While many students strategically pick their classroom seats, it seems the method for picking differs from something as simple as walking in and seeing what seats are available, to having a plan based on what seats are open and the class they are in.

Junior communication and theater major Carrie Law said she always sits in one of the front seats because she feels it will help her learn more.

“I like to sit in the front because there’s less distractions and I have a clear view of the professor,” she said. “It’s something that I started doing in college, and it seems to be working for me.”

Sophomore marketing student Jen Gojmerac tries to get the same results using a different method.

She said her classroom’s floor plans are different than most and it benefits her strategy.

“My classrooms have one aisle down the middle and tables on either side of the aisle,” she said. “Since my professors stay mostly in the middle of the classroom I like to sit in one of the aisle seats so I can see them without sitting in the front row.”

Sitting somewhere so that students can see the professor clearly was a popular response among students, but one of the more elaborate seating strategies was given by junior engineering student Mike Dobson.]

He said he picks his seat based on what subject he is in and which professor is teaching the class.

“The professor plays a part in where I sit, but it mostly depends on the subject,” Dobson said.

“If it’s a core class that I think I will use when I get out of college I like to sit close to the front, but, if it’s not a class that I will use and I have to take it to graduate, then I tend to sit more toward the back.”

Another popular seating strategy is to sit somewhere right in the middle of the classroom, and freshman biology student Sam Cicon said she uses this method because of her eyesight.

“I like to sit somewhere in the middle of the room because, if I sit too far in the back I can’t see what the professor is writing down on the board. But I also don’t like to sit too close to the front either.”

There is a stereotype that students who sit in the front of the class perform better than students who sit closer to the back, but communication professor Patty Wharton-Michael said she doesn’t see that exact formula in her classes.

“What I generally see in my classes is that students who sit in the front row do well,” Wharton-Michael said. “From the second to the back rows the grades are mixed.”

Wharton-Michael also said she doesn’t recall ever having a student in the front row fail any of her classes.

Students have many elaborate ways to get the perfect seat in their classrooms for different reasons.

Senior accounting student Jon Kirby said his seating style is much simpler than most.

“I like to sit as close to the door as possible, so, when the class ends, I can make a quick, clean exit.”