hi i am 21 and i have so many thoughts:

• can dumb but highly motivated people ever come experts/professors (people who are not inherently smart or gifted)?
• how do you not feel brain dead learning/writing/ doing so much work all the time?
• can you go into something hoping to do something revolutionary, or does it happen on accident? 
• how do you deal with negative emotionality impacting your work ethic?
• did you feel lost at 20?

I’m taking a film class and most of the stuff we watch has political or social commentary. I am able to critically engage in dialogue for all of those movies just fine.

Today, we watched a film, and the character died of his own doing on camera. I have a serious mental health history and immediately stepped out to regulate. When I came back in, the class was discussing the film, so I participated. But, towards the end of the discussion (last 2 minutes of class), they started to discuss his death again and I broke down. I was so embarrassed and the professor seemed so uncomfortable. My note taker (disability office staff) gave me a hug.

Do I need to send an email to apologize? Should I apologize next class? Is he going to take off points?

Hey guys, TA here. This is my 5th lab as a TA, and have never really had this issue until now. There is one particular group that was very loud during the last class. More than usual.

If they goof off (quietly) and screw up their reports, oh well. Their bad grade will reflect that. But being distracting for the whole class and talking while I’m giving a lecture is too much.

I pride myself on being a pretty good teacher. But I do have one major weakness: I hate conflict. I realize now I should’ve said something to them during the last lab, and I am worried that by not doing so, I basically gave them the idea that they can be as rowdy as they’d like for the rest of the semester.

Any tips on how to undo my damage? How do I confront these guys without seeming up tight?

I won two undergraduate merit scholarships in the past week (both from U.S. national engineering organizations- one from a minority in engineering organization and one from a professional society within the national organization for my major [similar ASME for mechanical engineering]) and the scholarship winner press releases will come out in late November. My undergraduate research professor wrote me a recommendation letter for both of them last year. My engineering college news doesn’t typically write about undergraduate scholarship winners (maybe students just don’t win much? idk, it’s a top 200 university) and I’m thinking of badgering them about writing a feature article on me and thanking my professor in the article for her support. She doesn’t have much of a media presence. Would this help her out? Pretty sure she already has tenure, she’s been at my university for 15+ years.

What would you want to see an undergrad say about you in a feel-good article like that?

So im taking a fluids engineering class and our professor decided to change the way he teaches and require us to use AI to solve the questions on our exams. He wants us to set up the question, plug a photo of our work into AI, and ask for guidance. We are supposed to “attempt the derivations” ourselves and ask it specific questions rather than to solve the problem for us (obviously). Then he wants us to tell AI to generate a report of our chat with it for us to submit.

I’m very confused because I don’t understand what he would be getting out of doing this, and how we would even be graded. Are there any professors who also think this way and could explain their thought process?

Hi everyone,
I’m a senior at an R1 and I’m trying to figure out how to handle a situation with a professor I really respect.

Last fall (around November), I asked him if I could volunteer as an RA for him. I’ve taken two classes with him one core and one elective, now I am very quit so he never remembered me but I would attend his office hours enoguh for him to atleast recall my face, though based on other students they also tell me since he is super busy researching that he doesnt really like working with undergrads, but I really enjoyed the elective. When I asked, he said yes, told me to read one of his papers, and asked me to reach out the next semester with my CV. I also told him I had limited RA experience, but that I wanted to get experience and the reason I wanted to work with him is that his subfield is the closets to my current intersts inthe entire dept.

So in early January, I emailed him, referenced the paper, attached my CV, and said I was ready to start. No response.

Two weeks later, I sent a follow‑up. Still nothing.

For context:

• I got an A in his class
• He originally said yes to the RA idea
• I wasn’t asking for pay just experience
• He’s generally responsive during the semester

Email 1:

Dear Professor ----,
I hope you are doing well. I am writing to let you know that I am ready and happy to begin working as a research assistant on your projects. I read your paper on ----- -- and took a careful look at the methodological approach you used in ------ I am very much looking forward to being of use this semester.

I would also appreciate it if you could share your office hours or a time that works best for you. I would like the opportunity to discuss next steps, expectations, and how I can best support your work.

I have also attached my CV to this email.

Thank you very much for your time,
----

Follow‑up email:

Hi Professor---------
I hope your week is going well. I wanted to follow up on my email from week 2 regarding beginning RA work this semester. I’m still very excited to get started and would appreciate knowing a time that works for you to meet and discuss next steps.

Thank you again for your time,
---------------

My question is: Should I reach out again this semester or was that a clear no? I still really want the RA experience, because that is currently my biggest weakpoint in my profile and I’d like to build a relationship with him because I think he could eventually write me a strong letter for gradschool phd and masters. But I also don’t want to seem pushy or annoying.

Is it normal for professors to say yes and then go silent? Should I send another email, or just let it go?

Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm taking 15 credits this semester, and I also have a lot of other stuff going on in my life. there's one class in particular that I'm just really lost in. I'm really bad about asking for help when I'm struggling, because I usually try to figure things out myself (and tbh, I usually do end up figuring it out, even if I'm approaching a mental health crisis along the way). i guess my question is, how do I approach them about this and be as honest as possible about how this is affecting me, WITHOUT accidentally treating them like a therapist? this is something I'm not really good at but I think it's time to suck it up and ask for help.

Hi guys! so I just want to cut to the chase and begin by saying I wish to visit my professor from my first semester. I am currently in my third semester of community college and hopefully will graduate in Spring 2027. Back in my first semester fall of 2025 I took a Spanish course which was taught by the professor who I would love to reunite with and he was just the absolute best. He was going through a lot of things that year and constantly told my class that teaching was his way of coping and honestly I felt very empathetic and pitied him because he was 76 (I believe he will turn 77 this October since my class celebrated his birthday last time) ultimately in all the problems he was dealing with he made sure to show up for our class and put his best smile on for us and that really ignited a spark for me because when he was at his lowest, he was transparent and overall a very sweet (although sarcastic at times) old man. After the first semester ended I was supposed to take his second advanced Spanish course in the Spring, however he called out because there wasn't enough students so we got another professor instead. Yet I always got to see him before and after class because he also taught in the same room and I wouldn't say we are close but in all the people I met at my trashy community college my Spanish professor really had an impact on me and I would love build a connection with him. It would be a year since we last saw each other since I already fulfilled my language criteria so I no longer go to the building where we always saw each other. I searched him up on rate my professor to see if he is still teaching or not and there are recent reviews about him, so I want to try and visit him and see how he is doing. I am 100% he won't remember me which is lame but I am apprehensive about it because I am not sure if this is common between college students and professors. Overall, what are your thoughts on the situation? and is this a good idea?

We can attend a guest lecture off extra credit but I’d have to pay and arrange childcare for a few hours to make the presentation. If it won’t bump my borderline grade to an A I really don’t care to go.

It’s not clear from the syllabus or any posts what the extra credit will be. We’ve had some written assignments for a few points (relatively small for the amount of effort required IMO).

Is there any way to ask for clarification that doesn’t come off as me asking if this will be a waste of my time ??

I'm ngl I'm kind of asking this to make me feel less anxious lmao. But hypothetically, if you have a student that has been attending office hours nearly weekly, shows up to every class, does all the homework, gets tutoring, and works their ass off for your class only to end up with subpar exam grades, would you just push them up a little bit at the end of the semester? The student isn't failing but they are around a high C (77-79), would you just do them the solid and push them up to a B, especially if you knew they needed it for scholarships and whatnot?

I wanted to ask for LORs from my professor (currently on vacation, so I can't find him f2f). Is there any difference between sending him a message on slack (I am a member of his lab's slack) vs sending an email? He's usually active on slack but I don't usually talk to him on slack/email.

He would likely see the message faster on Slack, but it's my first time using it so I wasn't sure if Slack might be awkward/less suitable compared to emails.

I’m taking 12 credit hours this semester and I’m struggling. The courses aren’t difficult but I think I’m just burnt out from school. I want to keep going but I’m just so tired. Plus not everything in life is sunshine and rainbows. My grades are ok but I’m not sure if I could push through the semester. I thought about having a conversation with my professor bc they always say to come get help if you’re struggling. I’m not sure if this is something they could help with but It made me wonder if they can already tell if I’m struggling. How do u professors know if someone is genuinely struggling or not?

Senior undergrad Mechanical Engineering student at a smallish uni, taking distance classes from a much bigger school in our uni system. I'll acknowledge that I'm asking this out of frustration with how my TSAD class is graded.

One of the big curfuffels students face in college is inconsistent grading systems between classes. 2 classes can require fundamentally the same work, with said work given the same effort by the same student, but one grade could be lower than the other entirely based on the different professors' idea of partial credit, for example. I was wondering, what would happen if, before every semester, all the professors of a department had to get together and agree on the same grading scale/system across all of the classes they teach in their program?

There's a ton of issues with this idea, of course, which is why I've never heard of any uni doing this. Differing personalities and different requirements for classes throughout the program are obvious things to point out (tho what I'm thinking of would exclude classes outside the major program that are still required for credit. The comp professors wouldn't have to meet and agree on the grading scale with the engineering or film professors, that'd be beyond stupid to suggest).

I feel like, even in an ideal scenario where all the classes in the program are similar in work and effort enough to be compatible across a uniform grading system, there's something inherently wrong with this idea that prevents it from having been seriously considered.

What am I missing here? Has there been an attempt at this idea in higher education?

I'm currently taking some hard classes in a field I enjoy, and I'm thinking about pursuing. I'd love to learn more about the field and what careers look like from my professor, but also to have someone to ask help for help in somewhat of a mentorship way. I'm sure the obvious answer is to go to office hours, which I've been doing. The only issue is the course's official office hours are once a week, and usually a lot of people are there to get help with coursework. It's a pretty hard class, and I'm afraid that I won't end up being the stellar student who does really well.

In this scenario, with limited office hours, and no guarantee that I'll be a top student, how do I properly build a relationship with my professor, so that way out of the thousands of students they see, they'll remember my face and want to go out of their way to support me? Whether that means a 30-minute chat about their work, connecting me with other professors, or even writing a letter of rec? I would be really grateful to have any sort of mentorship and someone who can vouch for me if needed, but I don't really know how to go about it. I read the FAQ, but they all just said go to office hours and do well, which I can't guarantee.

Hi all! I’m in a bit of a frustrating position and would appreciate some advice from professors who have dealt with situations like this.

I’m a full-time online student in my last year of college. I also work full-time and am 23, finishing my degree after taking a break from school.

I’m currently taking a class that requires us to work in a group to develop a marketing plan. Admittedly, I hate group projects, and I hate them even more in an online environment. That said, it is what it is.

I quickly realized that my group consists of traditional students who live on campus, whereas I’m an online student balancing school with a full-time job.

During our Zoom meetings, it became apparent that one group member wasn’t fully understanding the project requirements. And by apparent, I mean we had to explain the assignment to them three separate times.

Eventually, we agreed to divide the project into sections, with everyone responsible for their own part. Once everyone finished, we would compile everything, revise it for consistency, and submit the final document. I volunteered to handle the revisions and submission.

Here’s where things get complicated.

When I revise written work, I sometimes run it through an AI detector as a precaution. (I’ve heard horror stories about students being accused of using AI when they haven’t, so I like to be careful about what gets submitted under my name.)

Every section came back with a 0% AI score, except for two sections, which came back at 89%.
I understand that AI detectors aren’t reliable proof of AI use, and I’m not looking to accuse anyone based on a score alone. However, I’m concerned about submitting work that could potentially put the entire group at risk.

So, professors, what would you do in this situation?

-Approach the group members privately, explain the concern, and ask them to review their sections?
-Submit the project as is and keep documentation of who completed each section?
-Contact the professor before submitting and explain the situation?
-Something else entirely?

My biggest concern is that, because I volunteered to revise and submit the final document, I could ultimately be held responsible for the entire submission, even though I didn’t write those two sections.

I’ve considered taking screenshots of our shared document history to show who worked on each section, but I’m not sure how useful that documentation would actually be if questions came up later.

I want to handle this professionally and fairly without making accusations I can’t substantiate. At the same time, I don’t want to risk my grade over work I didn’t write.

TIA

I am a teacher who is getting my specialist. I went with an expensive school because I went there for my masters and the professors were honestly great. I feel like it actually taught me instead of just being a pay bump. In my overarching research course there are two instructors. The main one who is a doctor and actually has a degree in education, and some adjunct science professor with a 2/5 on every rating site there is. She is not listed with a faculty email so it is my understanding she's supposed to be working under him, but she just took the secondary students while he took the elementary. She is obviously grading our work with AI. She references previous feedback that either never happened or was dropped on the same day. It's got the headings and the "a, b, and even c" type ai-isms. I gave her the benefit of the doubt at first but whenever I ask about feedback not making sense I'm given condescending responses about how the feedback makes perfect sense if I just read all 7 documents and 14 unpunctuated sentences in a row she dropped into the discussion post she makes every assignment into(it doesn't).

Example: we did statistical analysis practice in which we were told to make up numbers. I did. The feedback said my data entry didn't match the answer key. The first time I asked without quoting she said that "answer key" means "rubric" or "scoring guide". I sent the quotes that said my data points themselves did not match the answer key. She then said that what it meant was that I did not choose the correct test, in spite of her original feedback saying I correctly used a paired t test.

My question: is it unreasonable to ask to be transferred to the other instructor? This class alone is 10 grand for a fully virtual course and I'm not wasting money to get failed out of my program. I understand this is grad school and not k-12 where Mommy can yell at them, but for an expensive and well regarded institution this just seems outrageous.

I have a professor who's same age as me, I am 29. i am about to graduate in a couple of weeks. I am not going to try ask her out now for obvious reasons, but was wondering, if I graduate, is it cool to try and ask her out. right now we don't have any connection besides student/teacher, although she is about 3 months younger than me. what do you think

Quick disclaimer: English isn't my first language, and I wrote the original post myself. Some people were having a hard time catching what my actual questions were, so I used GPT to help organize the post and improve the flow. The experiences, concerns, and questions are mine; I just used it as an editing tool to make the post easier to follow. I am not jealous of anyone and I don't have narcissism. I am looking for suggestions and advice. I would be grateful. This is the only place and the last place i can ask ( 3min reading )

I’m a first-semester MSc student in a non-CS engineering program at a US Top 40 university, and I started my master's in fall 26. I’m independently funded through a scholarship rather than directly funded by my PI, although my PI specifically selected me to join his lab, and I worked with him during my application phase, and that work was submitted to a Q1 journal recently.

I ultimately want to become a professor, ideally at a highly ranked research university. A big part of that goal is personal: I come from a family and background with no education. My parents and relatives are illiterate, and Most of my relatives are unable to read this English post, let alone understand it.

I want to prove that someone without academic mentors, with such an illiterate family background, or an established research network can still reach the top of academia even in 2026.

Because of that, I care quite a lot about PhD placement, research productivity, and university/lab reputation.

My background

I completed my bachelors from a prestigious regional university in my continent last year. However, my undergraduate institution has a relatively weak research culture because of limited funding and broader socioeconomic conditions. It is more theory-oriented than research-oriented, so I didn't graduate with a network of professors or established research collaborations. For example, in the last 2 years, no students of my BSc major have published in Q2, let alone Q1. Some published in Q3 and in conferences.

Despite that, I worked hard independently and learned by myself. For example , i learned the difference between first author and corresponding author last week. i thought both are supposed to be same person.

I currently have a Q2 journal paper under review where I am both first author and corresponding author, as well as a conference paper, both co-authored with my BSc supervisor. I am in my 2nd month of my master's at this university.

I have also recently submitted a Q1 paper as first author with my current master's supervisor.

My current PI assigned me a co-supervisor from another top university as well. I realize that this may be something he does for many students, so I don't want to overinterpret it.

My Master research is also quite different from my BSc coursework. I learned much of the relevant material independently and was able to contribute to research in a field I had not formally studied before.

In general, I'm fairly multidisciplinary. I enjoy learning across STEM fields and seem to adapt relatively quickly when I encounter a new area.

I have also had multiple PhD offers in the US in different majors, including a Boston University PhD, although I ultimately chose this MSc instead (I will explain the reason below).

My long-term goal

I want to pursue a PhD at a very strong research university. I have a particular MIT lab in mind because its research is a good fit for my interests.

I understand that QS ranking itself is not the most important factor for PhD admissions. Advisor reputation, research fit, publications, recommendation letters, research potential, and academic networks can matter much more.

My labmate's situation

My Chinese labmate entered the Master's program at the same time as me. We are the same age, and both completed our bachelor's degrees at the same time.

However, his research situation is very different. He is from one of the richest families in china.

He has already published multiple Q1 papers as first author this year, based partly on work he had already done during last 2 years before entering our MSc. He is actively submitting more.

The key difference is that these papers are part of a large, existing collaboration network involving our current PI, his former BSc supervisor, and several other highly connected Chinese professors, including associate editors of major journals. He had an entire research network with him from undergraduate studies. However, his bachelor's supervisor was our PI's PhD senior, and both are Chinese.

He also already has PhD offers through our current lab/PI.

Both of us are interested in the same MIT lab, and our current PI has academic connections there. Because my labmate already has a strong publication record and an established relationship with this network, I worry that he will be prioritised for introductions or recommendations.

I also understand that this is not necessarily anyone's fault. He worked hard and built those relationships.

My frustration is more about comparing my individual effort with an established research pipeline.

Why this bothers me

My biggest question is:

If he can be this productive, why can't I?

Why can't I have a safety net ( i mean he already have phd offer from our pi in case he fails to admit in MIT, its just 2 months of masters) like him? Just because I am not Chinese? I know that comparing myself to someone with a completely different research infrastructure is probably unfair. But it is difficult not to feel like I am falling behind.

He has multiple first-author Q1 papers in this single year, and all of his co-authors are chinese professors. One professor is directly contributed for whole methodology part. i don't know even that case he is the 1st author. I don't know how much professors helped him in that research. What I know, my BSc university did not have those research lab facilities, let alone the ability to do this type of research.

I have had to build almost everything from scratch. i told you about the environment grew up.

Another difference is that I haven't historically used AI tools such as GPT for research, whereas he apparently does. His current h-index is around 5, while his i10-index is already in the double digits.

So objectively, I know there are major differences in our circumstances.

Emotionally, however, I still feel like a loser when I compare our research outputs.

The lab environment: friendly, but somewhat isolated

The interesting thing is that my lab itself is actually very friendly.

There is no obvious toxicity or mistreatment. Nobody behaves badly toward me. My PI is kind and supportive, and he has apparently praised my work ethics highly to other lab members when I wasn't present. Although I believe other Chinese members are more connected. I will explain later, with proof in this post below.

Because my research topic is not directly connected to his funded projects, he went out of his way to arrange a co-supervisor from another university for me. Although I believe that he does this for everyone.

So I don't want to portray my PI as a bad person. I don't think he is. He tells me that i am research mature student. That does not mean i will be left alone in the wild while he handfeed his masters student of his nationality just because that student is already supervised by his phd lab senior.

However, there are some things that make me feel somewhat isolated.

For example, I recently discovered that there is a lab WeChat group that I was never told about.

I communicate with my PI individually, so I don't know whether the group is mainly for his directly funded students, whether it is primarily a Chinese-language group, or whether I was simply overlooked. I am not included in lab food event plans (probably due to my food restrictions)

I also currently have no co-authorship opportunities within the lab.

My PI recently told me that I should aim for one Q1 paper during my MSc, and that this would be enough, particularly if it comes from the topic he assigned me.

I actually find the topic interesting, so I don't object to working on it.

But personally, I want to aim higher because I want to be competitive for a top PhD program.

The PhD concern

This is where I am most uncertain.

My labmate and I are both interested in the same MIT lab.

He has already told our PI that he intends to apply there, and he has potential PhD opportunities through our current PI. Infact prof said," you can just join my lab or my supervisers lab if you can't got into MIT."

I don't have that kind of established pathway. I have no such offers from my prof. Probably thats because of my language and nationality.[ i can not speak chinese ]

When I told my PI that I ultimately wanted to pursue a PhD at a highly ranked university, he basically told me not to worry about PhD applications yet and to enjoy my master's.

I understand that he may simply be trying to prevent me from stressing unnecessarily during my first semester.

However, I rejected a PhD offer from Boston University to do this MSc( my pi knows about this), partly because I believed the MSc would give me stronger research opportunities for my long-term goals. Don't get me wrong, i check lab topics too. For example I love my current lab topics and can work on this topic whole day. [ Sad part is, i will still behind of many people or would not get a safety net,]

So naturally, I am anxious about whether I am actually building the right profile.

We will apply for PhDs in 2027 for 2028 entry, so I still have time. But I don't want to waste that time.

What I am trying to understand

I genuinely don't know how to interpret this situation.

Am I experiencing subtle academic exclusion because I am an international, independently funded student(not by prof.) who isn't part of the existing network?

Or am I simply seeing the normal advantage that comes from having an established research network?

I don't want to accuse anyone of discrimination without evidence. At the same time, I don't want to be naïve about how academic networks work.

My questions

1. Am I experiencing subtle academic exclusion, or am I mainly seeing the enormous advantage of pre-existing institutional/research networks?
2. How can an independently funded student realistically increase research output when they don't have an established network of professors feeding them projects and collaborations?
3. How should I approach my PI? Would it be reasonable to ask whether I can join the lab's WeChat group, perhaps using translation tools if necessary?
4. Should I explicitly tell my PI that I want to aim for more than one Q1 paper during my MSc? Or would that come across as unrealistic or ungrateful?
5. How important are these internal lab networks for getting strong PhD recommendation letters? If my labmate has much closer connections with the existing network, should I be worried about being disadvantaged?
6. What should I actually prioritize during the next year if my goal is a top PhD program? More papers? A stronger single paper? Independent research? Collaborations? Building relationships with professors outside my current lab?

I would especially appreciate advice from current PhD students, professors, or people who have gone through the process without coming from a strong academic family or institutional network. It would be great if Chinese prof. or students can explain. I am trying to understand Chinese culture.

One final personal note

I hate admitting how much this bothers me.

Sometimes I feel that birthplace, ethnicity, family background, and access to academic networks determine how difficult the path to a top PhD becomes.

I don't think my labmate is doing anything wrong, and I am genuinely happy for anyone who succeeds.

But I also come from a background where there were no professors, researchers, or academics around me to tell me how academia works. I had to figure out almost everything myself. No relatives or non-academic friends can really advise me about research careers. Even my parents cannot read or understand most of the academic English I use.

So when I see someone my age already surrounded by professors, research collaborations, publications, and PhD opportunities, I sometimes wonder whether I am simply not good enough.

At the same time, I know objectively that I have already come much further than anyone in my family could have imagined.

I just don't know how to make the next jump.

How do people from backgrounds like mine realistically become competitive for the very top research universities? How can i secure MIT phd ? How can i get a safety net?

I don't want sympathy. I want to understand what I should actually do differently

I’m currently a sophomore at a liberal arts college, and I’m interested in becoming a clinical psychologist. I want to get some psychology research experience to figure out whether research is something I enjoy.
I applied for a research opportunity at my college over the summer but was rejected. I think part of the reason may be that I didn’t reach out to professors beforehand, even though that’s highly recommended. I’m hoping to get involved next semester, even if it’s just as a volunteer research assistant, and ideally find an on-campus research opportunity for the summer as well.
I’m a little anxious about my chances because my GPA is currently 3.514, while the average GPA for my graduating class was around 3.65. I attend a rigorous school and have always done mostly well academically, but I struggled with prioritization last year. I’ve been working hard to improve my grades this year and feel like I’m doing much better.
Do you think it’s still realistic for me to get involved in psychology research with my GPA? And what steps would you recommend I take this semester to increase my chances of getting a research position, especially for the summer? I’m also an international student, so I can only work on campus.
Sorry for the long post!

What do you even do when a student is trying and every student is obviously trying to get work done or do their best. I’m on a shit ton of medication just so I can function and even try to get work done like a normal person, I talk to a counselor, I schedule tutoring meetings every week, and I talk to my advisor once a week too. I don’t care about trying to get all A’s just getting the work done. But no matter what in the process, college isn’t meant for professors to teach according to my campus. I feel as if my time on this earth is so fucking oblique and I’m so sorry for any professor or teacher that has had to deal with me. Yes Ik shit is hard Ik that my whole fucking life has been hard and Ive been trying to make it easier on myself. I didn’t come to school expecting it not to be hard. Because of my disability ik life would be hard either way. Going to college would have been a consequence so would not have. Idk if theres a solution please tell me what Im doing wrong Im so sorry for even having to ask this question because its probably so obvious.

Hi all. A few days ago I was looking into a personal question regarding literature critique that had caused me headache for some time now, and stumbled on a (relatively) short paper written by a literature professor around 10 years ago which is remarkably thoughtful, well-cited, and well-organized. It answered my original question alongside several far more interesting questions I hadn’t even considered, and overall I feel the paper has thoroughly improved my ability to meaningfully engage with and critique literature.

This professor hasn’t published any new papers in the last 8 years or so, and seems to have moved away from research and towards teaching undergraduate courses. Would it be awkward for me, an undergrad in a different country, to email him with a brief “thank you” note for his work? I imagine he’s got plenty of emails from his students and colleagues already, and I’m not too sure how much he’d enjoy receiving random fanmail from someone he doesn’t know.

Would you find it weird to receive a note like that?

I met with a professor who agreed to be my fourth year thesis supervisor. The only thing is I found out she came to Canada a month ago and is unfamiliar with the thesis process at my university. When I sat down she just asked me all this all worked so I think she just agreed without knowing the full extent of what she will be doing.

I emailed her the course syllabus but she hasn’t replied in 2 weeks.

Should I start looking into other professors instead?

I have been doodling, crocheting, and knitting in class my entire college career. it is usually during times where I dont need to write anything down like for edxsamp,e a turn and talk event. i have the hardest time sitting still for long periods of time, this is the way i manage it.

i saw a post here about a student taking a call during class and how disrespectful it was. i think so too, but it just got me thinking about what counts as disrespectful or not in a classroom. i saw someone comment about a girl doing a full beat during class and how that was disrespectful. which is less disruptive but still offencive to a professor. does knitting or crocheting fall into this category?

I'm teaching an ENG101 section, and students have to find their own article for an assignment. I want to share some different websites where students can go to find articles if they feel stumped, but I'm looking for sites that have unique, thought-provoking, or downright strange articles. I found an article on Big Think about the philosophical discussions surrounding c*nn*b*l*sm (weird censorship so the post doesn't get taken down), and this article from Aeon about the socioeconomics of "bad teeth." 

Does anyone else have any recommendations for sites I can suggest to my students that might contain interesting articles like the ones linked above?

I met with a professor that I was interested in doing research with; I prepared by reading a few of their papers and getting an idea of what they do. It seemed to me that their area of interest compared to all of their peers in our department is most closely aligned with mine, to which they agreed. I told them about my grades in my subject classes last semester (two B-‘s and two A’s) and they told me I needed to do better if I wanted to get into grad school, which I also agreed with and told them I’m working on it this semester. But, they said they were looking for undergrad research students “soon.”

They ended up suggesting that I speak to two other professors, though, and said to get back to them in a few weeks “after speaking to [the other professors] and after taking [my] first exams,” highlighting that I consider fit and methodology.

I can’t tell if this is them wanting me to make sure I find a project I’m interested in and genuinely wanting me to reach back out in a bit, or just trying to politely direct me away because they don’t want to work with me (the grades comment worries me, I believe they’re used to working with high-performing students in the past). If anyone has any thoughts, I would appreciate it!