Papers in the Biological Sciences
John J. Janovy, Jr. Publications
Outwitting College Professors: A Practical Guide to Secrets of the System
Document Type Article
Copyright © 2006 John Janovy Jr.
Abstract
There are three basic reasons why you need to outwit your college professors, and here they are:
(1) College professors can, and usually do, have a reasonable amount of control over your life and your future. In general, anyone with any kind of power over you needs to be outwitted. Profs have power because they issue grades in courses for which you pay lots of tuition, but they also have much power to recommend you for scholarships, write good letters of recommendation, and provide interesting experiences that you can talk about to impress dates and people who might be interviewing you for a job.
(2) College professors usually are far busier than most people think although that busy-ness often concerns activities that many people—especially those engaged in real business—think are pretty dumb. Nevertheless, professor busy-ness takes their minds off things that are important to you. So you need to get them back on track. You need to get them thinking about your welfare instead of some deadline imposed by their department administration. That is, you need to get them working for you instead of for their own bosses.
(3) College professors live in a paradoxical world because they are among the most privileged and intellectually free people on Earth, but at the same time, they operate under a massive burden of regulation, compliance, and rules for behaving properly so their institutions won’t get sued. They usually need help living in this paradoxical world (although most of them don’t realize it), and you can provide such assistance. Your interactions with them can soothe the irritations caused by rules and regulations, relieve the frustration resulting from academic politics, and make their job a satisfying one. In theory, they should reward you for such favors by opening doors for you. Maybe one of those doors will be at a fine medical or law school.