Tips for Success in this course & college courses

Tips for Making a Successful Transition to Academic Life at The University level:

• Plan: Buy a calendar (not a day-planner) and write in all exam dates and deadlines as

soon as they become available (which is usually on the first day of class). Hang the

calendar by your computer or in a place where you will notice it.

• Don’t over commit yourself: Decide how much time you have to participate in activities

of a non-academic nature and make choices. It is impossible to play a varsity sport, work

a part-time job, volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, sing in a band, participate in five

clubs and still have enough time to study effectively for your classes. 8

• Prioritize: Once you choose your commitments, decide which ones are the most

important to you and abandon the ones for which you don’t have enough time.

• Organize your time: Make calculations, at the beginning of the semester, as to how

much time each of your commitments will require of you, including each of your classes.

If you think that participation in a particular activity will probably take about three hours

per week, assume that in actuality it will probably take about four. The worst thing you

can do is under estimate the impact of a particular commitment on your schedule.

Therefore always plan more time than what you think will be necessary. This rule

especially applies to course work. There is no such thing as an easy course at the college

level. As a general rule, plan to spend a minimum of two hours studying for each

hour that you spend in class.

• Be disciplined: Stick to your schedule. In other words, study when it is time to study, and

play when it is time to play; never confuse the two.

• Factor in time for rest: When your day is over, sleep, ideally for eight hours. A

semester is a marathon, not a race. If you don’t get your rest, you will burn yourself out.

• Deal with problems constructively and as soon as they arise: For example, see your

academic adviser as soon as you see that you are struggling in a particular class for which

you have been studying consistently, or, see your RA or Res Life if problems with your

roommate cannot be resolved. There are people here to assist you, but nothing can be

done if you wait too long.

• Rise to the challenge: Try new things, step out of your comfort zone, and, especially,

never avoid a class or an activity because you think it is too hard for you or that you don’t

have the right skill-set for it. Often times, the things you think you are bad at, with work

and no small amount of struggle, become the things you are good at. Rarely will you ever

regret having made the effort. This is your time to explore new things, and it is perfectly

ok to earn less than perfect grades for the sake of broadening your horizons. So take a

math class if you were terrible at math in high school, or take an art class if you’ve never

taken one before, or take Russian instead of Spanish. Twenty years from now you’ll look

back and be glad you did.

Final Note: The structure of the course and its governing policies are designed to accomplish

the proposed objective and assure the fair and equal treatment of the students as responsible

adults. Your presence in the class is an indication that you understand and agree to the

requirements of the class as stipulated in the syllabus.

HOW TO SUCCEED IN YOUR LANGUAGE CLASS: