5 Reasons Why Dating Your Professor Is a Terrible Idea

It is forbidden. Most schools forbid relationships between students and professors who teach their classes. You don't want the person you like to get fired because of your relationship, do you? If you're not taking the class of the professor you are crushing on, your relationship may be not forbidden, but it will still be frowned upon. Dating a student is typically regarded as a breach of professional ethics.

Your professor is in a position of authority over you. Any professor/student relationship has an unequal power balance between the parties. Your professor has power over your grades, and that means several things. Firstly, if your grades in his or her class(es) are good, you will wonder whether they are influenced by his/her personal feelings. Secondly, if your break up, your ex can sabotage your grades.

You will need to keep your relationship secret. As we have already said, professor/student relationships are forbidden or not encouraged in most schools, so you will have to keep it quiet at least until the course is completed. If students and/or faculty know about your relationship, they will inevitably question the validity of your grades. And they will know, because it is hard to keep secrets in college.

It will be hard to concentrate. It is not easy to concentrate in class if you have a crush on your professor and it will be even harder to concentrate if you are in a relationship with them. Classes may become awkward for both of you.

Your credibility will be questioned. Even if you are a model student, other professors may start questioning your credibility as soon as they find out that you are dating a professor. Some faculty members will find it hard to take you seriously as a student. And other students may think you have an unfair advantage, even though your academic performance has nothing to do with your professor boyfriend/girlfriend.

If you have a fleeting crush on your professor, you shouldn't act on it. Just wait until you get over it. It's college, so you will meet someone more approachable to crush on. If you think that your professor is the love of your life, at least wait until the course is completed to act on your feelings and keep it low until graduation.