We join college with hopeful dreams. We imagine that our days will be filled with challenging new concepts and intellectual banter with our fellow academics and that all the professors are brilliant and mature and on and on and on, right?

Or was that just me?

Either way, no one expects to have their professor be an a**hole right? So what do you do when that is the case?

Well, lucky for you, I happened to encounter one of those during my undergrad tenure and in this post, we look at what you can do when you just can’t get along with your college professor.

What to do when your college professor is a jerk

1. Analyze the problem

First, you need to figure out what the issue is, is it something that you are doing or something that the professor is doing?

2. Rectify the issue on your part

Next, if it’s something you are doing, you need to rectify it. If it’s getting to class late, then try and show up on time and see if grouchy-pants will improve their attitude. 

3. Address it directly

If it’s something they are doing, like being a sucky teacher, then you need to address it directly. Don’t mind what their title is, transferring knowledge is what you are paying them to do and if they suck at doing their job then you owe it to yourself and your financiers to demand better quality service.

This is where my professor and I went left. He was a sucky teacher, which of course didn’t work for me because I love learning. And I was paying for it. I was owed a good education, right? So I just told him directly, and he didn’t take it so well.

4. Report 

What do you do when that happens? You report it.

If this is making you cringe, then you clearly don’t value your money.

College is expensive in most parts of the world. It is definitely an investment, and you owe it to yourself and your financiers to make the most of it.

If your college professor sucks at doing their job, you have to tell them. And if they don’t improve, you report it to the dean, including each time you complained and how nothing changed.

5. Change classes

After that, you drop the class and take it with a professor who is worth your coin. This happened with my Business statistics class. I retook the course with a different professor and I scored an A+ of 95. I keep saying that I uploaded my transcript on LinkedIn so that if you don’t believe me, you can just head over and check for yourself.

College isn’t hard and courses aren’t hard. They only appear to be when you have a bad teacher. When your professor explains concepts in a way that makes you understand, then all courses become manageable. 

6. Tip/Factor to consider

6.1. Time in the semester

You need to know your school policies on dropping a class. For my school, if you drop a class after the third week, you couldn’t get your money back. 

After the fifth week, you couldn’t drop the class at all. You have to do things from a place of knowledge. Know the dropping policies and if you don’t know you can go to the academic advising office and ask them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you don’t have to suffer a lecturer who has zero people skills. You have to feel entitled to a proper education because you are paying for it. Address the issue directly, if that doesn’t work, report and drop the class.

But know the policies around dropping classes for your school. Make this decision from a very informed place.

You have to take responsibility if your professor sucks at their job. You should demand a better quality education because you are paying for it.