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Post by Marnie Winters on May 22, 2017 15:03:45 GMT
This is a place where students can ask questions about college success tips and skills.
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Post by Marnie Winters on May 22, 2017 18:43:24 GMT
College success means performing well in each class, in each semester/quarter, and successfully graduating. In order to get there, students will need to implement practices such as using the library, using tutoring, talking regularly to your academic advisor, using the computer lab when needed, using the health center (if one is available), and using other services available to you. It also means making sure you study and utilize effective study strategies, buy required books, go to class, have access to the technology you need, and buy school supplies.
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Post by Marnie Winters on May 25, 2017 13:12:50 GMT
The goal of many college students is to graduate within a proper timeframe and for a bachelor's degree, this means being done in 4 years and for an associate's degree, this means being done in 2 years. You may hear stories of students who have been attending school for years and have not graduated yet. Don't listen to those stories. Some of those students have made a series of choices that have prevented them from graduating within that time frame. Here is how to get done as fast as possible:
First, meet with your academic advisor on a regular basis to talk about your progress. Have your advisor help you map out what classes to take for a year or so at a time. It will make registration easier and help you keep on track.
Second, before you start attending a college, make sure you research each college thoroughly. You want to make sure you get the right college right off the bat. One reason some students take so long to graduate is because they keep transferring from school to school. Start off at the right school and stay there until you graduate. I'm not encouraging you to remain at a school you are miserable attending. If you start off at a school and don't like it then, yes, go to a different school. However, do your research on colleges first and do your best to pick the right college the first time around.
Third, consider attending classes during the summer semester. Most students take summers off, but if you attend summers (even if it is part-time) it will help you finish faster.
Fourth, attend full-time each semester. If you only attend part-time, it will take you a long time to finish. But, if you attend full-time, it will keep you on track to graduate within 4 years for a bachelor's or 2 years for an associate's. If you are an older student, part-time may be all you can handle. If you work full-time and have children, full-time college classes may just be impossible. This is ok, but know it will take you longer to graduate. If this is your situation, then I really do recommend attending summer, so you can get finished.
Fifth, successfully pass all your classes. Some students repeatedly fail classes and have to repeat classes. When this happens, it is a setback and takes students longer to graduate. Sometimes the classes students fail are prerequisites for other classes. A prerequisite is a class that needs to be successfully completed (you have to pass the class, usually with a C grade or higher) in order to take another class. If you fail a class that serves as a prerequisite for another class, then you won't be permitted to take that other class. Failing classes really can be a setback. If you have trouble with a class, get a tutor, even if you have to pay out of pocket.
Following each of these tips will help you move forward faster and graduate.
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Post by Marnie Winters on Jun 3, 2017 9:22:33 GMT
What resources are available at your college? Find out and use them. Using your resources will help enable you to be successful and graduate. The resources available at every college will vary, however, here are resources available at many colleges:
Academic advisor: can help you register for classes, tell you what classes you still need to take to graduate, help you map out classes for upcoming semesters so you don't miss something important when it is offered, and help you resolve conflicts or issues or at least point you in the right direction.
Computer lab: It's really recommended you have your own computer and printer, but in the event you don't, you can use the computer lab to do homework, write papers, and print assignments. Make sure to always back your homework up to a jump drive. If your computer or printer breaks, go to the computer lab and print off your papers and homework assignments that need turned in.
Health clinic: Not all colleges have student health clinics, but if your college does, then use it when needed. It is really hard to be successful in school when you are sick. At the very least, you can see a doctor or someone who can write a prescription for you.
Library/librarian: College is all about research and libraries and librarians are your best resource for getting the information you need. Don't be afraid to ask a librarian for help. They are research junkies and live for these kinds of requests.
Student union/student center: Not all college campuses will have a student union or someplace where students can go hang out, but some will. Go there. It is much easier to get through college if you have at least one friend. Don't go just once and stay for five minutes and then decide to not return. You may have to go back several times before connecting with someone.
Tutoring center/writing center: No shame in asking for help. Better to ask for a tutor and get a B grade in a class than to not ask (because of embarrassment) and end up failing the class and having to pay to take it over again. Not all classes will have tutoring services available, but many of the difficult ones will.
Your college may have other beneficial services for you to use, but these are the most common ones. Engage in these services, connect with the people and with your college, and it will help you move towards your goals faster.
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Post by Marnie Winters on Jun 6, 2017 12:11:41 GMT
This may sound basic, but it is true---make friends at college. Having friends makes you feel engaged and part of the campus. If you live on campus, friends will give you people to go do things with. Make friends in all your classes-at least one friend. If you are sick and miss a day, a friend can lend you their notes and fill you in on what you missed in class.
Having friends on your college campus makes people want to succeed. They want to continue to move forward and be with their friends. It is a social acceptance factor and fitting in influence that inspires people to put their best foot forward. What tips are available for making friends? First, sign up for an activity at your school. If you engage in an activity you like, you will find yourself surrounded by others who have that same interest and it makes it easier to make friends. Second, on your first day of class, look at the person sitting next to you and introduce yourself. All you need to says is...hi, my name is...and say your name. Their response will likely be to tell you their name. Other questions you can ask includes...what is your major?...when do you graduate?...and general questions about that person. Also, find something to compliment them on. Compliments go a long way when making new friends. Compliment their shoes, their backpack, their hair, their shirt, their watch...whatever you see.
What suggestions do you have for making new friends at college? What has worked best for you?
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Post by Marnie Winters on Jun 10, 2017 9:09:56 GMT
Attendance:
You have to go to class to be successful. Many colleges have attendance policies and if you miss too many days of a class, you automatically get dropped. Even if your college does not have that policy, you still need to go to class. A lot of important information is covered in class. You may miss something so important that it will cost you a lot of points down the road and could seriously impact your grade. If you are truly sick, stay home. Sometimes illnesses are so critical, that it is impossible to go to class. However, if you just have the sniffles or the beginnings of a minor cold, you had better take some cough syrup and few cough drops to class with you and make sure you attend. Instructors aren't too receptive or helpful to those who miss class repeatedly.
What kinds of challenges have you had in the past that you have overcome so you could attend class? Have you ever taken a class before and missed a lot of days versus taken a class and not missed any days? What was the end result for those classes in terms of your grade? Did you do better in the class where you did not miss any time? Did you end up understanding the material well once the class was over?
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Post by Marnie Winters on Jun 17, 2017 14:28:24 GMT
Knowing words specific to college will make your life a lot easier. You will know what to ask for when you need something. You will understand what people are talking about. It will make it easier on our life overall. Here is a list of basic words you should know:
Associate's degree: An associate's degree is a two year degree. It can be completed in six quarters or four semesters. Formal names for the associate's degree include: Associate of Science, Associate of Arts, Associate of Applied Science, and Associate of Applied Arts. All of these are excellent degrees and will transfer to other schools. The Associate of Applied Science and the Associate of Applied Arts degrees are occupational degrees that prepare a student to go to work immediately after graduating. These majors focus more on technical skills and trades. The Associate of Science and the Associate of Arts focus less on classes that are technical in nature and focus more on traditional studies that will transfer to a four year college and meet the majority of general education classes for a bachelor's degree program. The Associate of Science focuses more on math and science subjects and the Associate of Arts is likely to focus more on humanities classes, social science classes, and writing classes.
Bachelor's degree: A bachelor's degree is a four year degree. It can be completed in twelve quarters or eight semesters. Formal names for the associate's degree include: Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Art, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and so forth. Bachelor of Science degrees focus more on math and science, Bachelor of Arts focus more on humanities, writing, and social science classes. Bachelor of Fine Arts programs are generally found at art schools and focus on art.
Course number and course name: A course number and course name is how the college identifies the course. For example, PSYC 101 General Psychology-the PSYC 101 is the course number and General Psychology is the course name.
Credit hours: Each course a student takes is measured by credit hours. Typically, classes are offered from 1 to 5 semester hours. Some classes may be worth more credit hours. Generally, students need approximately 120-130 semester hours or 185-195 quarter hours to graduate with a bachelor's degree and 60-64 semester hours or 90 to 95 quarter hours to graduate with an associate's degree.
Degree audit report: This is a report that shows you all the requirements for your degree, credits you have transferred in from another college (if you attended a college previously and transferred in credit), the classes you have completed at that particular school, the classes you have in progress, and the classes you still need to take.
Doctoral degree: This is an advanced degree. You will definitely be required to earn a minimum of a bachelor's degree before you will be eligible to be admitted to a doctoral program. Some doctoral programs may also require a master's degree in a certain area, while other programs and colleges may not have this requirement. Examples of doctoral programs include: Juris Doctorate (J.D./law degree), Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (Veterinarian), Doctor of Social Work, Doctor of Dental Surgery. These are just a few examples. The list goes on and on.
Grade point average: A grade point average is based on a 4.0 (at most colleges and universities). It is the calculation of all the grades you have received at your college.
Graduate programs: These are master's level programs. It is considered an advanced degree. You will need to earn a bachelor's degree first, before you are eligible to be admitted to a graduate level program. Examples of graduate programs include a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Arts in Teaching, and Master of Science in Accountancy.
Major: This is your area of study. Examples of majors are chemistry, math computer science, or psychology.
Personal education plan: This is a plan that you can do for yourself, or you can have an academic advisor help you. This is a map you will make that lists out every class you should take every semester/quarter from your first semester until you graduate. It is a planning tool that will help you make sure you take all your classes and help make registration easier.
Prerequisite: A prerequisite is a class that you need to take before you take another class. For example, if you want to take a history class and the prerequisite for the history class is Freshman College Composition, this means you need to take the composition class first, and then you can take the history class.
Quarter: Some schools are on quarters and some schools are on semesters. Each school decides it's own calendar system (although some states are now requiring that all the schools in that particular state use the same calendar system). For schools on the quarter system, there will be four quarters per year and they are generally named winter, spring, summer, and fall. Each quarter generally lasts about 10 or 11 weeks.
Semester: Some schools are on quarters and some schools are on semesters. Each school decides it's own calendar system (although some states require that all the schools in that particular state use the same calendar. Schools on the semester calendar system have three semesters per year and they are generally named Winter (or Spring), Summer, and Fall. A semester generally lasts about 15 to 18 weeks.
Syllabus: A syllabus is a handout you will either be given prior to the start of the class, or during the first class. It provides you with a course description, course goals, course objectives, assignments, tests, projects, assigned readings, and pertinent information regarding the class.
Transcript: This is a record from your school that shows all the classes you have taken, when you attended, and when you graduated (if you graduated). An official transcript is one that is sent from one school to another school. It must be printed on school paper or letterhead and in a sealed, official college envelope in order to be considered official.
Undergraduate programs: The term undergraduate refers to an associate's degree or a bachelor's degree. Examples of associate's degrees include: Associate of Science in Math, Associate of Arts in History, Bachelor of Science in Finance, Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences.
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Post by Marnie Winters on Jun 24, 2017 13:32:37 GMT
Make at least one friend in each class. For introverts, this will be a big challenge. Do it anyway. If something happens and you have to miss a class, it is going to be really helpful to have that friend. You can copy their class lecture notes. They can fill you in on what you missed.
A friend can also serve as a study partner. If the class is a difficult one, a study partner can come in handy because they can explain anything to you that doesn't make sense. Study partners can also help you figure out good ideas for class projects or presentations. Having a friend in the class can also help make a not-so-fun class a lot more bearable. Plus, one of these class friends may turn into a valuable friendship that continues even when the class is over.
Not all class friendships can be good for you, though. Sometimes, you may end up with a friend that misses a lot of classes, takes really bad class notes, and sucks you dry during study groups. Sometimes, these friendships can be toxic. Don't be afraid to terminate the friendship in these situations. It is ok to find a new friend.
The best way to make friends in class is to just start talking. Introduce yourself. Something like, "Hi, my name is Joe. What's your name?" goes a long way. Other good introductory topics include asking what their major is, if the class you are both in is a required class for them or filling some kind of elective, when they estimate they will graduate, and what they what to do with their degree once they graduate-what career they want. These few things will get the conversation ball rolling and other topics will stem from those few questions.
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Post by Marnie Winters on Jul 5, 2017 8:17:21 GMT
Get involved at school. Does your school have any student activities? Are there any athletic programs, student activities, clubs, social activities, extra-curricular activities, or anything you can go do or join? If so, go get active. Joining in on these types of activities will help you feel a connection to your college. If you have a connection, it will help you perform better academically. It will help give you purpose, drive, and determination. It will help you want to help yourself succeed. You will want to do well academically, so you can keep moving forward, keep enrolling for classes, and be able to return to college every semester to keep participating in the new activity, to keep seeing the friends you made as a result, and to keep contributing to your activity.
What ways have you gotten involved at school? In what ways did it motivate you to want to do better?
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Post by Marnie Winters on Jul 11, 2017 9:11:26 GMT
Managing stress is a big part of being successful in college. Severe stress can be crippling and can cause students to end up dropping out of college or end up failing out. Here are some tips to managing stress.
First, sleep well. Most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Shoot for that. Don't use the nighttime to stay up all hours studying. You will need to arrange time during the day for that. Don't stay up all night partying, either. You need to sleep to be functional. Doing these activities once in a while is alright, but don't make it a routine habit. If you have trouble sleeping, try something over the counter to assist with that. If you still have trouble, speak with a doctor. They may be able to help.
Second, eat healthy. A constant diet of junk food will leave you feeling lethargic, moody, tired, and run-down. Junk food once in awhile is alright, but not for every meal. Try other foods such as fruits and vegetables (if you don't like them, you will need to find a couple you do like), dairy, healthy carbohydrates (like wheat grains), and other foods that will help enable you to be healthy and function well. A good diet will help you feel balanced, alert, oriented, and you will be able to pay attention in class better.
Third, keep a journal. Even if you aren't a writer, keep a journal. It is a good place to get your stress out. You can write anything you want to and it is alright. No one is going to read what you have written because it is a private journal, meant only for you. Unless you specifically put it in someone's hands and be like....here, read this...no one will ever know what you have written. Get it out. Get it all out. You will feel a lot better and it will help you effectively sort through your feelings.
Fourth, seek out professional help, if you need it. Larger campuses may have a health clinic with counseling services available. Smaller campuses likely won't have these services, so you will need to seek help off campus. If you have insurance, then the cost of a counselor may be covered, or at least a portion of the cost may be covered. There's no shame in asking for help. Like with the journal, no one has to know, and won't know, unless you specifically tell them. Seeking out counseling can really be an effective way to manage stress.
Fifth, don't take on too much responsibility. A lot of times, people feel stressed because they have so many things happening in their lives that they cannot effectively keep up. You need to review what activities give you the most stress and consider reducing the amount of hours you commit to it, or eliminating it entirely, if possible. If it is a job, see if you can work part-time hours; if it is school, consider just enrolling for part-time status for awhile; if it is extra-curricular activities, cut down on the amount of time you spend on those, or possibly cut some of them entirely, if you can; if it is all the sports practices of your children, recruit other people to help you get them back and forth to practice, so you can attend the actual games. Effectively managing your stress may mean cutting back.
What steps have you taken in the past to manage your stress? What has worked well? What has not worked well at all? What recommendations do you have for others who are combating stress and need to effectively reduce it? I would love to hear from you.
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Post by Marnie Winters on Jul 15, 2017 13:47:49 GMT
Don't bombard yourself with classes. It is natural for students to want to take as many classes as possible, in order to get done as fast as possible. In some instances, this can be a bad idea. If you have a job that will require a lot of overtime, or if you have kids that are engaged in a lot of activities, if you have a lot of activities going on that you are committed to, and so forth, then think hard about how many classes you can realistically handle, and be honest with yourself. College classes require a lot of time and work, and enrolling in them is a decision that should not be taken lightly. Make sure you can be successful in the classes you do enroll in, and the definition of successful means that you complete the class and earn a grade of C or higher, or earn the minimum grade needed to continue (sometimes it may be different than a grade of C).
Over enrolling in classes can backfire on you. If you take too many classes and can't handle it, then you may end up failing the class. If you miss too many classes, the college may automatically drop you from the class (if you are in violation of the attendance policy), and you likely won't be re-admitted to the class. If situations such as these happen, you will be charged for the class and then have to pay to take the class over again, so there will be financial consequences for you. If the class serves as a prerequisite for other classes, then you won't be permitted to move onto higher level classes until you have successfully completed it. This could impact your graduation date and cause it to be delayed. And, unsuccessfully completing a class may mean you have to delay taking a higher level class; if that higher level class isn't offered every term, then you may have to wait several terms for it to be offered again. That situation can really have a negative impact on your progress and graduation date.
Just make sure you can handle the classes you enroll in each term. It isn't a failure to have to take fewer classes one semester. It will be considered a success if you properly learn the material in the class, get a really great grade, and successfully pass the class. It will be a success if you can move forward with your degree progress. It will be a success if you have a problem-free term. It will be a success if you keep your stress level minimized as a result of making a good, realistic decision about the amount of classes you can truly handle.
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Post by Marnie Winters on Jul 22, 2017 13:48:22 GMT
Your academic advisor will be one of your best resources while you are in college. This person knows the ins and outs of the campus and can help point you in the right direction with whatever you need. One of the most valuable things an academic advisor can help you with is a personal education plan. This will be a roadmap of the classes you need to take, when to take them, and in what order to take them. Visit your academic advisor and see if he/she can make such a plan for you. Ask for them for a period of a year at a time, if that is possible. The personal education plan will help keep you on track with your classes. It will make registration easier because you will know what you need to enroll for each term. It will help you make sure you don't miss any classes that may be offered infrequently (some classes may only be offered once a year and if you miss enrolling for it, you will have to wait for an entire year for it to be offered again). If you miss an opportunity to enroll for a class that is offered infrequently, then it can throw everything off track. It will also help you make sure you are taking classes in the right order.
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Post by Marnie Winters on Aug 1, 2017 23:55:20 GMT
My name is Marnie Winters and I am the administrator for this particular forum. I would love to field your questions. If you have a question, please feel free to ask. If there is a topic you would like to see discussed, please post it. If you want to remain anonymous or don't want to register with the forum to ask a question or request a topic, please e-mail me at FindingMyPath@hotmail.com. I check this e-mail frequently and would be more than happy to address the question or topic for you. I really am receptive to hearing from you and hope to hear from you soon.
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