How can you be more insightful in class?

Applying to College
1

<p>Many college-admission books emphasize that students who apply to selective colleges should have an impact in classroom discussions.
Colleges look for students who’ll “ask the best questions” and light up the classroom. How can you acheive this? How can you be more insightful or thoughtful in class?</p>

2

<p>One thing that you can try to do is read the assigned material. Many people don’t, so when the professor or the teacher makes a reference to a text that you were supposed to read, no one “gets” it and a class that is supposed to be a discussion ends up basically being the instructor trying desperately to get someone to say something and the students just staring blankly back at her. </p>

<p>Also, try to make connections between the source material and something that you’ve seen on the news or in your life. It doesn’t have to be brilliant, it just has to show that you’ve thought about the subject since the last time you were in class. I’ve seen students link something from a philosophy course to “Jersey Shore”, for example. It might seem silly, but it shows that your mind is engaged all the time which is a huge plus.</p>

3

<p>I teach at a college, and I think you have the right idea, Jahaba.</p>

4

<p>Take notes in class, go home, do research, ask in class the next day. Super good.</p>

5

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<p>This is something I completely agree with. Sometimes it seems silly to make those kinds of connections, but don’t feel bad - not only does it show that you’ve been thinking about the class material outside of class and study time, it may draw in your peers and help them understand something by putting it into college student terms.</p>

6

<p>For some reason I’m pretty good at coming up with BS complex questions during class. Like in math I always ask for the reasoning behind each law. Sometimes I’ll look over the proof the night before class and ask a really specific question about the proof. In Lit classes I try to ask pick out obscureish lines and ask if it connects to a semi-obscure theme, or, I try to spark some debate about something controversial in the literature. I can’t ask insightful questions in history, I fail miserably at it. I don’t really ever see what there is to ask, it either happened or it didn’t.</p>