How to stand out without sucking up

I went to a big university. OK, giant. With 29,000 students taking classes there full-time, even my senior seminar in my English major was crammed with 50 people. Because I didn’t want to look like a brown-noser—you know, the one who raises her hand at every question, volunteers to take attendance, walks the prof’s dog after class—most of my professors never even knew my name.

But you don’t have to suck up to get to know your professors—and getting to know them is a smart idea. Why? First of all, because it has the potential to up your GPA.

According to David Sapp, an assistant professor of English at Fairfield University in Connecticut, students who make the effort to get to know him “are the students who typically do well in terms of grades in the class. They don’t feel a lot of pressure in class to convince me they know what they’re doing because I’ve already talked to them, and I know that they do.”

Also, think long term and you’ll realize that virtually every internship, study-abroad program or grad school you’ll ever apply to is going to ask for your teachers’ opinions of you. Establishing a real relationship early on makes asking for (and getting) stellar recommendations easier when you need them. Plus, you may even find a mentor, someone who can steer you toward study opportunities or help you network your way to a career.

Standing out to your professors isn’t always easy, but these five ideas will help you get yourself known.

Think small. The right-sized pond can make anyone look like a big fish. For instance, Fairfield University has just 2,500 students—the same number as a large high school—so most of the classes Sapp teaches max out at 14 students. For the terminally shy, a tiny class size makes it easier to speak up, and for the academically challenged, it makes it easier to ask for help.

If your heart is set on a big university, opt for smaller classes when possible. Abby Beckel, a graduate of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., says, “One reason I got to know the professors I did was because I took classes with them that had only 12 or 15 people in them, like seminars and writing workshops.”

Attend office hours. Even if your teacher doesn’t require it, and even if you don’t have a burning question to ask, go to office hours. Gideon Burton, an assistant professor of English at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah (and one of the profs who failed to remember me even after I aced his Shakespeare class), recommends initiating “a casual get-to-know-you visit to the professor’s office. So few students make such efforts that those who do really stand out. I remember their names, call on them in class and watch and encourage their progress.” Simply telling professors a little bit about yourself may also make them more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt if your term paper is just a teensy bit late.

Get involved in extracurriculars. After joining an undergrad student government organization at the University of Pennsylvania, Michelle Cho ended up presenting the annual teacher awards. “I’m not the most talkative in class,” she admits, “and I do better in small groups, so it was a very safe excuse to interact with them.” Joining a student group, whether it’s the International Relations Club or the Society of Women Engineers, can allow you to get to know professors outside the classroom. It may even get you access to evening meet-and-greets or dinners with professors, which let your teachers see you as a real person, not a faceless fact machine.

Get good grades—then play them up. It may be a chicken-and-egg thing: Students who take the initiative to go to office hours and introduce themselves are often the ones who participate in class discussions and keep on top of assignments. Says Burton, “Those who are prepared and have the courage to make comments stand out and generally do better with their grades.” And nothing makes teachers happier than an A student. A word to the wise: Getting a C in your clinical psychology class because you were napping instead of taking notes means you probably shouldn’t come crawling back to that prof for a recommendation.

Take the same professor twice. “The professors that wrote me recommendations were my creative writing professors,” Beckel says. “Creative writing was my major, so I often had them multiple times.” Even if you think you’d like some variety, doubling your face time with a prof may get you known by default; your teacher will be so happy she actually knows someone’s name she may start cracking inside jokes with you during lectures.

Developing and maintaining a personal relationship isn’t the easiest thing in the world. But, says Sapp, the payoff is big. “I’ve got two students who graduated last year who are now in grad programs with full scholarships. I not only wrote them letters, but went over their essays with them, helped them prep for their graduate exams and made personal phone calls on their behalf to faculty at other universities. I really go all out.”

With professors like that, who needs friends?

Melody Warnick is a freelance writer and a Brigham Young University grad.

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