Fostering healthy relationships with professors and fellow students is crucial for your future, regardless of where you go to school. The advantages of connecting to your instructors are endless. For instance, when you get along with the teacher, you’re more likely to do well in school. Additionally, a lot of students find that their professors end up being their lifelong mentors and allies.
Therefore, there is a great need for any student to foster a great relationship with their professors. Typically, it is the student who initiates such friendships. However, professors sometimes spark such relationships with their favorite students. This article particularly expounds on how to tell if your professor likes you. Read it comprehensively and make your student-professor relationship healthier for better college life.
How to Tell if Your Professor Likes You.
First, it is worth noting that numerous benefits accrue from a professor liking you as a student. Some of these benefits include;
- Attaining better academic success in the course that the professor teaches.
- Such professors foster a sense of mentorship for you.
- Professors can provide a beneficial network for future jobs.
- A professor can help you prosecute your personal and professional growth.
If you are lucky, you will not have to work hard to have a deeper relationship with your professor. In such cases, you will achieve a self-flowing connection with them because they like you. However, how do you tell if your professor likes you?
Also see: Do college professors accept late submissions?
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The professor occasionally asks you to randomly respond to questions during class.
This often happens when you are one of the brightest students in your class. Remember, bright students easily become teachers’ favorites. Sometimes during lectures, professors ask questions that no one lifts their hands to answer.
If the professor occasionally asks you to answer questions in such situations, it is a vital sign they like you. Such a professor will typically turn to you to answer questions even when you do not know the answers.
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Your lecturer allows you more time to complete assessments and pushes deadlines for you.
It is common knowledge that professors are usually strict with assignment submission dates and deadlines. Students who fail to honor these deadlines are at the risk of facing academic disciplinary repercussions. Some expected consequences include a failed grade or a repeat of the assignment.
Such repercussions might not happen to you when the professor likes you. The teacher may occasionally extend assignment submission deadlines when you are their favorite. Of course, such leeway comes with some little scolding as a formality to maintain respect. However, avoid late submissions because teachers may take them as a form of disrespect and stop liking you.
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During office hours, the professor offers you additional time to assist you in understanding any material you are having difficulties with.
Instructors have specific periods during their office hours when students can reach out to them for assistance with the course material.
Often, they are usually strict with the time students can visit their offices.
When professors like you, they offer you additional time and effort. They will ensure to answer your queries to the best of their abilities. If you don’t understand, they devote more time explaining to you until you understand. Additionally, a professor that likes you will let you see them in their office even when the time is outside office hours.
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Lots of eye contact during lectures
A professor would want to ensure that their favorite student understands every concept in class. Because of that, they tend to give more attention to those students when lecturing. One particular way of exhibiting attention is eye contact.
If a lecturer likes you, they tend to hold lots of eye contact with you during lectures. It is a way of ensuring that you are listening and understanding what they are teaching.
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Your professor becomes concerned when you do not attend class or perform poorly on a test.
When a teacher likes you, they make an effort to know how you are doing, in and out of class. They want to know if you are having trouble with particular concepts and how you are doing in life.
Such a professor gets deeply concerned when something is not right with you. An excellent example is when you miss class for whatever reason or fail a test. In such scenarios, they will normally call or email you to know what is wrong. Sometimes they will summon you to their office to know the problem.
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The instructor may appoint you as your class representative.
Professors usually nominate their favorite students if they wish to appoint a class representative. These are students they want to interact more with. If a teacher appoints you as a class prefect or representative, there is a high likelihood that they like you.
How to Make Your Professor Like You
Fostering a great relationship with your professor benefits you as a student. It is also clear that being liked by your teacher is not automatic. Sometimes, it is up to you to make an effort to create a bond with your professor if you want to accrue the benefits. So, what should you do in such a case? Below is a list of tips you can employ to make your professor like you.
- Complete your assignments on time and do them well. Doing so illustrates your work ethic and the fact that you are concerned about your grade.
- Attend all classes and do so on time.
- Pay attention in class and be an active participant by actively listening to the lectures and asking questions.
- Extend discussions with your professor outside class by following them after lectures or seeing them in their office.
Conclusion
How to tell if a professor likes you is a crucial skill for a student. Such knowledge will help you look for clues to help you foster a good relationship with them. It also helps you formulate ways to make your professor like you when the relationship is not there. Please make use of this information to better your life during and after college.