Best ways to handle rudest and most difficult teachers!
This post is all about how to deal with a bad professor.
EVERYONE goes through having a terrible professor at some point during their college career. And when it happens to you, it can feel like a never-ending burden (even when the semester just lasts part of the year). In these cases, knowing how to deal with a bad professor will be one of the best skills you will learn in college.
Realistically, skills like this can also translate into the working world. So, don’t think of it as a total inconvenience… Think of it as a great learning opportunity.
In fact, you can even think of it as a milestone or a rite of passage, because bad professors happen to everyone at some point!!
This post is all about how to deal with a bad professor.
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HOW TO DEAL WITH BAD PROFESSORS:
Identify What Kind of Professor They Are
Some professors are great at teaching, but are just super hard when it comes to grading.
Other professors have super specific or high expectations that feel impossible to meet.
On the contrary, some professors are horrible communicators.
And then there are professors whose teaching style just don’t match up with your learning style… Plain and simple.
The first step to finding a solution is to figure out what it is about your professor that you’re struggling with. Bad college professors suck, but they can also be a great learning experience.
The next several tips will dive into various common issues that people have with professors, and how to handle them!
The professor who communicates poorly
As a super type-A student, these professors are honestly my worst enemy.
There’s nothing that gets under my skin more than a teacher who doesn’t communicate well. I like to know exactly what is expected of me, exactly what is being taught, and what I’m getting out of the class.
So, what is the solution for the professor who communicates poorly?
- Office hours. If there’s no time to ask questions in class that will help clarify what they mean or what they expect of you, office hours is your best bet!
- Peers. It’s always helpful to make friends in classes because chances are, if you don’t know what’s going on, someone will… Or, you’ll all be confused together which forces the professor to give clearer instructions!
- Written syllabus. I find that even the most disorganized or least communicative of professors are forced to put something in writing in the form of the course syllabus. So, check the syllabus whenever you’re lost on any specifics.
If the syllabus isn’t helping you out much, write an email to the professor asking about EXACTLY what you’re looking for. Here’s an example:
“Dear Professor Smith, I was just searching the syllabus for the due date for Essay 1 but I can’t seem to find it, nor can several of my peers in this class. Could you please clarify the due date for this assignment at your earliest convenience? Thanks!”
RELATED POST – How to Email Your Professor Without Sounding Stupid
The professor who sucks at explaining things
Some professors think they’re explaining course concepts well, but they’re actually totally not.
Their lectures might be all over the place, lack structure, or they forget to break down important terms. This can leave you feeling a bit lost and like you’re falling behind.
Knowing how to deal with a bad professor of this type is simple but will go a long way.
What to do about college professors who suck at explaining things:
- Teach yourself. As annoying as it is, you’ll probably have to count on spending extra time studying to catch yourself up on what they’re talking about.
- Form a study group. The beauty of having other people in your class is that everyone learns differently and at varying paces. So, chances are that your classmates understood something you didn’t. Having a study group is a great way to get yourself up to speed!
- Office hours. Going to office hours is a great way to get more time with your professor to ask them specific questions.
The professor who takes forever to give you grades
No joke… I’ve been through a couple college classes where by the end of the semester, I still didn’t have a single grade back.
It’s stressful to not know where you stand by the end of the semester!
It is hard to know how to deal with a bad professor who isn’t giving your grades back quickly enough because this is a situation that really leaves you in the dark.
If you run into this problem, unfortunately the only thing you can really do is ask them when you can expect to receive your grades.
If you feel comfortable with it, sometimes it also helps to communicate that not having your grades causes extra stress as you don’t know where you stand in the course. One time, I did this with a professor and at least got some reassurance because they replied to me by saying “Don’t worry, you’re doing great in this course.”
It wasn’t exactly the same as getting my grades back, but it was at least enough to know that I didn’t have to worry too much and could just focus my energy and attention on studying.
Another thing you can do?
Most universities have end-of-semester surveys for each course where you can provide feedback on the professor and the course. This is where you can give the school feedback on how the professor didn’t provide your grades in a timely manner.
The difficult marker
Some professors are just not easily satisfied. I’ve had a couple professors who definitely insert their own bias and interests into the marking process and as a result, it feels impossible to get good grades.
You might work forever on a really good assignment or paper but still get a lower mark than you deserve, just because they don’t like your writing style, topic, or they don’t agree with your arguments.
This is one of the most frustrating types of college professors.
So, how do you deal with a bad professor who marks too hard?
- Figure them out early on. It can be difficult to figure out exactly what a professor is looking for, especially early in the semester. But read through the rubrics they give you and study their OWN style of argumentation, writing, and their own interests. The unfortunate truth is that sometimes you do need to learn how to cater to them a little bit.
- Ask what was wrong with your assignment. Talking to your professor about your grades can go a long way. If you get a lower mark than you feel you deserve, set up a meeting with them to talk about it.
Worst case scenario? You’ll learn what you did wrong in their eyes.
Best case scenario? You get the chance to advocate for why you deserve a better grade, and they change your grade.
The professor with high or specific expectations
Sometimes, teachers just genuinely have such specific expectations, and even if you feel like you’re following all their instructions, they still seem dissatisfied.
I’ve had a couple of these and ended up not liking the class because I realized it was more about catering to the professor’s expectations than it was about actually learning and exploring ideas I was interested in.
But that’s because I didn’t realize what I could have done better until it was too late.
What to do about this professor:
- Learn their expectations. Some high expectations are actually within reason. So, hear them out, seek out their instructions and expectations, and do your best to follow through on those.
- Advocate for your own ideas. Sometimes, in college classes, you do end up getting the chance to actually talk it out and advocate for your own ideas and ways of thinking. Seek out those opportunities and advocate for your own ideas whenever you can.
- Stick with your peers. Work together. Sometimes it’s really helpful in these situations to work together, bounce ideas off each other, and talk through how you can meet the professor’s expectations without compromising your own interests and learning.
The straight-up rude professor
Some professors are straight-up rude, or even pretentious. Those are the professors that can get on your nerves the easiest.
I don’t think much more needs to be said about this except how to handle it…
- Analyze the situation. If a professor ever crosses a line or says something genuinely inappropriate, the best course of action is always to report it to the school’s administration. So use your discretion whenever you’re on the receiving end of rudeness from a professor about whether it needs to be reported.
- Ignore them. If it’s more something that is simply an annoyance, seriously, just ignore it. Sometimes, people’s rudeness isn’t worth fighting over and your best course of action is just to ignore it, stick it out, and keep doing the best you can do in that class.
The professor who overworks you
Some professors just assign WAY too much work without even realizing it.
I mean, seriously. In my freshman year, I had a class (an elective, no less) where there was a new assignment every week that took hours (and I mean HOURS) but each assignment was only worth 2% of the overall grade.
It’s way too much to put in hours worth of work just for something that’s worth 2%.
But the worst part is, it still matters. These things all add up. So if I hadn’t put in the work, I wouldn’t have gotten a good mark.
Here’s what to do if your professor is overworking you:
- Prioritize. Set priorities based on the weight of each assignment and when the deadline is. Sometimes, it is necessary to put in minimal work for those assignments worth 2% and put in way more work for the assignments worth 30%. It sounds like bad advice, but if it means it saves you from burning out, it’ll also be better for your grades in the long run.
- Work with peers. Sometimes forming a study group where you all help each other with assignments really makes the process go faster, because you have multiple brains working together instead of just one.
- Something is better than nothing. This might be really difficult if you’re a perfectionist, but don’t stress over perfection. At the end of the day, handing in an honest attempt is better than handing in nothing at all.
What has your worst professor story been? DM me on Instagram by clicking here and tell me the story!!
This post was all about how to deal with a bad professor.
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