Expert: Susie Watts - 11/4/2011

Question
Hello, Susie, I'm Bianca. Right now I'm a high school sophmore. Recently my teacher have been telling us that in college the professor won't care about you. As in wether or not you come to class, or even if you understand the material. They told me that they want to get their theories out to the public. I thought about that for the longest time before I decided to ask my teachers, "Why are they trying to make their theories public to a bunch of college students. If we're trying to learn the matieral they are teaching us, why would we care if your theory is better than someone else's?" I may be a little wrong in saying that but I really wanted to know. I don't want to go into college thinking that no one's going care about me even if I ask for help. So I'm asking an expert for help. Do they really not care at all?

Answer
In many large universities, the first two years of your courses are taught by teaching assistants who are getting their graduate degrees.  They do not always show the interest in their students because they are teaching because it is required of them.  Professors in big schools often have limited hours to meet with students and they can be somewhat inaccessible.  Smaller colleges almost always have professors who teach the majority of the classes and they usually like to interact with their students and care a lot about helping students succeed.  The classes are smaller and sometimes professors even give out their cell phone numbers to students and invite small groups to their homes so they can get to know everyone better.

http://www.collegedirection.org