When I spotted Professor Regan Thomson down the hallway I called out, “Does your dog live in your office?” He saw me, laughed, and said, “Yes, he does.” I asked if I could come pet his new puppy, and when he said yes I followed him down the hall and into his office. As I played with Kermit, the puppy Regan had told my chemistry class last quarter he’d hoped to adopt, the professor went through emails and had a graduate student stop by with some questions.

While this interaction might seem to informal for a university professor and a student, it’s a actually good representation of the relationships I’ve formed with professors at Northwestern.

Northwestern professors prioritize getting to know their students to an extent that continuously surprises me. All of our classes are taught by professors, and all of our professors have office hours each week. Every professor reassures students that they don’t need to have questions prepared to come to office hours; students are welcome to just come and chat. Many professors will even bring snacks to their office hours to encourage students to come – my Sociology 101 professor would always have tea and biscuits on hand. Even though I didn’t usually have questions to ask, the sociology building was next door to my residential hall, so I went to office hours almost every week.

Many professors also adopt an open-door policy. Whenever their door is open students are welcome to stop in. The professor who runs the organic chemistry laboratory is well-known for this, and students will stop by his office and lab all day long.

Professors are also always willing to meet with students outside of office hours. Before I declared my major and minor, my English professor and I got coffee to talk about what I wanted to study. My macroeconomics professor and I have the same favorite coffee shop in Evanston, and when I saw him there a few days before a midterm, I asked him if we could talk about a few questions from class. He agreed and walked me through the content I found confusing until it made sense. I once even Skyped a faculty member from our research office –he was out sick but knew I had an application for a research position due in the next few days, so he offered to Skype with me to go through my application.

Across the board, Northwestern professors will go above and beyond to connect with and help their students. They’ll get coffee with you, offer to write you letters of recommendation, help you apply for grants or find internships, and even let you hang out with their puppy. Northwestern professors are uniquely invested in their students which is one of my favorite things about NU.