Current professor could be future boss, interning for her department in a year... (apply, job)

[the city]

Hi,

One of my professors is the head of a county gov department that I will be interning at in a year. I am very nervous taking this class.

What can I do to impress her and will anything in this class make a difference? She said I could use her as a reference.

I would be apart of a union and in a bureacratic job and I heard the bosses at this place are sneaky.

Also, I start at a new college in Fall. For starters, how do I find out if I get a good professor or not? At my community college it seemed I could always find the best professor by asking my trusted academic advisors.

And should I get a department tour? There is a dep. tour during open house, but I would be late cuz of errands earlier during the day.

[BlindAlleyKat]

Originally Posted by the city

What can I do to impress her and will anything in this class make a difference? She said I could use her as a reference.

Sit in the front, ask a lot of questions (good one's though), and be enthusiastic about your work. Try to be at the top in your class. Get to know what their area of research and their past publications. This is a really important step. It will not only help you strike up conversation but will help you know the focus of their tests. Stop by during office hours to ask questions about assignments and their past research. This is what I did with my professor and it set me on my career path. There is nothing more important then who remembers you.

Originally Posted by the city

Also, I start at a new college in Fall. For starters, how do I find out if I get a good professor or not? At my community college it seemed I could always find the best professor by asking my trusted academic advisors.

I doubt your advisors will tell you even if they know.

I always had the best teachers at community college. I never really had a good professor at the university. Professors have other things on their minds. You can visit ratemyprofessor and see if your's is on there. Although, I picked a professor that all the students hated but I did really well in her class and it was the best mistake of my life. She wasn't a bad professor but it was a difficult class. Remember that not all recommends are equal; if you get one from a professor who freely gives them out to whomever then it's not worth much. The content of the recommend won't be impressive. Get a recommend from a professor who almost never gives them out and it's as good as gold. It means they really believe in you and the content of the recommend will reflect that. There are some legitimately bad professors out there, one's that can't teach and can't write tests. Those are the one's you want to stay away from. I had some of those, too. You can't always avoid them.

Try and get to know as many students as possible. They will help you get to know which professors are good to take and the tricks for being at the top of your class.

Originally Posted by the city

And should I get a department tour? There is a dep. tour during open house, but I would be late cuz of errands earlier during the day.

Depends on how late. Would you be able to find them? I don't think it would be a big deal if you are late and it would be a great opportunity to meet other's.

[the city]

Originally Posted by BlindAlleyKat

Sit in the front, ask a lot of questions (good one's though), and be enthusiastic about your work. Try to be at the top in your class. Get to know what their area of research and their past publications. This is a really important step. It will not only help you strike up conversation but will help you know the focus of their tests. Stop by during office hours to ask questions about assignments and their past research. This is what I did with my professor and it set me on my career path. There is nothing more important then who remembers you.



I doubt your advisors will tell you even if they know.

I always had the best teachers at community college. I never really had a good professor at the university. Professors have other things on their minds. You can visit ratemyprofessor and see if your's is on there. Although, I picked a professor that all the students hated but I did really well in her class and it was the best mistake of my life. She wasn't a bad professor but it was a difficult class. Remember that not all recommends are equal; if you get one from a professor who freely gives them out to whomever then it's not worth much. The content of the recommend won't be impressive. Get a recommend from a professor who almost never gives them out and it's as good as gold. It means they really believe in you and the content of the recommend will reflect that. There are some legitimately bad professors out there, one's that can't teach and can't write tests. Those are the one's you want to stay away from. I had some of those, too. You can't always avoid them.

Try and get to know as many students as possible. They will help you get to know which professors are good to take and the tricks for being at the top of your class.



Depends on how late. Would you be able to find them? I don't think it would be a big deal if you are late and it would be a great opportunity to meet other's.

I have an appt on campus from 1 to 2:30. And the tour starts at 2:30. So i dont know.

And asking about any publications my professor may have is a great idea.

And I guess sometimes in a university I can't avoid getting bad professors.

The other thing too, is I don't know how making friends will be. I am commuting to campus from home, and even though I have friends back home, I would like to make friends from the college town. But I have worries everytime I'd want to hang it would have to be when I'm in the area or I'd have to make a special trip to visit them. I am planning after I graduate to move to the college town if I chose to stay at the place I'm interning at. So when I move there I would have to make friends. I got offered 2 internships. One internship I can't take because it's just so far, but after I graduate I could re-apply for that internship.