Whining Lowers Grades

You are always welcome and encouraged to discuss exams and homeworks with your professor; it is an excellent way to learn from your mistakes. If the grading does not make sense to you, please ask. You may not yet have understood your mistake -- or there may be an error in the grading. However, whining, demanding a regrade instead of requesting one, or saying that you deserve more points is a good way to convince a professor to regrade your entire assignment or exam, perhaps with a more careful attention to your mistakes.

Appointments

If you make an appointment with a professor, keep it. Otherwise, let them know, if possible in advance, that you will not be keeping your appointment. Try: calling their office; sending email; leaving a message with the department secretary.

Late Homeworks

If you put your homework under your professor's door, it will almost certainly get footprints on it. Your professor might notice it, and it might even get graded. A better approach is to discuss the fact that it will be late ahead of time with your professor, and agree on a method of handing it in.

Women and Men

Women professors are not necessarily motherly, or more nurturing in the classroom. That's not their job. Treat them as you would a male professor. "But you don't seem like a professor to me," is not a compliment. They are professors.

Recommendations

If you want a professor to write you a letter of recommendation, ask before listing them as a reference. In fact, ask them far enough in advance (a) for them to write the letter before it's due (a minimum of 2 weeks) or prepare a verbal response, and (b) that you can find another recommender if they say no.

If you want a letter that says more than, "She was a good student, who earned an A," you should be ready to supply your recommenders with

When you ask for a recommendation, offer copies of these to your recommender.