Office hours are arguably the most underused resource available to students.

With that said, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be using what is perhaps one of the biggest tools at your disposal to understanding the material and getting a better grade. Basically, if you’re not using it, you better be getting an A on the next exam.

Office hours are your opportunity to get one-on-one instruction on course material. These are specific times that instructors (professors, TAs, etc.) set aside to make themselves available to students.

A professor will typically announce his/her office hours and location on the first day of class and in the syllabus. This information should also be available on the professor’s website.

A Valuable, Yet Often Underused Resource
Throughout the term you may find your professor complaining to the class about being lonely during their office hours. This is your sign that they want visitors. Here they are reaching out to offer a valuable service (that you are technically paying for) only to have it be neglected by the class.

Your Professor During Office Hours.

Simply put, not enough students take advantage of office hours. Either students are too busy, too lazy, or too embarrassed and afraid they will ask a stupid question or be called out about missing the class when the information was covered.

Utilizing Office Hours

With set office hours, it’s comforting to know there is a time and place you will always have access to your professor.

To make the most of an office hours visit, you’ll need to do a little preparing beforehand. This includes coming in with specific questions and other items you would like to go over with the instructor. Keep a list of questions and concerns to discuss during your visit. This ensures your meeting will run as smoothly and quickly as possible.

The best way to prepare for this meeting is to review your class notes and attempt to do some of the homework before your visit, so you can identify exactly what it is you are having trouble with. Sometimes students are so lost they don’t know where to start. This is fine and something where a few visits to office hours can get the student back on track.

Even if you don't have any questions about course material, stop by your professor’s office to say hi and introduce yourself. This way you’ll know where the office is located should you ever need to visit throughout the term and the introduction will help your professor get to know you by name. This is especially important in larger classes (but equally as important in smaller classroom settings as well). This initial introduction helps establish a connection, which could be beneficial later on. Professors are generally pretty welcoming and accommodating to students who come in for office hours.

While attending office hours is not required, if the effort isn’t made to show up, you leave yourself no excuse at the end of the term when grades are dispersed and you are left with a grade you are not satisfied with.

Benefits of Using Office Hours

Straight Up: Attending office hours puts you at an advantage over other students.

Students who utilize office hours often do better on exams and papers, are more satisfied with their classes, and feel more connected to their college, classroom and professor. It is an opportunity to show instructors your enthusiasm for the material. A place you can follow up on aspects of the class you find compelling by asking questions that go beyond what the lecture and textbook cover.

Help Preparing for Exams

Take advantage of office hours and discussion sections, especially before big tests. The week before exams and finals are times in which your professor will be in high demand. This is why sometimes a professor will schedule additional office hours the week before a test.

It is essential to visit during these times because professors are typically in the process of determining what will be on the exam and can give away clues about what it will cover. If you can cut out material you don't need to focus on for the upcoming exam, you'll save yourself hours of study time in exchange for the short 30min investment of time for an office hours visit. Knowing what to study (and what not to) before a test can be very beneficial when it comes time to cram for the exam.

Build a Connection

In the digital world, people are losing touch with interpersonal communication. By taking the time to go into office hours you get a face-to-face connection with your professor. Going in and personally introducing yourself helps your instructor put a name to a face, which can only be beneficial unless you plan on pulling the "Do you even know my name?" at the end of the term.

One-on-one instruction creates the prime environment to build on the student-teacher relationship. If a positive connection is established in your meetings, the professor can help with letters of recommendation, job offers/leads, and having them as an advisor for independent study.

Common Questions about Office Hours

Should I email professors ahead of time to let them know I am stopping by?
While it is a good gesture, office hours are open for you to stop by. You can call/email to make sure they are available and not already with another student, but for the most part they sit there and expect students to show up, therefore no appointment is needed. A heads up email is nice, but not necessary.

How should I approach a professor during office hours?
When dropping in unannounced, your best bet is to show up at the beginning of office hours. If you show up and your professor is already assisting another student, knock or otherwise politely announce your presence upon arrival. Don't feel like you're being a nuisance, these are hours specifically set aside for you and your classmates. If you find the office too busy, politely ask to make an appointment.

Things to Remember

• Be courteous and respectful.
• If you make an appointment, arrive on time.
• Address the professor by his or her last name with the appropriate title unless asked otherwise.
• Value their time by being prepared and staying on task.
• Avoid waiting until the day before the test or the day before an assignment is due to seek assistance.
• Show up early to office hours and bring your work with you. This way you can get the help you need and continue working right there in the office while the new understanding of the material is fresh on your mind. This also allows you to ask and get immediate help with any other questions that come about while advancing through your studies.
• Thank them for their time.

What Professors are Saying

Here's what some top professors at University of Michigan are saying about office hours:

Students should go to office hours because…
…we're a friendly bunch; but really, some people learn best by discussing the topic and getting one-on-one attention, and with large courses, office hours are really the only way to do this. …your professor will get to know who you are and you might be more comfortable asking them to write you a letter of recommendation later.

- Brenda Gunderson, Statistics Department at University of Michigan

The most productive office hour interactions seem to begin with a student pulling out a short, focused list of specific questions. It is helpful if they are able to reference a particular lecture or reading. This makes it possible to put the answer into a relevant context. Written questions are great strategy for focusing the meeting and it gives shy students a sort of script. Often the initial discussion will generate other questions and, ideally, the student walks away with a broader understanding of the topic.

- Denise Guillot, Anthropology Department at University of Michigan

As an instructor of a large lecture course, I value office hours because it gives me an opportunity to speak directly with students from the class. In particular, it gives me the opportunity to better gauge how well students are understanding the material from lectures. If I find that students are not understanding the material, then I can respond to that in subsequent lectures.

- David Smith, History Department at University of Michigan

Why should students go to office hours? I wouldn't just say "go", I'd say "go early". I get popular just before exams, but at other times am sometimes sitting in my office waiting for students to stop by. It's an opportunity to be engaged --- to review class material, expand on what you learned in class, or just talk about the discipline more generally.

- Jan Gerson, Economics Department at University of Michigan

Things can get pretty boring during the winter months. The restlessness, boredom, and additional time spent indoors create a prime environment for mischievous acts. Students in the dorms with too much free time on their hands can only lead to one thing: Dorm Room Pranks.

Here's a look at some of the most popular dorm room pranks pulled on fellow dorm mates.

10 Classic Dorm Room Pranks

1. The Upside Down Dorm Room Prank

2. The Foiled Dorm Room Prank

3. The Post-it Note Prank

4. Water Cups Prank

5. Multiple Alarm Clocks Prank

6. Tug of War Dorm Room Door Prank

7. Bowl of Water to the Ceiling Prank
A classic dorm prank that involves getting students to hold a bowl of water against the ceiling with a stick.

8. The Empty Dorm Room Prank
This is why you don't leave your dorm room unlocked.

9. Dorm Room Foam Prank

10. Dorm filled with Newspaper Prank

While the ranking methodology is quite trivial, the Princeton Review likes to do an annual ranking of the Best College Newspapers. The "best" in this case meaning the most popular, as the methodology for the ranking is based on how popular the newspaper is among the 122,000 students surveyed at 376 colleges.

Here's a roundup of the top 20 college newspapers for 2011.

1. The Daily Tar Heel - University of North Carolina

2. Yale Daily News - Yale University

3. The Badger Herald - University of Wisconsin-Madison

4. The Brown Daily Herald - Brown University

5. The Battalion - Texas A&M University

6. The Daily Collegian - Penn State University

7. The Daily Northwestern - Northwestern University

8. The Diamondback - University of Maryland

9. The Independent Florida Alligator - University of Florida

10. The Daily Texan - University of Texas at Austin

11. The Minnesota Daily, University of Minnesota
12. The Post, Ohio University
13. The Cornell Daily Sun, Cornell University
14. The Daily Mississippian, University of Mississippi
15. The Daily Campus, University of Connecticut
16. The University Daily Kansan, Kansas University
17. The Daily Gamecock, University of South Carolina
18. The Daily Orange, Syracuse University
19. The Hilltop, Howard University
20. The Tufts Daily, Tufts University

America is fascinated with college startups. So much so that the college startup has almost become the new American dream. After hearing captivating stories of how websites like facebook and Google were started, it raises the entrepreneurial spirit inside of all of us.

Here is a young group of websites, nearly all founded by college students, who see a problem or a niche in the world of higher education and are dedicating countless hours to their project. Some of the founders have even decided to forgo college all together to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.

While not all of these websites may be well known yet, many of them offer useful tools and applications that make college life easier and more productive.

Here's a look at some up and coming college websites to watch in 2012:

CourseKit

Three students at the University of Pennsylvania dropped out of school to start CourseKit, a course management system with emphasis on social networking. The team raised $1 million in funding for the project, which launched in August 2011. The founders want to make course management better than the standard Blackboard, a system they say is always crashing, terribly laid out, and not very user friendly. Their main objective solves a problem that troubles large universities nationwide: They want a 300 person lecture to feel like a 20 person seminar. Getting students to communicate with each other in the classroom is the key to better learning and CourseKit makes this happen.

InClass

InClass is a free mobile app designed to be a student organizer. Students can download the application at iTunes and use it to manage schedules, notes, and assignments. Notes can be taken within the app by text, audio or video and can also be used to record class lectures. InClass is perfect for students focused on productivity and GTD. The app is used worldwide and is available in multiple languages.

Kno

Kno has been around for a few years so it's hard to call them up and coming. However, they recently launched a new business plan, ditching their dual-screen textbook reader aimed at the college crowd. They have since turned their focus to software, designing applications for viewing/managing eTextbooks on devices like the iPad, picking up an additional $30 million in funding in the process. In addition to viewing textbooks, students are able to take notes, create and take quizzes, and share materials using the Kno application.

Acceptly

Acceptly is a free college prep and application manager geared toward high school students (and their parents). Acceptly breaks down the college application process into manageable steps, using gaming and social features to keep students engaged, while offering suggestions on how to improve chances of acceptance. Acceptly is a fun, yet serious tool that guides students through one of the biggest decisions they will make in their lifetime.

OneSchool

OneSchool is a mobile application for iPhones, Androids, and Windows Mobile Phones that helps students connect to people, places and things around their campus. Founded in February 2011 at Penn State, the application is currently available at 50 colleges. Some of the features in the app include real-time bus tracking, an interactive map of classroom locations and local eateries, a student and staff directory, and campus news. OneSchool is the one app that every first-year college student should have for getting around and staying informed.

Citelighter

Citelighter is your tool for writing papers more efficiently and keeping research thoroughly organized. Citelighter is a downloaded as a toolbar for your web browser to assist with gathering research and citing sources. You can highlight any text on a webpage relevant to your research and “capture” it. The application will automatically grab the necessary bibliographic info from the source. Capture, organize, and create is the simple three step process to gathering sources and outputting them in multiple bibliographic formats (APA, MLA, Chicago) with Citelighter doing most of the work for you.

Swaapr

Three UCSB students created Swaapr in an effort to help college students get the textbook they need without having to pay for it by swapping with other students on campus. The campus-based marketplace is organized onto a map so you are able to see where the person you want to swap with is located. Students can post the books they have and the books they want and connect through Swaapr. Last spring their business idea took first place at Bay Area Startup Weekend, a competition for tech startups. The startup is yet another example of college kids taking time off of college to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams (like CourseKit above).

Internmatch

Equipped with a beautifully designed website and an additional half million in funding, Internmatch allows both internship seekers and employers to search for a perfect match. The website offers searchable internship listings with tools and guides to help with the internship process. On the employer side, the service focuses on helping startups, small businesses, and non-profits find and connect with highly skilled interns and guarantees to match companies with interns in 60 days or their money back.

Piazza

Piazza is an online Q&A platform designed to connect students, TAs, and professors so students in the class can get questions answered quickly anytime and anywhere. The recent release of their mobile app helps keep classrooms even more connected and engaged. Both students and professors can set up Piazza hubs for their classes. Financing from prominent investors and word of mouth have helped the service quickly expand to many colleges across the nation, with a large user base at Stanford and MIT.

Binksty

Binksty is your one-stop shop for managing student loans. Users can access all of their federal and private loans in one spot making the process and organization of paying back loans simpler. With student debt spiraling out of control, Binksty arrives at a much needed time where (sadly) a tool is needed to manage a burdensome debt that needs to be taken seriously.

Curious to see how much the ranking would change, we took our list of the 100 most expensive schools and found the average need-based grant given at each school as listed at the College Board. This data was then applied to the total cost of each school in an effort to find the net price: the cost after scholarships and grants are deducted.

Just because a college is listed among the most expensive colleges, doesn’t mean a student will be paying that amount. As mentioned in the ranking, they are sticker prices. As you will see below, many colleges provide substantial grants that greatly reduce the cost of attending. (Though, about one-third of full-time students do pay the full published tuition price with no grant assistance. Source: College Board)

Back in June, the Department of Education released a ranking of sorts highlighting colleges with the highest overall net price. (See: collegecost.ed.gov/catc) While the effort in trying to make college costs more transparent was praised, many noticed the data was from the 2008-2009 school year, making the “ranking” somewhat outdated. Being that we’ve already released tuition numbers for the 2011-2012 school year, we thought we’d take a look at how the rankings would mix up based on their net price.

To find the net price we apply the average need-based grant. Remember, the amount each student receives will vary per student. Use net price calculators, required on every college website as of October 29th, to best determine what you will actually be paying.

The main idea here is some colleges aren't as expensive as you would think. Take Harvard for example. While it sounds expensive, the net price at the school is very reasonable: the average grant covers 79% of the total cost, putting Harvard at a more affordable cost of just over $11,000 per year. Not bad for a college regarded as one of the nation's best.

Other examples:
• Sarah Lawrence College, the nation's most expensive (by sticker price), barely makes the top 25 when adjusting the ranking by net price.
• While Columbia University is depicted as an expensive school being listed at #3 on the most recent ranking, the average grant drops the net price considerably (85 spots in the ranking, the biggest downward move on the list).

Campus Grotto would like to highlight the following colleges, who, while being portrayed as being expensive by sticker price, provide grants that amount to more than two-thirds the total cost of attendance.

Most Expensive by Net Price

Here are the 10 most expensive colleges by net price for 2011-2012.

How the Top 100 Fare in Net Price

Net price for each school after the average grant is applied to the total cost of attendance for the 2011-2012 school year.

Remember, this is just looking at the top 100 schools from our ranking of most expensive colleges by total price. There are a few notable schools not included in this data set that would rank fairly high according to net price. After a quick analysis, the following schools would place among the top 25 (in the 14-25 range) in net price: Catholic University, University of Hartford, Lynn University, Quinnipiac University, Santa Clara University, and St. Joseph's University. Perhaps in the following years we will look at a larger sample of colleges when determining which colleges have the highest overall net price.

The Biggest Movers

Moved Down: Schools that are portrayed as expensive when ranking by sticker price, but drop considerably when ranking the same 100 by net price.

Moved Up: Schools that moved noticeably further up the ranking when adjusted by net price.

Out of curiosity to see how the rankings would change, we took our list of 100 most expensive colleges and found the average need-based grant given at each school as listed on the College Board website.

The average need-based grant given by each school is listed below, from largest to smallest. As expected, schools that are known to provide great financial assistance (Harvard, Yale, etc.) are listed toward the top, with Harvard taking the top spot.

Next, we will be applying this grant data to the total cost of each school in an effort to find the net price roughly paid for need-based students. We will then re-rank this new list and highlight any major changes between the two rankings (sticker price vs. net price).

According to the College Board:
For the 2011-2012 school year, full-time undergraduates received an estimated average of about $5,750 in grant aid from all sources and federal tax benefits at public four-year institutions. The average grant aid given at private nonprofit four-year institutions was $15,530.

Highest Average Need-Based Grant