Student Survival Guide

Information: The following article condenses the advice of Michael Leddy for students. 

Here Leddy addresses face‑to‑face or phone conversations, especially office hours.

Key advice:

• Use the correct title and name.
  Unless told otherwise, address them as Professor [Last Name]. If they have a PhD, “Dr.” may also be acceptable, but “Professor” is always safe.

• Prepare before you go.
  Bring your syllabus, assignment, notes, and specific questions. Know what you want from the conversation (clarification, feedback, extension, guidance).

• Respect office hours and time limits.
  Office hours are there for you, but the professor may have other students waiting or other commitments. Get to the point; don’t linger without purpose.

• Be clear, honest, and concise.
  If you’re struggling, say so plainly and specifically: “I’m having trouble understanding the concept of X in chapter 3, especially how it applies to Y.”

• Ask questions, not favors disguised as questions.
  It’s fine to ask about extensions or grade reconsiderations, but do it transparently and politely, and accept that the answer may be “no.”

• Listen actively.
  Take notes, don’t argue over trivial issues, and show that you’re trying to understand and apply their advice.

• Keep boundaries and professionalism.
  No flirting, no excessively personal oversharing, no trying to “game” the relationship. Treat the professor as a professional mentor.

• Follow up if needed.
  You can send a short email afterward summarizing what you understood and what you’ll do next. This shows responsibility.

The underlying theme: professors are approachable but busy professionals. Prepared, respectful conversation turns office hours into a powerful resource.

Consider how students perceive professors - often incorrectly - and how that perception affects learning.

Core ideas:

• Professors are people, not “course delivery systems.”
  They have lives, responsibilities, limits, and personalities. Seeing them as human helps you communicate better.

• They are not enemies or gatekeepers designed to keep you out.
  Their job is to help you learn and uphold academic standards. Many care deeply about their disciplines and students.

• They have multiple roles and constraints.
  Teaching, research, committees, advising, and their own lives. This explains delayed replies, strict policies, or limited flexibility.

• They judge work, not students as people.
  A low grade is feedback on performance, not a verdict on your worth. Respond by improving work, not by assuming hostility.

• Office hours and feedback are invitations to collaboration.
  When professors say “come talk to me,” they are offering serious help, not just fulfilling a formality.

Seeing professors accurately—as professionals trying to facilitate learning under constraints—helps you ask for help effectively and interpret their actions more charitably.

Yagoda focuses on forms of address and why they matter.

Main points:

• Use “Professor [Last Name]” unless clearly told otherwise.
  It’s respectful, accurate in most classroom contexts, and avoids guessing about degrees or ranks.

• “Dr.” is appropriate only if you know they hold a doctoral degree and prefer it.
  Universities and disciplines differ in custom; “Professor” is a safe default in teaching settings.

• Avoid overly casual or incorrect forms:

  • First names, unless explicitly invited.
  • “Mr./Ms.” for someone with a higher academic title.
  • Nicknames or diminutives.

• Pay attention to cues.
  How do they sign emails, how are they referred to on the syllabus, and what do they invite you to use in class?

• Address is part of professional etiquette.
  Getting it right signals that you understand the academic environment and respect the instructor’s role.

Work, Work, Work

“Beware of the saurus” warns against misusing thesauruses.

Key lessons:

• Don’t use a thesaurus as a synonym vending machine.
  Many “synonyms” differ in nuance, register, or context. Blindly swapping words can make your writing odd or wrong.

• Prefer a good dictionary to check meanings and usage.
  Look up unfamiliar words and examples of how they appear in sentences. The dictionary helps you understand, not just replace.

• Use thesaurus entries to jog your memory, not to inflate language.
  If you know there’s a simpler, more precise word you can’t recall, a thesaurus can help you find it. But clarity and accuracy come first.

• Avoid “fancy” substitutes for simple, correct words.
  Replacing “use” with “utilize” or “help” with “facilitate” just to sound smart often backfires. Professors see through inflated diction.

The message: write to be understood; don’t dress your prose up in ill‑fitting words.

“Granularity” here means the level of detail at which you plan and work.

Main ideas:

• Break big tasks into small, concrete actions.
  Don’t just “work on the paper.” Instead: choose a topic, gather three sources, draft an outline, write the introduction, etc.

• Use small units of time with specific goals.
  A 30‑minute block can be “summarize one article” or “re‑write one paragraph,” not “study biology.”

• Granular planning reduces procrastination and anxiety.
  Huge, vague tasks are overwhelming; small, defined steps are doable and give a sense of progress.

• Apply granularity to reading and reviewing.
  Read one section carefully, take brief notes, then move on, rather than vaguely “catching up on reading.”

Main point: students succeed when they think and plan at the right level of detail, not when they imagine one giant, amorphous “work” blob.

“Rule 7” is a short piece of work philosophy. In Leddy’s posts, Rule 7 is typically:

“Learn how to work.”

What this implies:

• Treat learning as work with techniques you can improve.
  Scheduling, note‑taking, drafting, revising, concentration—they are skills, not fixed traits.

• Be intentional about your methods.
  Experiment: what kind of notes help you most, what study pattern keeps you focused, how you handle feedback, etc.

• Working well is at least as important as “being smart.”
  Many strong students are successful because they manage their time, break tasks down, and stick to a process, not because everything comes easily.

Rule 7: success in school is largely about how you work, not just how much you know.

The wondrous worlds of Style

Key rules:

• Put a comma after an introductory element, even if it’s short.
  E.g. “In the morning, we left.” Introductory words, phrases, and clauses get a comma to separate them from the main clause.

• Set off interrupting elements with commas on both sides.
  Any phrase that breaks the flow but isn’t essential to the sentence’s core meaning should be enclosed:
  “My sister, who lives in Boston, is visiting.”

• Separate items in a series with commas.
  “We bought apples, pears, and oranges.” The comma clarifies that these are distinct items.

• Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction joining two complete sentences.
  Coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet.
  “I finished the draft, and I sent it to my professor.”

• Use a semicolon—not a comma—to join two complete sentences without a coordinating conjunction.
  “I finished the draft; I sent it to my professor.” The semicolon marks the boundary between independent clauses.

• At the end of the sentence, ask: is this element essential or extra?
  If it’s extra (non‑restrictive), set it off with a comma. If it’s essential to identifying meaning, don’t.

These rules are chosen because they cure many of the most common student punctuation errors.

• Be consistent in treating dependent vs independent clauses.
  Independent clauses can stand alone; dependent clauses cannot. Punctuate accordingly.

• Handle conjunctive adverbs carefully.
  Words like however, therefore, moreover often follow a semicolon and are usually followed by a comma when they connect two sentences:
  “I was late; however, I still caught most of the lecture.”

• Use colons to introduce lists or explanations only when what precedes is a complete sentence.
  “She had only one goal: to pass the exam.”

• Avoid comma splices and run‑ons.
  Don’t connect two sentences with just a comma. Use a coordinating conjunction, a semicolon, or make two sentences.

The emphasis remains: punctuation is there to show sentence structure and meaning - not to decorate.

Core techniques:

• Identify the main idea and say it plainly.
  Many student sentences bury the main point under qualifiers and abstractions. Start by locating the core subject and verb.

• Break one overloaded sentence into two or more.
  If you have several ideas jammed together, separate them instead of cramming everything into one monster sentence.

• Replace vague nominalizations with concrete actions.
  Turn “the implementation of a strategy” into “we implemented a strategy.” Verbs are clearer than clusters of nouns.

• Cut redundant and empty phrases.
  Phrases like “in terms of,” “the fact that,” “due to the reason that” often add length without meaning.

• Simplify long prepositional chains.
  E.g. “the aspect of the problem in regard to the issue of” can often be reduced to one or two prepositions.

The goal here is clear thinking in clear sentences. If a sentence is “stuffed,” your reader has to do too much work.

Exams

Examples of “how to do horribly”:

• Don’t study until the last minute.
  Rely on a marathon cram the night before instead of steady review.

• Ignore what the professor has emphasized all semester.
  Study random details rather than main ideas, themes, and core concepts.

• Skip readings and expect the exam to be easy.
  Assume lectures alone are enough, even when the syllabus stresses reading.

• Don’t practice the exam format.
  If the exam will include essays, never practice writing one; if it has problems, never solve them ahead of time.

• Arrive late, unprepared, or exhausted.
  Stay up all night, eat poorly, and show up with no pens, calculator, or other required materials.

• Refuse to read the instructions carefully.
  Answer fewer questions than required, misinterpret prompts, or spend too much time on minor parts.

Flipping the usual advice makes the consequences vivid: these behaviors are common, and they are fatal for exam performance.

Key strategies:

• Start preparing early and review regularly.
  Collect notes, readings, and past assignments weeks in advance. Organize them around course themes or major concepts.

• Identify what the exam is likely to test.
  Look at lectures, assignments, and study guides. Ask: what has the professor emphasized, repeated, or graded heavily?

• Make active, not passive, study materials.
  Create summaries, concept maps, sample questions, or practice problems. Don’t just reread; test yourself.

• Practice under exam‑like conditions.
  Time yourself writing an essay or solving a set of problems. This builds speed and confidence.

• Clarify uncertainties before the exam.
  Use office hours or email to ask targeted questions, well before the test day.

• Take care of your body and logistics.
  Sleep, eat, and plan how you’ll get to the exam. Bring required tools, arrive early enough to settle in.

• Read instructions carefully and budget time.
  Scan the whole exam first, estimate how long each part should take, and stick to your plan.

• Answer what you can fully and clearly.
  When writing essays, state a clear thesis, structure your answer, and use relevant evidence from the course. For problems, show your work.

The recurring theme in all of this advice: success comes from disciplined, thoughtful work practices, not luck or last‑minute heroics.

Links

Contacting your Professor

• How to e-mail a professor (Michael Leddy)
• How to talk to a professor (Michael Leddy)
• Seeing Professors Clearly (Michael Leddy)
• What Should We Call the Professor? (Ben Yagoda)

Work, Work, Work

• Beware of the saurus (Michael Leddy)
• Granularity for students (Michael Leddy)
• Rule 7 (Michael Leddy)

The wondrous worlds of Style

• How to punctuate a sentence (Michael Leddy)
• How to punctuate more sentences (Michael Leddy)
• How to unstuff a sentence (Michael Leddy)

Exams

• How to do horribly on a final exam (Michael Leddy)
• How to do well on a final exam (Michael Leddy)