Ok, I just met with a group of in-coming first year students and they were asking for advice/tips on their first semester. This are just a few that may or may not be useful, and they are written from the faculty perspective (so just one perspective).
1. Just because you don't *have* to go to class doesn't mean you should skip. Students are sometimes the only consumers that want to be cheated out of their money. Regular attendance makes a good impression on faculty, and--duh--you'll learn more.
2. Limit the nights you go out and party and use that as a reward for completing a project or assignment, rather than making it the primary focus of your college experience (and define "party" anyway you want).
3. Professors really hate it when students raise their hands and say, "Do you have our exams graded yet?" Really, when they are done we'll hand them back.
4. Use your professor's offer of help! We get paid to do just that, and sometimes one-on-one attention can do wonders.
5. When making appointments with faculty, read the syllabus about when their office hours are held, and try to go during those times. If you can't make an appointment CALL...in addition to teaching, we serve on committees, do research, write, publish, and have many U2 concerts to attend. So time is precious.
6. Be selective about extracurricular sports/interest groups/volunteer work. You'll get busier and busier as the term goes on and by November you'll be all
7. Talking/whispering to other students is really rude, even in a class of 150 students. Professors hate this.
8. If you go out drinking till 4 in the morning and then miraculously go to class the next day but need to explain to the prof why you didn't hand your work in, be careful about saying "I've had the flu." Really, we can smell alcohol pretty easily.
9. If you are *really* not a morning person then avoid taking classes at that time--you'll do much better if you select times that work best for you.
10. Organize your time, your clothes, your lecture notes, your study hours. It will make a world of difference.
11. When you meet with your adviser, have *some* idea of the classes you want to take. You should go to the meeting having already looked at courses available, having already considered what your requirements are, and having checked to see if those classes you want have spaces available. Avoid the temptation to ask "What should I do with my life?" unless that was the specific reason for your appointment.
12. Never, ever plagiarize a paper (copy it from a source without acknowledging that source). You wouldn't believe how sophisticated the technology is to bust students these days. We submit ours to a huge database of papers submitted by students from all over the country, and of papers available online. I catch students every term, and it sucks.
I think starting a thread is a great idea, just to provide some support for everyone who's just starting out, or who's starting out but has concerns
1. Just because you don't *have* to go to class doesn't mean you should skip. Students are sometimes the only consumers that want to be cheated out of their money. Regular attendance makes a good impression on faculty, and--duh--you'll learn more.
2. Limit the nights you go out and party and use that as a reward for completing a project or assignment, rather than making it the primary focus of your college experience (and define "party" anyway you want).
3. Professors really hate it when students raise their hands and say, "Do you have our exams graded yet?" Really, when they are done we'll hand them back.
4. Use your professor's offer of help! We get paid to do just that, and sometimes one-on-one attention can do wonders.
5. When making appointments with faculty, read the syllabus about when their office hours are held, and try to go during those times. If you can't make an appointment CALL...in addition to teaching, we serve on committees, do research, write, publish, and have many U2 concerts to attend. So time is precious.
6. Be selective about extracurricular sports/interest groups/volunteer work. You'll get busier and busier as the term goes on and by November you'll be all
7. Talking/whispering to other students is really rude, even in a class of 150 students. Professors hate this.
8. If you go out drinking till 4 in the morning and then miraculously go to class the next day but need to explain to the prof why you didn't hand your work in, be careful about saying "I've had the flu." Really, we can smell alcohol pretty easily.
9. If you are *really* not a morning person then avoid taking classes at that time--you'll do much better if you select times that work best for you.
10. Organize your time, your clothes, your lecture notes, your study hours. It will make a world of difference.
11. When you meet with your adviser, have *some* idea of the classes you want to take. You should go to the meeting having already looked at courses available, having already considered what your requirements are, and having checked to see if those classes you want have spaces available. Avoid the temptation to ask "What should I do with my life?" unless that was the specific reason for your appointment.
12. Never, ever plagiarize a paper (copy it from a source without acknowledging that source). You wouldn't believe how sophisticated the technology is to bust students these days. We submit ours to a huge database of papers submitted by students from all over the country, and of papers available online. I catch students every term, and it sucks.
I think starting a thread is a great idea, just to provide some support for everyone who's just starting out, or who's starting out but has concerns