Advice/Reassurance?

jonri
Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:21:45 +0000

Remember that you wouldn’t have been admitted unless the admissions office were confident you’d succeed. I did cheat and check out which college you’ll attend, so here’s my advice.

Your first semester, sign up for 4 courses–unless you are a science major, in which case, make it 4.5. Wait until second semester to take 5. I think you’ve got the option to try out various classes before you make your final selection, so take advantage of that.

Take one course just because you’re truly interested in it–don’t limit yourself to courses trying to meet all the distribution requirements first semester. If it’s an upper level course, go see the prof before the classes start and ask if (s)he thinks a freshman with your background can handle it. If not, switch. But take at least ONE course just because it sounds awesome and/or you’ve heard good things about it. I’m pretty sure that the college you’re going to attend has an in-house system for ratiing profs and the difficulty of courses, so read the reviews. People who ONLY take courses to meet distribution requirements first semester usually end up liking the academic part of college less.

It also helps if you have at least one course with a small number of people in it. For many frosh, this is foreign languge. But don’t take 4 large lecture courses if possible. It’s harder to feel like you’re totally anonymous if you have at least one small class–even if it’s a class you aren’t terribly fond of.

Keep up with the reading and regular assignments. There are so many oh so cool things to do, that it’s really tempting to spend all your time on ECs and social events until midterms hit. That’s the way to bury yourself. Do the reading even if there’s six weeks to go before the midterm. Many people won’t.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t join ECs; you definitely should. Don’t put off joining them until you’ve got the work load under control. Just make sure you don’t do ONLY ECs and neglect your course work.

If any of your profs post the outline of each class on-line, read it, preferably before you go to class. This will give you an idea of what’s important and where he’s going. If not, at least pay attention at the first class, when the profs will set forth their expectations–how many papers, exams, quizzes, etc. If there is a syllabus, read it.

Go to section. Repeat go to section. Raise your hand and talk during section. Most courses COUNT class participation towards your grade. Don’t annoy your classmates by mouthing off when you really don’t know much, but participate. It will help your grade in most courses. NOT talking will LOWER your grade in some classes.

If possible, get to know your section leader. If you don’t understand a concept introduced in class, ask about it in section. If your section leader is incomprehensible, sit in on another section–but do NOT skip your own. In most of the larger intro courses, your section leader will give you your grade. If he hasn’t got the vaguest idea who you are, you may get a worse grade than if you are the guy who comes to every section and TALKS and ASKS QUESTIONS.

Write your first paper far enough in advance of the deadline that you have time to take it to one of the writing tutors for review and REVISE it before it’s due. That’s what they are there for. It’s better to have one of the tutors tear apart your first paper and make you revise it 3 times than it is to get a bad grade on that paper. Nobody but you will know you saw the writing tutor–that’s the way the system works. You might also ask your section leader if he will review your draft and see if you’re headed in the right direction. MANY section leaders are willing to do this. Do not wait until the night before it is due because then they will probably say no. But MANY section leaders are more than willing to take a look at a draft a week or two before it’s due. They aren’t going to write it for you–but they will give you an idea of whether you are on the wrong track. Section leaders would rather deal with the freshman who comes to them the week before the assignment is due and says “I’m not sure I understand the assignment. Could you look over my draft and see if I’ve got the right idea?” than deal with the dozen students who crowd his door after they get back their first papers with a bad grade. If your section leader makes specific comments about how to improve your paper, do what (s)he suggests. Remember, they will probably be grading you.

If review sections are offered before exams, go to them.

Find a good quiet place other than your room to study. Don’t tell anyone where it is. There will be times that your friends will want you to play in an IM game,play poker, go to a party or whatever and you really shouldn’t. If they can’t find you, it makes life a LOT easier.

If you’re taking a really hard course one semester, try to balance it with an easier one and/or limit yourself to 4–and even, if really necessary, 3 courses that semester. I think you need permission to drop down to 3, but if you are taking organ chem or some other hard course, it may be worth it. Just don’t make a habit of it.

Avoid telling other folks your grades–whether they are good or bad. And remember that more people who get good grades are willing to share them than people who get bad grades, so any informal survey you take is likely to be skewed.

Get to know your dean. Do not abuse him or her. There are people who hear about dean’s excuses and really abuse them. Most deans will reach the point where they won’t cave. When you really NEED a dean’s excuse, you are more likely to get it than if you have already asked for one–maybe even several times.

If you feel yourself drowning academically, go see your dean. That’s what he’s there for. If you get bad grades, you’re going to get to know him whether you want to or not, so if you are struggling, go see him before you’re called in.

Don’t drink too much. It’s probably the #1 reason students get bad grades.

You are going to a college that has more built in safety nets for students than almost any university in the nation. Remember that. More than 90% of students graduate in 4 years. Most of those who don’t voluntarily took time off and/or dropped out to pursue a career–this is mostly true of the theatre types.

Don’t assume you won’t be “golden.” Go in and do your best. Don’t be intimidated. In every class, you’ll probably have some classmates who are really focusing on other things while in college. This is not necessaily a bad thing. You’ll have some theatre types who are more concerned about the roles they get in plays and a few athletes who are training for the Olympics and /or the pros (few of the latter, but some) and amazing artists who want a college degree, but will spend most of their time developing a portfolio and wannabe journalists who will work 18/5 for the Yale Daily News instead of studying.

You’ll be shocked by who ends up doing well. Oh, there are some brilliant people who are so outstanding, particularly in science, that you know they’ll be stars But, in all sincerity, most of how well people do at a top college is how much effort they put into it and how willing they are to get help when they need it.

And if you are average, who cares? Average at a top school is still pretty special. Keep your perspective.

Good luck!