You came to college to get an education.  Don’t let the fun and opportunity to go crazy get you side-tracked.  GO TO CLASS!  As a wise friend of mine said, you wouldn’t pay for the movie and not watch the film!

Go to each class, even if it means getting up a lot earlier than you like.  Think of it as your job.  If you don’t go to work, you don’t get paid.  If you don’t go to class and get that education, you won’t get paid in the future!

Sit near the front/front middle.  The professor can see you and you can get their attention when you have a question.  You can see the presentation better.  If you have an old school professor, you might even need to see the board! The back of the room is full of slackers on their cell phones posting to Facebook about the party they were at the other night.  Put your phone on vibrate and leave it alone until the end of class.  Really, is that Twitter feed that important?

Take good notes and review them weekly. Go back to the previous chapters and review them weekly.  If you have a midterm or a comprehensive final, you will thank me for this-seriously!

If you find yourself overwhelmed academically, join the club.  College is different than high school. Even students who were straight A, honors everything, will realize that they aren’t quite prepared for something.  Often, it is the issue of time.  Even the easiest college class will require 2-4 times more time paid to the subject.  If high school came easily and not much time was spent on homework, this might be a rude awakening.  Get on the reading, writing, and research paper quickly.  Don’t procrastinate!

If you are spending tons of time and just don’t seem to be “getting it,”  get a tutor.  Everyone goes up against some subject that is TOUGH.  Go to the academic achievement center, tutoring center, learning lab, or whatever your institution calls it.  Ask for help.  Talk to your professor.  If it is a large class and there is a TA, talk to the TA.  Stay after class.  Send emails.  Professors love to talk about their subject!!!  They have spent an ungodly number of years in school studying and are thrilled and flattered to talk about their particular topic.  Ask your RA if they know anyone who did really well in the class who might be willing to spend some time with you going over lectures and helping you fit the pieces together.

Don’t wait until midterms to decide to do something about your academic success!  Parents, don’t go completely ballistic on your student if they get a midterm report.  Give them the “Buckle Down” speech and lecture them some more.  Your student can still pull it off!  Remember, the party portion is fun, but it is one expensive party and no one can afford to party the opportunity of an education away.

Next installment:  Student Involvement!

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Mary Korte

Mary is a proud farm girl with some city attitude and mom of a sports dude in training. She loves travel, sports, food, wine and combining all of that with family and friends!

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