Last Updated On: October 28th, 2026
One of the most underrated opportunities in college is an instructor’s office hours. Professors offer office hours as a way to help students be successful, but they often end up sitting in an empty room or Zoom meeting. As a student, you are given a prime opportunity to meet with the actual expert that is running your course, developing your assignments, and generally grading your work. All you need is a guide to help you maximize this resource.
Why don’t students go?
There is a common belief that asking for help shows a lack of effort or intelligence. In reality, using your available resources effectively is an important skill to develop, and asking for help is shown to lead to success. Having been through many years of postgraduate schooling themselves, instructors know the benefit of office hours, and your attendance at them will reflect well on you.
The new experience of showing up to a teacher’s office hours can make you nervous or insecure. Having a plan can help reduce the fear of not knowing what to say or of feeling unprepared; however, it is important to note that having a plan is not required for a productive meeting. A desire to improve in the course is enough, especially for your first visit.
A common concern about attending office hours is that you will bother your instructor by attending. If you come into office hours and your professor is eating or working on something else, know that they are doing these to fill time. The majority of instructors want very much for their students to get questions answered and are thrilled that you are taking the initiative to be successful in their course. There are, unfortunately, exceptions to this generalization, and we’ll talk about that later, but most educators want you to come to office hours and are quite understanding of first-time jitters or confusion on how to start.
What can you get from office hours?
Office hours are times to meet with faculty. Most often students use the time to work on a particular assignment, like homework, a review sheet, or lab, or they seek clarification on a concept, often before a test or quiz but occasionally after a lecture on a topic. There is no requirement for you to go for only these reasons, however. While an instructor’s office hours are not the place to go for counseling or socializing, the work you do in office hours can build a professional relationship with faculty members. These relationships are valuable not only for course assistance, but also for letters of recommendation, research opportunities, and academic or related career advice. Office hours are also great opportunities to go deeper into the course material and get recommendations for resources related to topics related to the instructor’s expertise.
Preparing for Productive Office Hours
There are things that you can do to prepare for a productive office hours visit. If you have specific questions that you want answered, note them down. Do not assume that you will remember them during the meeting. Your organization will be noted by your instructor. Ideally, you will review your course materials before your visit so that you can note specific areas of concern or interest. It can be embarrassing to ask a question that is already answered explicitly in the course material; however, as long as you have done a review, most instructors will understand if you missed a section of the notes or a page on the website. If you are missing a provided resource, then this is a great time to learn where the materials are located with your instructor’s assistance.
If you are meeting with your instructor for a research-related question, it is helpful to read the material available about the professor’s research in advance. You can find a summary on the college’s website, and there are often links to publications there too. Additionally, you can use the library to search for your professor’s published articles.
To make sure that you retain important information, bring your favorite note-taking materials: tablet, notebook, or loose-leaf paper, for example. You can gather this together with any course material you have that may come up in your discussion so that you do not lose time looking for resources you want.
What to Expect
Not knowing what to expect can be nerve-wracking for your first office hour meeting with a new instructor. Experiences can vary dramatically, so you want to be prepared for a variety of situations.
Often you may show up as the only student, and it can be awkward to be the focus of your instructor’s attention. In this case, your instructor may be doing something else when you arrive, but you are the purpose of office hours, and they will turn their attention to you. Always introduce yourself by name and course, unless you have been meeting regularly with this particular professor or there is another reason that they would be expected to know you.
If you have particular questions, you can let them know, and your office hours will start. It is also fine to say that you are coming just to say hi, introduce yourself, and see what office hours are like. Office hours are not classes, so you do not have to attend the whole time. There is no need to apologize for being late unless you scheduled a particular time. Additionally, feel free to leave when you desire.
It may be that some of your classmates will be in attendance. In this case, introduce yourself when your instructor acknowledges you, and share the time with the other students. If they are asking questions that you already understand, it can still be useful to get your teacher’s insight into the answers. You may even get ideas of potential test questions! Even if you do not have any questions of your own, attending office hours with others can be useful for better understanding of class materials. Allow course questions to take priority over digging deeper into topics. If you have come to ask extended questions, it is perfectly fine for you to leave meetings where your classmates are working on course material.
Sometimes instructors might have a full house of students, usually around finals or before a test or large project due date. In this case, you can get a lot of help by listening to your teacher’s answers and advice for other students, even if you don’t have or get to ask many questions. Often your classmates will have similar questions to you or they may have ones that you haven’t thought of yet, so remember to take notes!
If you can’t get your questions answered or you defer priority, you can follow up with your instructor during their next office hours or through email. Mention that you had attended the office hours on the previous date but didn’t ask for that reason, or that the conversation inspired a follow-up question.
What not to do during office hours and what to do instead
Do not expect your instructor to do your work. “I don’t understand this question” is too vague.
Instead, tell your instructor what paragraph, equation, term, or event you don’t understand. If there is a homework problem that relates to what you don’t understand, bring that up. Mention what you do understand and where you get lost. Sometimes the problem is not knowing how to start a problem, so mention that concern.
Don’t trust your memory about material covered.
Instead, be ready to make notes about your questions, other students’ questions, instructor responses, other student responses, and new questions that you think of during the meeting.
Don’t expect your professor to carry the conversation.
Instead, plan to participate during office hours, working with your professor to make progress in course understanding or another goal that you have. Sometimes in crowded office hours, you will experience a review session that turns into a lecture, but always have an idea of what you want to accomplish in the time.
Do not expect your teacher to re-lecture a class that you missed.
Instead, get classmate notes, read the text, and do all your work the best that you can, then bring remaining questions to your teacher. Highlight areas where you are confused.
Variations on Office Hours
Tutoring Hours or TA Office Hours
Your instructor may not be your only resource for additional meeting times.
- If the course has a teaching assistant (TA), there may be TA Office Hours to attend. These will be like professors’ office hours, but topics will be more focused on the section of the course where you work with the TA, typically a lab section.
- Some classes have assigned class tutors. These tutors are experts in your course, but do not teach you directly. They are great resources for extra help on assignments and clarification on topics.
- Tutoring Centers are more general. Although they may have tutors that are familiar with the course you are taking, the tutors may be more focused on general subjects like math, writing, or computer skills. For these Centers, you will want to be very clear on the type of help you want. If your question relates to a particular class, make sure that you have everything with you or that you can find the materials quickly in your online course.
Office hours by appointment
Many professors have office hours by appointment either instead of or in addition to standard times. If they do, you want to be respectful of their time when setting office hours.
- Schedule times in advance: Give your instructor time to plan their schedule. Adding students for last minute office hours may be possible, but generally, you will want to plan your appointments at least a day or two in advance.
- Show up for your time: Your instructor has many demands on their time. If they are setting times by appointment, this is even more relevant. If you schedule, make it a priority to attend, and set any alarms or notes in your planner that you need to make sure that you will be on time.
- Communicate clearly if you need to change or cancel your time: Professors are human, and they understand that things happen. If you have a major conflict come up, let your instructor know as quickly as possible, show appreciation for their time, and know what you plan as far as rescheduling or canceling.
Uncooperative Instructors
Some instructors, unfortunately, do not work well with office hours. If you find that your professor is resistant to or unproductive in office hours, plan meetings with other resources or ask your classmates about their resources. You may find that a study group with your classmates can be better than working with a recalcitrant instructor.
Consider office hours one of your regular course strategies. Plan to attend regularly. You do not need to go to office hours every time, but any time that you can find a question or topic to discuss, any time that you want clarification or have uncertainty, you can confidently make use of this fantastic resource!
