Finding an Academic Mentor
By Path Mentor A.G, a graduate of Columbia University majored in Art History (Originally Posted on June 4, 2019)
What if I could tell you there was one thing that would help you boost your grade, strengthen your letters of recommendation, and help you figure out your future? There is! Office hours.
Reflecting on my college experience two weeks before graduation, my time at Columbia was defined not only by engaging extra-curriculars, my beloved major, and the incredible colleagues and friends I met here. The single most impactful element of my college experience—if I had to choose—was the professors I worked with. Many of these relationships became mentorships, where one-on-one meetings stretched into multiple hours, and often came with book, film, and even restaurant recommendations. Their impact extends well beyond my undergraduate degree: as a budding scholar, my career trajectory and my postgraduate plans are heavily influenced by the professors whose wisdom I sought, and whose advice I ultimately followed.
My academic interests, subfields within my major where I focused heavily were often inspired by my professors as well. Sometimes, this occurred in very obvious ways, as the seminars they offered subsequently became the areas I knew most about. But equally often, my interests stemmed from the application of their methodologies. To concretize my point: I plan to earn a PhD in German modern art. This is not because I took a class on German modern art, but because I took multiple classes with art history professors who were interested in the interplay of politics and aesthetics, a line of inquiry I found rich and engaging. I was able to apply to the subfield of German modernism using the tools I gained by learning from these professors.
Such levels of specificity are, of course, much easier in college than in high school, where the majority of one’s course load is set in stone. But it’s equally true that a close relationship with teachers in high school can have incredibly productive, impactful, and positive results on the college process. The positive impact is manifold. Going to office hours or asking to meet outside of class demonstrates your interest while giving you access to additional information that can help with in-class assignments. Having a preexisting relationship can make it easier to seek help if you are struggling with material or received a disappointing grade. But the biggest impact on the college application process is that developing a close relationship with your teacher can help them write even stronger letters of recommendation. It allows them to understand your broader goals, personal history, and motivation for applying to that specific college or colleges, which in turn gives them a chance to comment on your capacity for success, and the significance of your strengths. It allows them to tell your story in a way that is complementary to your own essays and supplemental essay answers. In short, these letters have the capacity to make your story as strong as it possibly can be.
I’ll end with some steps that would be helpful to build relationships where there are none:
Go to office hours! Open with a question about the material you’re learning, then it’s much easier to move on to talk about related interests, your life outside of class, their academic interests, etc.
Review your assignments with teachers after class
Ask them for advice for academic pursuits, even if it does not directly pertain to the material they are teaching you
Join clubs run by your favorite teachers
Don’t be afraid to ask! You may be surprised by what you find out.
Keep in touch with teachers even when you leave high school. Those relationships can last a long time!
Make yourself a rule of thumb, like going to each teacher’s office hours once a semester.
Build this practice in high school, and keep it up in college. It’s something people recommend all the time to college freshman, but it can be a hard practice to learn when you’re also adjusting to a new school. Start early!
