Taking class with advisor

[kco29]

Hi all,

Course selection is right around the corner, and I am just trying to firm up my schedule for next year. I had a question: I'm a MA in Geography student, already have my advisor. I am taking 3 classes first semester -- 1 require Core course, and then 2 other elective Geography courses.

One course I'm interested in is taught by my advisor. There are 2 other courses that look interesting and align with my research interests that I am considering. My question is: Should I take a course taught by my advisor, or should I diversify, get to know as many professors as possible, and take the other 2 courses? I only need to take 3 courses (Core+2 electives) to satisfy my coursework requirements, since I'm doing the Thesis option (as opposed to Major Research Paper). Additionally, I'd like to continue on and do my PhD at which I'm doing my MA -- so it might be good to get to know more people when application time rolls around.

Any insight you guys could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and hope everyone is having a great summer!

[Dal PhDer]

Hi there,

I think there are many things you need to think about when choosing your courses, and some of them you have brought up:

* Is the content of the class directly related (and usable) for your theis/research

* Is there an experience/lab/technique that would be good for you to learn/know/experience/understand

* Is the professor a potential contact for you for future work

* Is the class an early morning class

* What is the work load to relevance factor?

Personally, i would hate to take a course from my supervisor. I would find it VERY stressful and always feel like I was being graded extra hard (because I had to prove to my supervisor I was an A++ student). But this is just me, I wouldn't like always feeling like I am under a microscope...and I found graduate level courses hard and stressful enough without that added pressure.

I might chat to your professor...as he might expect you to take the course if it's directly related to your studies.

[TMP]

I would kind of agree with DaPHDer. I've done it before at the BA and MA levels and will be doing one for this coming academic year in my PhD program. Personally for me, I like that extra push to work harder because I want to outshine other students. I'm just competitive that way... also it just brings the best out in me.

Certainly, I would say to your adviser, "Well, I need to take that Core course. I'm still figuring out what to take for electives...." Pause for a moment and see how your adviser responses. If he acts like he doesn't give a damn, then say what you really want to say and include your adviser's course in the mix and see how he responses from there. If still nothing, then he REALLY doesn't give a damn so you should feel free to take what you want to take and be sure to acknowledge that his course looks interesting but just doesn't fit in with your current goals (which is to get to know other professors).

But if he does say "Take my course" then you DO have to take it. It's an opportunity for him to see how you interact with your colleagues and respond under (additional) stress. My adviser is still adamant that I take her research seminar with other students in the spring.... without thinking much of whether or not I'd be really ready (which I am not so sure). She thinks i"m ready.... which means a little extra stress for me to work hard this fall to make sure I get my language up to speed and find a decent research topic (that may be a departure from my current project).

In my experience form being in such classes where I've seen advisers and advisees, it's quite interesting to watch the dynamics. There are advisers who DO want their advisees in their classes because it puts pressure on them to be the best teachers possible. They are more likely to share their experiences as scholars. They are more likely to be clearer in their intellectual thinking. They are more likely to actively engage the class to assure that the advisee is getting all sorts of feedback. (I had one POI say that he loves seminars for his advisees because they get a variety of feedback, not just him.) It is true that in such cases, the adviser is more likely to engage the advisee than other students, largely out of assuring that the advisee IS learning but also is capable of disagreeing/agreeing with the adviser in front of the class in a professional way. It's also an opportunity to be treated as colleagues.

If your adviser is anything like that, he's a rock star.

Remember, it's not all about you.

[GreenePony]

I think Dal PhDer and ticklmepink gave great advice.

I would definitely talk to your adviser to see what they think. I'm not sure you even need to mention that you're hesitant because they're teaching it, just see their opinion about you taking it at all. If they have concerns because they are the instructor, I'm sure they will let you know.

This fall, of the two classes I'm taking in my department, I'm taking one with my adviser and one with the adivser of a friend. She is also taking the same classes so runs into the same adviser as instructor situation. For me I'm seeing it as a way to make sure I don't get lost in the department (both are great resources and well known in my area of museums) especially since in UG neither my major or minor adviser knew me that well until I took small classes with them. The benefits of taking a class from them are outweighing any possible awkwardness from being an advisee.

[TakeruK]

Most students I know will end up taking a course from their advisor, especially in smaller Canadian universities, like my school, there are only 3 grad courses offered per year in our field.

I did it while an undergrad -- I took a grad level course from my BSc thesis advisor. It was hard enough since it was a grad level course but I did feel extra pressure to "perform" and the prof even asked direct questions to me like "hey, TakeruK, this is what you're working on now, tell the class why X is important" etc. It was pretty scary to have to explain stuff to a bunch of grad students who probably knew it better than me! But it really lit a fire under me to study the material well -- even though the grad course didn't count for credit towards my degree, I think I ended up spending more time on it than anything. In the end, it was good for me -- it seems like that type of course is actually rare -- my current university offers it once every 3-5 years (last time was 5 years ago, next time is next year but I'll be gone!). It depends on the type of person you are -- will the extra pressure be helpful? or just stress you out too much? (It wasn't all that bad, the prof was really good at asking you simple questions to tease the answer out of you).

And, I think taking a course with your advisor allows you to show them your academic side. Usually they only see your "research side" and other profs only see your "coursework" side. Although it's good to diversify and get to know more profs, it's also helpful to have at least one person who knows both sides of you as well.

Finally, if you are swamped with coursework and your advisor wants to meet, you get to say stuff like "well I've been really busy this week because someone gave us a big assignment / an important midterm / etc."

[robot_hamster]

I took a course taught by my adviser and had no problems at all. I don't think I was graded more harshly or anything like that. In fact, I did really well in the class. If the class is relevant and you feel it is worth taking, I wouldn't worry about it being taught by your adviser.

I also took a class with a professor I TAed for. It worked out just fine too.

[Eigen]

I just want to add in that the classes I took with my advisor were the least stressful classes I had. He and I already had a good relationship, and it made the whole thing easier. Questions, discussion, etc.

[ANDS!]

I took a graduate course with an advisor. I sailed through it. In fact I kind of think maybe I shouldn't have (but then in reviewing my work saw that I wasn't getting special treatment). Still I felt in infinite amount of less stress in that class than others simply because I knew I had an existing relationship with the professor. /shrug.

[fuzzylogician]

I've taken a class with my advisor and I've also TAed for him (so, sat in on an intro class he was teaching). I didn't feel that the class was more stressful - on the one hand I think he had high expectations of me; moreover, can read my face so often he would introduce an argument and then follow it up with "Fuzzy, you disagree...why?" without me saying anything. But on the other hand since we had an established relationship at that point I also felt very at ease pointing out flaws in arguments and participating a lot. I knew what to expect so I wasn't phased by this. I didn't need to prove anything at that point and the course was a required class that's outside of my main interests so I just had fun being more active in class than I would normally be.

[Dal PhDer]

It seems like it might also be dependent on the student/advisor relationship.

I do think that a positive is that it would make you work hard to impress them!

[kco29]

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and personal experiences! I emailed my advisor, told her the 4 courses I was trying to decide on, etc. She told me to go ahead and take all 3 of my courses in the Fall, and then I can audit her class in the Spring -- or just read some of the assigned readings and discuss them with her during our meetings. She even recommended which of the other courses I should take. This definitely made the decision making process a lot easier!

[Chande]

I'm starting my program in the fall, but I took a graduate/undergraduate cross-referenced course as an undergrad with my undergrad research advisor. I loved the subject and her teaching even though it was an 8 am course and I even ended up getting 100% on one exam and an A in the course. I definitely feel like it gave her even more material to recommend me in her LOR as well as helping me reach a much deeper level of understanding in the area of research I was pursuing, but that is at the undergrad level as that's all I've experienced so far. I'm going into a PhD program in the fall and we don't get into a lab until October at the earliest, but the three courses I'm taking are all with professors whose labs I may be interested in joining.

[ktel]

I took a class each semester with my advisor. It was certainly more stressful because I felt like I had to do that much better in his class than in my other ones. I did well in both, which is a relief! It can be stressful, but worth it.

[musichistorygeek]

My advisor led the seminar during my first semester in grad school, and it was the best introduction to the program (and grad school in general) for which I could have hoped. Being in his class forced me to talk with him more about my research, and gave me a head start at thinking about what he might be looking for in a thesis topic.

Edited August 1, 2012 by musichistorygeek