all and as a result, they do not use it to their FULL advantage and everything that it has to offer.

And if that’s you, trust me when I say this:

College is NOT for you.

Chances are very slim that you will get a job or a career out of it and you will likely have wasted your time.

And if you have student debt, I’m sorry to say that you fell for a trap.

That is a scam.

Now note that I don’t say that college is a scam, but student loans are a scam.

Read here for more.

And if you happen to be reading this and you are considering student loans, simply put, don’t do it.

Work up the money to go and PLEASE have crystal clear goals before going so that you get the most out of it.

And read up EVERYTHING that you can about college before you go and make a well-informed decision for yourself.

You can read about ideas for side hustles right here.

So please, do that before you go to college and if you are in college, please take all of this information and make a well informed decision about what to do next.

Now I promised you that I would include a section in this blog post on the difference between college and self-education.

This is a very important distinction that you need to know because it can make all of the difference between all of your success and failures.

So let’s introduce that concept right now.

College vs. Self-Education

Self-education is the process of educating yourself without a structured classroom on the concepts of mindset, knowing what you want, and correctly picking the correct educational vehicle to achieve that desire.

This might involve books, videos, seminars, webinars, talking to mentors, etc.

It involves anything outside of the classroom.

Now college is what’s known as a form of specialized knowledge in which you use it to achieve a particular goal AFTER you have figured out what you want and you have thoroughly researched it as to how it is the best educational vehicle to achieve your goal.

This is clearly obvious because the message in most elementary and secondary schools is that you must go to college to be successful.

That’s false.

That advice is only true if it lines up with a goal that you have that requires it.

That’s why it’s a form of specialized knowledge instead of the only form of education in the world that the world makes it out to be.

And that is also why most students can’t find a job when they graduate.

As a result of being sucked into the belief that it is the only form of education and not a form of specialized knowledge, they don’t see the true value of it and they just drift away in it like a bag of empty potato chips.

I bet that if you interview any successful college student, you will find that they will all unanimously agree with what I just said in this post.

It shall be concluded that the KEY to any successful college endeavor is to self-educate yourself about who you are and what you want, what college is and how to use it to your advantage and to read up on how to succeed in college AND how to perfect job interviews and networking BEFORE going to college so that you don’t have to figure this out on the clock and YOU can use all of the time possible while you are in there.

And that is the big takeaway from this post along with the office hour stuff.

The office hour is just one piece of the puzzle in many pieces that you need to put together to have a successful college career.

There are also extracurriculars, internships, relationships with your fellow classmates and industry professionals, etc., that you must piece together to get what you want out of college.

And that is the truth behind what college is in a nutshell.

A specialized knowledge vehicle to obtain what you clearly want after extensive research into it.

If you want to learn more about how the self-education process works, I highly suggest that you buy and read this book right here on Amazon by Napoleon Hill called “Think and Grow Rich.” This book has been called the success bible by many of the most successful people in the world.

And in the book, he gives a clear example of someone who recognized college was a vehicle of specialized knowledge and used it to his advantage after going through the self-education process first. It’ll shed some light about what to do after you read it.

Please note: The link that I just put here is an affiliate link, which means that I will receive a commission off of your purchase if you buy. Note that this won’t change the price that you pay for the book.

When you read that part of the book, you will definitely have an “AHA” moment when you see what you need to use college for and what it is.

Will I tell you what it is now?

No. I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

You’ll need to buy and see.

But, you can read this post right here to give you a head start on that book.

Pay attention to the LOVE letters. They are critical for your college success!

I hope that this post has served you well and please do subscribe the blog right below with your email if you want more sophisticated and winning content sent to your inbox.

And please comment with any questions or concerns if you have them. I am more than happy to help you out.

Thanks a lot.

Until next time,

This is Chief Islander Evan signing off.