It’s mid semester and you’re 90 percent sure that your teacher still   has no idea what your name is.

Or   maybe you’re sitting in the back of   the classroom realizing that you have   already skipped   more classes than   you’ve attended.   What the heck is   a two tailed t-test,   anyway?

Sounds a   like scholastics version of a knock-off   Pokémon. Whatever   your situation, don’t   panic. Luckily,   whether you need   a little boost in   your GPA or need   references for grad school, here are a   few tips on how to get your professor to   notice you (and hopefully get them to   like you too).

Actually go to   office hours Show some   interest   know the   basics, be nice, don’t be   demanding.

This is hands down one of the least utilized tools   in getting some one-on-one attention from the   professor. While most of the professors have office   hours, it is becoming a trend for them to only offer   them by request. “

I don’t have office hours except by   appointment, if they come in and make the effort I   am much more likely to remember their name,” said   Nancy Silva, a psychology professor at California   State University-Stanislaus.

Some of us are spoiled with all of the classes   we are in love with, but the rest of us are still not   off the hook in terms of trying to gain rapport   with our professors.

“If the student has genuine   and deep interest in the subject matter that   makes me think ‘yes this person is going to   represent my profession.’ If they’re excited about   the subject, I am automatically more connected   to that student,” Silva said.

Know if they are the psychology professor with an emphasis in perception or if   it is in clinical work.

This also applies to   homework/test help: try to find specific   questions that the professor isn’t sick of   answering. “One way students don’t want   to stand out…is by asking their instructors   questions about information that is readily   available in the syllabus or textbook,” said   Jill Tolles, communications professor at the  University of Nevada, Reno.

Just because professors usually   maintain somewhat of a professional   attitude in the classroom, it doesn’t   mean that they don’t notice things   going on besides the lecture in the   classroom, or even body language.

Negative students are usually not   looked upon favorably by professors.   “Bottom line: it would be nice if   those students weren’t even there,” Silvia said.

Remember, professors are people too. You roll into office   hours feeling flustered after an extra-long line at Panda Express   and plop yourself down into a chair, demanding to have a recap   of the Pythagorean Theorem.

Or you email them six times in   10 minutes and get frustrated when they take more than an   hour to respond. Tolles is a mother and a political advocate for   education when she is not teaching.

When it comes to students   having obvious academic errors and being demanding, she had   an obvious answer to how she felt. “As a friend of mine would   say, ‘Ain’t nobody got time for that!’” said Tolles.

Afton Neufeld studies public relations. She can be reached at sself@sagebrush.unr.edu.