College starts tomorrow

[ruffian]

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

 

[learn2kneel]

i'm at college right now, its too busy and i couldn't find a parking spot. my spanish teacher is funny (comica). The ATM machine is broken and I have no lunch.

 

[ruffian]

i'm at college right now, its too busy and i couldn't find a parking spot. my spanish teacher is funny (comica). The ATM machine is broken and I have no lunch.

i remember you from Chicago last May! ok, college girls (i'm gonna embarrass you, so duck now) you should totally ask this boy on a date.

 

[daygloeyes2]

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.

My high school does that with our papers too.

Anyways, I won't be off to college for another year but some of the responses in this thread will be helpful to me.

 

[ruffian]

My high school does that with our papers too.

Anyways, I won't be off to college for another year but some of the responses in this thread will be helpful to me.

DG!

 

[daygloeyes2]

DG!

Hola

 

[WildHoneyAlways]

My high school does that with our papers too.

Anyways, I won't be off to college for another year but some of the responses in this thread will be helpful to me.

I do that too with my students. I love that database.
I caught 2 kids last year.

I miss college. Have fun people.

 

[Jack In The Box]

My classes start on september the 5th....

Two weeks from now....

My second year in college and I'm a little nervous too. Just a little..

same here, but not my second year, this is going to be my third year and I'm not nervous at all

good luck to all

 

[VKX]

I have about a year left at mine

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

Yay I spent $303 on books today! *I forgot how much fun that is *

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.

great now you can read my papers!

I love my classes. Since I am already in my major, I am taking my major courses, they are all classes that I want to take and will enjoy being there. The only gripe, the parking on my campus. I had to walk 1.5 miles today to my class because the lots were full. So my walk was a hike up some hills and across a busy street. I am going to lose weight because of the walking.

 

[Badyouken]

College/university is a big step. But you'll easily get used to it if you're not a total slacker.

There's one word you need to remember: discipline. That's it. If you do your assignments/papers as soon as you get them and study a bit every day, you won't have to rush at the end of the semester. I'm heading into my 3rd year in Engineering and I'm not nervous at all.

However, I think our education system here in Québec has helped dealing with all this.

In the states, you go through 2 years of junior high (right?) before going to high school for 5 (correct me if I'm wrong) before heading to college/university. It's the same in most of Canada. So you get used to the high school formula; it's basically the same since you were in your mid teens. But in Québec, it's the other way around. After elementary school, you go through 5 years of high school. Then, if you're thinking of going to university, you study 2 years in CEGEP (Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel) in a more precise, yet still broad field (sciences, humanities, arts & literature, etc.). You could also do a 3-year technical program and head directly to the job market after that.

Now the thing with CEGEP is that it's quite similar to university. You don't *have* to go to class (most teachers don't use attendance sheets), you have very few exams (but they're worth a lot), you have more assignments and, mostly, teachers don't hold you by the hand like in high school.

This way, college/university is not such a big leap. You get more assignments and less exams (that are worth even more) but you're used to the drill.

Discipline is the key.

 

[Dismantled]

i'm at college right now, its too busy and i couldn't find a parking spot. my spanish teacher is funny (comica). The ATM machine is broken and I have no lunch.

ooooh yes the good old college days, I remember lemme guess...umm..you lost your dorm key and now you cannot remember which mail box was yours..and when you remember you forget your combination Then after 1 hour of trying to get it open you finally do and find you HAVE no mail then you go back to your dorm........walk in your room , see your roomate there wiht his/her 73648 friends, they are sitting on your bed, they haven't bothered to pick up the pizza they dropped on your pillow

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

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.

Heh, even if I wanted to do that, I won't anyway, 'cause my parents probably wouldn't like it very much. But I'm not really known for doing that anyway, so I'm good there.

In the states, you go through 2 years of junior high (right?) before going to high school for 5 (correct me if I'm wrong) before heading to college/university.

Depends on the place. I've seen it done in these three ways:

-7th & 8th grade are junior high (6th grade would be part of elementary school), and then 9th-12th are high school.

or

-7th-9th grade are junior high, and 10th-12th grade are high school.

or

-6th-8th grade are junior high, and 9th-12th grade are high school.

The last one in the list is how I did things.

Angela

 

[U2democrat]

My first day went awesomely well...and what's better is that I get to sleep in tomorrow since I don't have class 'till 1

 

[Liesje]

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.

Very important, as others have already pointed out. At my school, cheating or any form of plagiarism results in an automatic failure of the entire class.

One of my favorite profs told us this story about this guy in one of her upper level classes who wrote this amazing paper with a brilliant thesis. I don't remember how she found out, but it turns out the paper WAS his own work, but he'd made up ALL of the sources, data, citations, etc.

More than once I've had to re-work papers b/c the Profs won't take into account things that are common knowledge for me. For example, I know over 6500 people die of AIDS everyday. I don't know where I learned that, I just know it. On one paper, I had to go back and start citing my own lecture notes from stuff I'd picked up in another class to prove I wasn't bullshitting.

 

[Liesje]

My first day went awesomely well...and what's better is that I get to sleep in tomorrow since I don't have class 'till 1

As a general rule, I don't take classes that begin in the single digits (so nothing before 10:30am). This is easier to work out once you've got a year behind you since you move higher up the schedule for registering. I figure since I try not to skip that often and I am working 30 hrs a week as well, I friggin get to sleep until 9:30am, dammit!

 

[ruffian]

Re: Yay I spent $303 on books today! *I forgot how much fun that is *

great now you can read my papers!

I love my classes. Since I am already in my major, I am taking my major courses, they are all classes that I want to take and will enjoy being there. The only gripe, the parking on my campus. I had to walk 1.5 miles today to my class because the lots were full. So my walk was a hike up some hills and across a busy street. I am going to lose weight because of the walking.

we can't find your name unless we contact the faculty member that taught you at that university. finding parking sucks on big campuses--man, i hate that. i always end up parking illegally and getting a zillion tickets.

It's so different once you are taking classes in your major, I think (though you often figure out what you want to major in when you are taking those requirements). What's your major?

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

My major is International Affairs.

 

[namkcuR]

Ooh, first day of college, exciting! It's been two years since my first day of college(I got my two year associate's degree in June), seems like yesterday.

Well, I guess I'll dispatch some advice.

1.I know that in the first week of your first year of college, you feel sooo much freedom as compared to your high school days. This is because for the first time in your life, you're in an educational system where they treat you like adults. High school is hypocritical in that they preach to you nonstop about becoming adults yet, because in reality, because you're in all likelyhood a minor in high school, the high school is working for your parents and for seven hours a day they are responsible for you and therefore they have to make sure you don't do anything 'wrong' during that time - which ultimately leads to treating you like kids. But in college, you pay them, they educate you, and that's it. You're a legal adult now, you are responsible for yourself, and therefore they have no reason to treat like a child anymore. That freedom is great but the freshness of it only lasts for about six months. Eventually, it'll just be a 'so what, is thal all' kind of thing. Trust me. In the end, it will be the little things within that freedom that you will savor. You can chew gum in class and as long as you're not making disruptive noise with it, they can't do a thing about it. You can run in the halls and there's nothing they can do. You can have an IPod or a discman or a laptop or a portable DVD player and they can't take it away from you. You can say four-letter words in conversation with your friends in the halls and if you're not in class, nobody can do anything about it. They can't control you anymore. That's the main thing. That is one of two things that doesn't get old. The other is the fact that you don't have to get up at 7AM anymore

2.This freedom is a double-edged sword. I shall explain. Anybody know what Pods are in relation to education systems? When I was in middle school(grades 6-8), each grade had two pods. Each pod had 4-5 teachers that tought all the classes. These teachers were in constant communication throughout the day between classes, at lunch, etc and as such knew who was giving what homework and when. And they cross-coordinated. In other words, they made it so you would never get bogged down with homework. In high school, there were no more Pods, but still, in Public high school you have to either be really really not smart or really really not put in any effort not to graduate. But now you're in college. And let me make this very clear to you: In any given class with any given professor, that professor(could be either sex but I'm gonna say his for typing sake) cares about his classes and only his classes. He does not give a shit how much work you have in your other classes or how many hours you have to work this week or what your schedule is or any of that. If you don't have time, make time. If that means you don't get to sleep much, oh well. I have never complained to a professor about having so much work in such-and-such class or anything like that, but I can imagine if I did he would say something to the effect of 'cry me a river, welcome to the real world'. With the same freedom that allows you to chew gum and run in the halls and listen to your IPod without consequence and say 'bullshit' to your friends, comes responsibility of getting your work done by the deadline, no excuses. A long way from the days of Pods. And that kinda sucks. I would like to say, however, that you have a legitimate serious reason why you might not have time to do your work, like your parents are ill and need your care or you end up in the hospital or something, if you contact your professor enough ahead of time, if they're not a bitch they might give you some leeway.

3.Be honest with yourself about your studies, particular in your major. I say this because it's not uncommon to enroll with a major, take the classes for a year or two, do the work that comes with it, and in doing that work realize you're not as sure as you thought about that particular major. If that happens, be honest with yourself so you can change or take whatever course of action you need to. That's sort of what's happening to me. I finished a two year associate of science - web development degree, but I'm not sure I'll ever use. I just don't feel the excitement I once felt about this stuff. On the other hand, I'm not at all sure what I DO want to do either, and I don't want to be enrolling somewhere and picking a major just to pick a major, even though I do need/want a four year degree. Which is why I've decided to take a year off in between, get a nothing job to make money and kill time while I think about my life and reassess things. I haven't exactly gotten that nothing job yet but there's time. The point is, I feel like I'm being honest with myself here and I think that's a good thing.

4.Learn to multi-task in relation to when and how you get your homework done. Seriously, I would've gone nuts if I'd just done all my homework in silence while doing nothing else. Absolutely stark-raving crazy. If my homework is more busy-work oriented, I do it while watching TV, in commercials. If it's studying for something, I type up all of my notes and other material, print it out, and then I read it during breaks between classes, at lunch, while watching TV, whatever. I would do ANY kind of homework between classes to minimize what I had to do at home. There's a million other ways too. Learn to multi-task with getting your homework done. I highly reccomend it.

5.Rules for class change with each individual professor. And professors can be very different. One can be very laid back and another can have a stick up his ass. It can totally change the way you get to behave in class in a lot of different ways. Trust me when I say that, at least with the professors who teach classes in your major, you'll get to know who's who quicker than you think and in future registration periods, you'll know who you want and who you don't. And you know what the best part is? When the one section of a particular class that fits into your schedule during a registration period is being taught by the professor you can't stand who makes your blood boil during class. Then you make that exasperating decision: Grin and bare it and register with the blood-boiler, or re-arrange your entire schedule so you can take a different section of that class with a different professor. I did both in the space of two years

6.Get used to walking. College campuses are big. Sometimes class A is one side of campus, class B is on the other side, you have ten minutes between classes, and if you get to class B late due to the commute, the professor will count you tardy anyway(not all professors mark down or care about tardies, though). Ties into the whole 'rules change from professor to professor' thing.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

4.Learn to multi-task in relation to when and how you get your homework done. Seriously, I would've gone nuts if I'd just done all my homework in silence while doing nothing else. Absolutely stark-raving crazy. If my homework is more busy-work oriented, I do it while watching TV, in commercials. If it's studying for something, I type up all of my notes and other material, print it out, and then I read it during breaks between classes, at lunch, while watching TV, whatever. I would do ANY kind of homework between classes to minimize what I had to do at home. There's a million other ways too. Learn to multi-task with getting your homework done. I highly reccomend it.

Considering how much time I have between my classes, that should be no problem . And yes, I'm not one for silence while working, either.

Originally posted by namkcuR
6.Get used to walking. College campuses are big. Sometimes class A is one side of campus, class B is on the other side, you have ten minutes between classes, and if you get to class B late due to the commute, the professor will count you tardy anyway(not all professors mark down or care about tardies, though). Ties into the whole 'rules change from professor to professor' thing.

My campus, thankfully, is pretty small, and my classes are generally all within one area of the school right now, so I lucked out there . But I'm used to doing that whole walking all over the place thing-did it in high school, so I could handle it should it happen in college.

Good advice about the professors, too. And about the freedom thing, heh, yeah, that is nice being allowed to do that stuff now . The real world thing doesn't surprise me too much-my dad's reminded me of that regarding school and work for years now, so....

Today's my first day-I'm leaving in less than a half hour here. Here goes!

Angela

 

[U2Girl1978]

My classes start Sept 6th. I'm taking Global Terrorism, Spanish I and Human Development in Infancy. I hope I can handle these classes while working 2 jobs and trying to spend some time with my friends and boyfriend.

 

[CampbellMSU]

michigan state starts this monday. blaaaaaaaaaaaah.

oh well, it's welcome week and time to drink some beers!

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

I get to sleep in a bit tomorrow morning-only one class tomorrow ! And it's creative writing, so it'll be a fun class I'll be going to as well. Works for me .

Whew. English is gonna be a doozy, I can say that now. I'm not so worried about not being able to do the work-that shouldn't be too much of a problem. It's just that it's going to be potentially very time-consuming. And parts of what we'll be doing won't be the most exciting stuff in the world. But eh...what can ya do?

My math teacher has an accent . It's from some part of the world, but I can't specify which area right off the top of my head. It's a cool accent, but it sometimes was a bit hard to understand him when he talked...thankfully, though, he writes a lot, so that should help.

Western Civilization sounds like it should be fun.

So all in all, a pretty good start to the year. Will be rather busy at times, but still, a good little class load.

Angela

 

[ruffian]

My major is International Affairs.

cool! so is it interdisciplinary (history, econ, poli sci)?

 

[ruffian]

I get to sleep in a bit tomorrow morning-only one class tomorrow ! And it's creative writing, so it'll be a fun class I'll be going to as well. Works for me .

Whew. English is gonna be a doozy, I can say that now. I'm not so worried about not being able to do the work-that shouldn't be too much of a problem. It's just that it's going to be potentially very time-consuming. And parts of what we'll be doing won't be the most exciting stuff in the world. But eh...what can ya do?

My math teacher has an accent . It's from some part of the world, but I can't specify which area right off the top of my head. It's a cool accent, but it sometimes was a bit hard to understand him when he talked...thankfully, though, he writes a lot, so that should help.

Western Civilization sounds like it should be fun.

So all in all, a pretty good start to the year. Will be rather busy at times, but still, a good little class load.

Angela

sounds like you are off to a great start! Western civ... that class usually has so much information. i think i snoozed through mine

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

cool! so is it interdisciplinary (history, econ, poli sci)?

My concentration is in International Business, Economics and Policy however a concentration in Diplomatic and International Service is also calling me.

 

[ruffian]

My concentration is in International Business, Economics and Policy.

that is intense..but it sounds like you love it. I taught a workshop to local Toyota employees (americans) last year on doing business in Japan...how to avoid misunderstandings and cultural mishaps. my favorite part was when i got to talk about farting and burping at the table really, how often do you get to say the word "fart" and get paid for it?

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

that is funny!

Yes it is intense but I totally into this subject matter.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Awesome, MissVelvetDress_75 . Wishing you luck with the course, as it sounds pretty heavy, but it's good that it's one you'll enjoy, though-how much you like the subject you're learning definitely can make or break the class for you.

sounds like you are off to a great start! Western civ... that class usually has so much information. i think i snoozed through mine

LOL, hey, I slept on occasion through my anatomy/physiology class in high school-damned lights constantly being off 'cause my teacher was using the overhead combined with utterly boring subject matter for the most part equaled "Zzzzzz..." (no offense to anyone who does happen to enjoy that type of class), so don't feel too bad there. I think almost everyone's got a story of falling asleep in some class in school at some point and time, LOL.

We scratched the surface of the kinds of things we'll talk about in the Western Civilization class in my various world history and other social studies related classes in school, and I always found that sort of thing interesting, personally (course, keep in mind also that I'm a weird person who actually tends to enjoy teacher lectures for the most part ), so I'm excited about the class.

But hey, that sort of thing isn't for everyone, like you, for instance, and that's okay.

LOL at your workshop story, too, by the way . That story reminds me of the scene in "Good Morning, Vietnam"-don't know if you've seen that movie?-where Robin Williams' character is teaching some Vietnamese students how to talk in the real world on the streets of America and other various places. Funny stuff.

Angela

 

[schnazdoodle]

Just got back from my first class, boy was that easy! We went over the syllabus, some letter from the provost about attendance, and then she let us leave (Statistics). The only problem is the prof is Chinese and it's often difficult to understand what she's saying

Yeah, the first class every semester/quarter is usually like that... It's usually purely informational - the lectures only start when the professors have a lot to cover...

Been there!! I took Statistics and had a TA I couldn't understand!!! I'm a terrible math student as well, so it was uber-fun, haha!