Hi everybody! The transistion between high school to college is really drastic and I definitely struggled through it. I got a hint at what college courses were going to be like with my AP classes but nothing could have prepared me with how assertive and purposeful I would have to be with my studies. In order to help you all out, I complied my top 2 pieces of academic advice.
DISCLAIMER: This advice isn’t going to solve everything and make you get an automatic A in all your classes but hopefully it’ll give you some structure to lessen the stress surrounding college level academics.
1. Plan out your syllabi
The first two weeks of college are very exciting and are jam-packed with orientation activites and getting situated with the new environment and new people. With how much there is to do and how many people there are to meet, academics start to come second in those first few weeks but then the first midterms season comes along and BAM! You are hit with the brunt of all the exams and essays you weren’t prepared for!
An easy way to lessen or be more prepared for this bombardment of work is to sit down with all of your syllabi after the first week of classes and write down every assignment, essay, exam, and office hours in your planner. My high school teachers had very basic, one-page syllabi that just had the class description on it and I assumed that college syllabi were going to be the same but I was very mistaken. A college course syllabus has everything about the class layed out for you and it is really beneficial to look through each of your syllabi and get a better look at which days or weeks are going to be your busiest so that you can better prepare for them. This way if you have an exam and an essay due on the same day, it won’t sneak up on you and you know not to schedule another event or responsiblity near that day.
2. Make office hours a mandatory part of your week
Each of your professors are going to have designated times during the week where they are free to answer any question you have. These times will be on your syllabus so if you’ve done the first tip then you should already have the times in your planner. My biggest regret for all the college classes I’ve ever taken is that I wish I would have gone to more office hours. I’m a person who has a lot of pride and I really struggled with asking for help which is really sad because professors are there to help you through college and they cannot do that if they don’t know what you’re struggling with.
Now, going to office hours is easier said than done. What I struggled with the most was that I would want to go to office hours to ask for help but I had no specific questions that I wanted to ask and so I would convince myself that the professor wouldn’t have the time for me and I would just struggle on my own. What has helped me combat this is, during each class, I will write in the corner of my notes at least 5 questions or comments I have about the lecture/reading that I can ask during office hours. This has helped me to improve my notes and get to really know my professors outside of class. Another helpful tip is to have an office hours buddy or buddies who will push you to go see your professor and they will also have questions of their own that can help you understand the lessons more.
With the combination of a new place, new social environment, and new independence, college can feel really lonely at times and it is really important to know that you are not alone and that there are so many people at Scripps and the 5Cs who want to see you thrive and succeed! I hope these tips can help to make your college experience even a little less stressful and a lot more fun.
If you want any more academic tips, email me at [email protected]