Advice for New University Students
Set high personal and academic standards for yourself, and live up to them. Listen to that little voice inside you that says, “I can do this.” Believe in yourself. Realize that school is work; it’s not play time. Settle for nothing less than your very best. Willingness to accept anything less than the very best too often becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. Strive for an “A” in all your courses. If you fall short of an “A”, you might earn a “B”. If you fall short of a “C”, you might earn a “D” or “F”.
Strive to understand. Don’t merely memorize; increase your depth of understanding. You need to attempt to fully comprehend what you need to know and be able to do as a result of your education.
Remember that grades count. The best jobs with the best pay most often go to those with the best grades. High grades imply intelligence, personal excellence, and dedication to seeing a job well done. High grades can make all the difference in landing the ideal job or getting into graduate school at the institution of your choice.
Investigate study and test taking skills. Educational researchers have studied what it takes to get ahead academically. Take advantage of what they can tell us.
Get to know a wide range of people – faculty, staff, and students. Networking is important. It is often true that who you know is just as important as what you know. Use your acquaintances to advantage, but don’t take advantage of them.
o Meet with your departmental advisor early on and frequently; he or she can provide valuable and timely advice.
o Get to know your teachers; just because they might have a Ph.D. is no reason to believe that they are not interested in you as a student.
o Get to know the majors in your field, and form a study group.
Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Work should come before pleasure. Manage your time effectively; set up a timeline for getting word completed in each of your courses. Set aside adequate time for homework, study, sleep, relationships, and work. You need not always finish every task all at once. Remember, you can write at 365-page book every year if you only write one page per day.
Break your large tasks down into manageable subtasks. Large jobs rarely can be completed at one setting. Tackle small parts of a large task each day; avoid cramming. Remember the fable of the tortoise and the hare; slow and steady is often better than jackrabbit sprints.
Chose your friends carefully. Friends can support you in your efforts to maximize the benefits of a college education. Friends too set on having a good time at the expense of a good education can be seriously detrimental. Get to know people who express high social, academic, and personal values.
Honesty is the best policy. Avoid cheating in all its forms – collusion, plagiarism, copying, etc. Students who cheat seriously fail to learn what is oftentimes important, and this doesn’t help them in the long run. Sometimes the only things they do learn – after getting caught – is that cheating doesn’t pay.
Don’t ignore or deny your personal and academic problems. Problems will often get worse if they are not directly addressed in a timely fashion. Procrastination in any of its many forms can lead to a small problem getting much worse. Get help when you need it. Speak to your course instructors, your advisor, or your parents.
Don’t make important decisions based on second-hand information. Jumping to rash conclusions based in incorrect information can cause you significant personal and professional problems. If you are uncertain about something, check it out before you decide.
Seek out special opportunities. College is a time to expand your mind and your experiences. Select your general education courses wisely. Consider student research, field trip opportunities, or a new language. Choose courses that will expand your world; avoid taking courses merely because they are “an easy A” or a “blow-off course.”
Get a job. Studies show that students who work from about 8-10 hours per week tend to organize and spend their “free” time more wisely. Overworking or not working at all sometimes can be detrimental to personal and academic success.
Don’t over-commit yourself. Mature students always take responsibility for their actions – all of them. Some students will commit themselves to more work than they are capable of completing. Don’t let this happen to you; you owe it to others to be honest to your word.
Make yourself a well-rounded person. Consider all four dimensions of life as you strive to educate yourself – physical, spiritual, intellectual, and social. Spend time each day developing each of these four dimensions.
Take responsibility for yourself. When some students begin college life their sense of personal responsibility seems to disappear. Parents or guardians are not longer “cracking the whip” making certain that everything is getting done correctly or on time. That work is now the responsibility of the student. Failure to recognize this fact has resulted in even some of the best high school students failing as university students.