- You are a legal adult and responsible for all of your actions.
- Read the text book.
- Go to class, take notes, do the assignments and ask questions in class. If you have not asked at least one question a week (in each class), then you are not thinking hard enough.
- You may not think you will need a recommendation letter at the beginning of class but you may by the end. It may not be for a job it could be for a study abroad application. As a professor there are only about three things i can write about.
- Attendance. You may be allowed to miss class but letters usually say student attended class regularly (don't be late)
- Participation. Give me something to write about by asking questions and answering questions. Using your cell phone or computer does not help you.
- Quality of Work. You will get out of a class what you put into it. If you find the class easy push your own boundaries, it gives me a chance to write student went above and beyond the expectations of the course.
- Start your assignments early, do not wait until the night before.
- If you do not like a professors teaching style, oh well they are not going to change for you so learn to adapt. For example: if you like powerpoint slides and the professor does not use powerpoint, make your own slidesi.
- Got a problem? ASK FOR HELP. If it is about your class then ask the Professor or ask the Teaching Assistant. If it is a problem about the Professor ask the department Chair, then the Dean, then the President if you need to! You need to be proactive in getting help. However once you look for it you will find there is a lot of help out there for anything you can think of. Stop in to the Deans office for student affairs and say 'I need help'. You may be surprised but what they can help you with (anything really). Of course if you are failing a class you might not like the answer :) Got a problem? DON'T ASK your roommates, a kid in the hall, a random stranger. They are not the correct the people to get help from. See number five above.
- Watch your language while walking around campus. I am appalled by the language that emits from students mouths while they are walking across campus or down the hall. What you say IS a reflection of WHO you are. Some of you are in pretty bad shape.
- You are enrolled in a class but don't like the professors teaching style or tests what do you do? Deal with it and be glad a class is only 15 weeks long. Be polite, study hard, ask questions and prove to everyone that you can still get a good grade against the odds.
- Spend 40 hours a week on your class studies and you will find that you can get good grades. Learn how to make a time budget and then STICK with it. It is not uncommon for you to spend more than 10 hours a week on a class (that is what is expected for a 3 credit course, minimally!). How much time do you spend on your classes (add it up)? How much time do you waste in a day (add it up)? If you work from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm everyday (5 days) that adds up to 40 hours with the weekend off! I was also assuming you wanted to sleep late :)
- Realize that sometimes life is not fair. If you think your professor is tough wait until you have a boss!
FYI: If you are an undecided major the courses you should take are ones that interest you as a possible major. It does not matter if meets any requirement or not. What is important is that you find a major you are interested in. Another reason that it is not important to meet a requirement is that the major you choose may be in another college and the requirements will be different, so at that point any requirements you have full filled become elective credits.