Tips for Talking with Professors

That’s okay! It is very common for students to feel nervous about talking with their professors. The professors in our department became professors because we wanted to teach, advise, and mentor undergraduate students. Let us help you by setting up an appointment through SSC or dropping by our office hours for a chat.

Here are some ideas for conversation starters:

• I’m not sure what I want to do with my degree. Can you share some advice for how find a career path?
• I don’t know what classes I should take next semester. Can you help me with selecting my courses?
• I would like to get connected with other students and faculty in the department, but I’m not sure how to do it – can you give me some recommendations?
• I’m confused about something from class – can you help me understand this topic better?
• I am having some personal issues that are causing me to have some difficulties with class. Can I talk with you about how to catch up?
• I would like to know more about grad school.
• I am worried about the upcoming paper. Can we talk through what I need to do for this assignment?
• Can I talk with you about internships?
• I’m curious to know more about what we were talking about in class today – I’d love to hear more about your thoughts on these ideas
• I’m interested in learning more about the Teaching Assistant or Research Assistant classes

I’m approaching graduation – can you help me get started with job searching?

Sometimes it makes sense to reach out to the professors whose classes you are taking. Other times you might have a question that better matches the expertise of another professor in the department. You can check out links to our bios’ page, and you can set up a meeting using SSC (LINK). When setting up the appointment you can add in information about what you’d like to talk about. If our listed office hours don’t match your availability, you can email to request another time to meet.

It can be hard to find time for everything! But a 20-30 minute meeting can make a huge difference in helping you sort out any worries related to class and to get you connected with opportunities and resources to help you maximize your success at MSU Denver.

Have questions about how to talk with professors? Get more tips and ideas by reaching out to: Dr. Mo Flynn or Dr. Jovan Hernandez.

If you’d rather talk with some students, reach out to any student on our student advisory committee.