Have you ever taken a class where the professor was amazing at helping you learn or one where your professor was just really cool? We’ve all been there. If you’re looking to stay in touch with these badass educators following completion of the course, here are 10 tips to help keep you in their inner circles.
1. Sign up for another class with them
This is the easy one – just sign up for another class with them. Odds are the class you’re in isn’t the only one that they teach, so the best way to keep up with them after wrapping things up is to just start a new adventure together. The big plus side is that you’re walking into this one with a relationship already built up with them. You’re pretty much best friends already.
2. Attempt to become a TA or a tutor for one of their courses
If you turned out to be pretty good at this teacher’s class, here’s another way to stay in touch with them, even though it requires immersing yourself once again into their work: become basically an assistant professor for them. If your grades are good enough, apply to be a TA for your professor’s course, and you’ll get to work closely and one-on-one with them in matters relating to the course. Tutoring doesn’t offer this close form of relationship but it does give you a reason to email them and meet up – if you need a bit of a refresher on the material, who better to help you than the person who taught it to you in the first place?
3. Shoot them a friendly email during break
If you’re interested in keeping up with your professors after the course is over, the odds are that you’ll want more than just a professional relationship with them – you probably want to become something vaguely resembling friends. That’s tough to picture because professors are seen as these authoritative figures that are above us students in social hierarchy, but in reality they’re just regular people who couldn’t get famous and ended up teaching instead – like all of us will be one day! The best way to start easing yourself into a more casual acquaintanceship with them is through a friendly email over break, checking in with them and the likes of such.
4. Visit their office hours next semester
Another, more personal way to establish a more casual relationship with your former professors? Visit their offices! Engage in conversation with them, let them know what you’re up to, find out what their recommendations for you are, and just generally chat and hang out with a neat person. Your professors will always be able to offer you advice and will happily do so, so if you need that kind of thing from them, don’t be scared to just drop in.
5. Ask them to write you a letter of recommendation
Want to build up a post-class rapport but are too nervous to do any of the above? Ask them to write you a letter of recommendation. It’s not only an excuse to talk to them, it’s an excuse to get them to say wonderful things about you. That’s a win for your friendship count and a win for your self-esteem.
6. Add them on LinkedIn
The year is 2026. You’re unemployed and on LinkedIn searching for a job. You see a post by Mrs. Professor, a professor you absolutely adored in college. You had connected with her on a professional relationship so you don’t forget each other. You send Mrs. Professor a message, and suddenly you’re reminded of college and the lost innocence of your youth. You used to be so precocious. You and Mrs. Professor have a great conversation and you remember how cool she was. Mrs. Professor dies relatively soon after you had reconnected. It is hard to see someone you idolized be gone just like that but you cherish the memories you shared with her. You’re motivated to make her memory and honor proud. They worked hard on you, and now you will work hard for them. You’ll get that new job.
7. If they’re cool with it, add them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, MySpace, Trivia Crack or your friend group
Your 68-year-old macroeconomics professor? Probably not going to be receptive. However, some professors are ridiculously cool when it comes to maintaining friend-like bonds after their time as your professor is over, and if so, capitalize on that opportunity. These people have so much professional and life advice to offer you, so if they’re fine with being your friend, you better beg them for that Facebook connection.
8. Just show up to their house for dinner one night
Find out where they live and just show up around dinnertime! Everyone loves company. There are no downsides to this – you get a meal, you get some one-on-one time, and you get to see what their house is like. You’ve definitely wondered about it. Trust me, just popping up on their doorstep is not, in any way, a mistake.
9. Get legally adopted by them
Draft all the papers yourself and forge your professor’s signature – they’ll be cool with it. Now, they’re your legal guardian, and you can grow up under their tutelage and mentorship not out of professional responsibility but out of personal attachment to their child. It warms my heart to think about it.
10. Become them
Study their behaviors. Document them. Follow them. Memorize their patterns. Then, one day, apply everything you’ve learned to become basically a carbon copy of them. Now, your professors are with you in everything that you do and everywhere that you go, because they are you. Ever thought you were unqualified for a position? With their credentials, you’ll probably never worry again. Ever wanted a nice family life? Just take theirs. This really is the best way to keep in touch with your professors after class – slowly become like them and then take over their lives. After all of the proper plastic surgeries, of course.