Monday, October 31, 2011

What Classes Should I Pick for the Spring Semester?

It’s that time of the year again, the time when students are asked to think ahead and pick the courses they want to take in the spring.  For some, this is a stressful process.

Choosing your schedule can be difficult, especially if you have many courses to choose from or aren’t yet sure what to major in.  That said, there’s no reason to take the dart board approach to choosing classes (you know – when you post the class schedule on your dart board and toss a dart to figure out which class to take).  There are some simple ways to narrow down your choices and find a schedule that meets your needs – and your interests.

  • Before you do anything else, consult your degree plan and talk to your academic advisor.  Smart people have already figured out what classes you should take when, and there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.  Even if you don’t have a degree plan yet, an academic advisor can guide you to those courses that all majors require.
  • For in major courses: typically, your options are more limited when it comes to choosing courses in your major.  Thus, you should choose these courses first, and work the rest of your class choices around them.
  • For gen. ed. courses: you often have many choices when it comes to gen. ed. classes, but that doesn’t mean they are all good choices for you.  After you narrow down your list to the classes that can fit into your schedule, start talking to your friends to find out which professors they liked and which ones they recommend you stay away from.  Also, do some online research.  Departments often post syllabi on their websites, and studying those will give you a good sense of what individual profs expect from their students.
  • Other things to consider: how work intensive is your course load?  It’s not a bad thing to cut down your schedule a bit if that means that you will enjoy life more and won’t delay graduation.  Also, how well rounded is your schedule?  Perhaps you can add a PE or arts class to give you more variety during your week.  These courses are generally required, and some students find them to be more enjoyable than the other courses they are required to take.  Since happy students are generally more successful in the long run, it doesn’t hurt to take these fun classes, too.
  • Finally, don’t be afraid to talk to professors.  If your profs are anything like me, they are happy to give you information about their upcoming classes and help you to determine whether or not the class will be a good fit for you.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Friday’s Fact

Check in each Friday for your weekly Get College Smart Fact.

pic_990146001180991434

Image Credit

In honor of Halloween, I bring you a link to the Top 10 Haunted U.S. Colleges list.  I can neither confirm nor deny the information presented here (meaning that it doesn’t necessarily qualify as “fact”).  But, I will reiterate the statement of the website’s author: my apologies to any readers who attend night classes at these institutions!

Have a happy – and safe – Halloween!

Planning Ahead: Summer Internships

While it may seem odd to start thinking about summer now, when fall is just settling in, now is the time to start planning ahead, especially if you are interested in any sort of summer internship.

Internships, like jobs, can be hard to come by in a tough economy.  Because more people are searching for these opportunities, the competition becomes fierce.  But there are some things you can do to give yourself a competitive edge. 

First, if you want an internship but don’t have a specific one in mind, do you homework now.  Google is a good resource, as are professors in your field.  Your profs may be able to give you insider information on what is out there and may even know a few people you can contact directly to find out more about internship possibilities. 

Next, start applying.  The application process can be long and grueling; just ask anyone who has applied for graduate school or full time work.  You will likely need to gather letters of recommendation, transcripts, and the like, and this takes time.  Stop by your transcript office to put in your requests ASAP.  Offices can get overwhelmed by requests at the end of the semester, which can cause delays for you.

When asking for letters of recommendation, be sure to talk to professors who have a good sense of the quality work you produce.  This means that you want to avoid requesting letters from profs in whose classes you did poorly.  Be sure you give them plenty of lead time – two weeks minimum – and make sure you have all the materials in hand when you ask.  Finally, to make life easier for your profs, provide them with envelopes, stamps, and copies of your resume.  They will appreciate your consideration and foresight – qualities that you may want them to emphasize in your letter or recommendation.

Finally, have a plan B.  If your prof is unable to write you a recommendation, who else can you ask?  If you don’t get the internship you want, what else will you do during the summer?  Thinking ahead will a) keep you from having to scramble at the last minute and b) help to ensure that you have some productive plans this summer.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Friday’s Fact

Check in each Friday for your weekly Get College Smart Fact.

wq-money-woman

Image Credit

Here’s a fact that will get you angry: according to a report by Mark Schneider at the American Institutes for Research, approximately one fifth of full time students at community colleges drop out after their first year, and they receive almost $1 billion in taxpayer money to help fund their education.

This is unwelcome news to those students who depend on federal money to finance their education and are actually working towards graduation.  You know who you are, and you are fully aware of the drop in the amount of federal money you receive. 

While we can point to a weak economy to explain why less federal money is available for higher education, we can also point to issues like this one: waste and misuse of funds.  Federal money should go to those who deserve it: students who need financial support, take their education seriously, are actively working towards their degrees, and plan on using these degrees to become productive citizens.

Monday, October 17, 2011

How do I Choose a Major, Part II

Last week, I offered a few suggestions for choosing a major, and made the Steve Jobs approach – find what you love to do – the foundation of those suggestions.

This week, I offer you the dark side of choosing a major.

It is possible that you could choose a major that fits within your passions, and one of two things happens after you graduate: you don’t find a job within your major; or you end up with a job totally unrelated to what you’ve spent 4 years studying.

Let’s face it: the economy is tough, and it will take a while for it to bounce back.  Jobs are scarce, and college is expensive.  You may need to be practical when you graduate to ensure that you a) have a job and b) can pay off your student loans.

How does all this relate to your choice of major?

For starters, it’s good to know what you’re getting into.  At the end of the day, everyone needs a job after college, and if you can be happy in a major that will likely lead to a job, even in this economy (think nursing), all the better.  If you’re like me, however, and your first choice major is really generic and typically leads into an oversaturated sector of the economy (teaching), you might want to think long and hard about your choice.  Are you dead set on a job that relates to your major?  If not, what other marketable job skills do you have?  What other skills can you gain in college, via part-time work, and/or via internships?  If you are dead set on a career within your major, what can you do to set yourself apart from the crowd?

Once you’ve asked yourself these questions and drawn your own conclusions, you should also consider adding a minor to diversify yourself and add to your marketability.  Finally, be creative!  Think outside the box when considering career options, and do all you can now to make yourself the right fit for the careers that interest you the most.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Friday’s Fact

Check in each Friday for your weekly Get College Smart fact.

Viewpoint_Creative_Launches_Versus_College_Football_01_thumb

Image Credit

As I sit and enjoy college football this fine afternoon while writing a Saturday edition of Friday’s Fact, I am reminded of a headline I saw on CNN last month: a recent study by the National College Players Association shows that scholarship athletes are struggling to make ends meet, in spite of the funds that they receive for playing their sport.

The report recommends that universities fully fund their scholarship athletes and allow them to make money through endorsements and other avenues that have been off limits to college athletes in the past.

Surely these recommendations will be controversial, to say the least.  Just consider Ohio State’s football team, which got itself into a whole heap of trouble when a few players sold apparel and awards and received improper services from local vendors.  That violation got those players suspended and lost the team a fine head coach, Jim Tressel.   

But if there’s any truth to the NCPA report, then something should be done to ensure that these revenue producing student athletes are not taken advantage of by their colleges and universities, don’t you think?

Monday, October 10, 2011

How do I Choose a Major?

If you watched the YouTube video tribute to Steve Jobs that I posted on Friday, you should have noticed that he encourages the graduating class of Stanford to find what they love to do.

He’s talking, of course, about one’s life work – that day in, day out job that you commit yourself to and that earns you an income that you can (hopefully) live off of. 

When it comes to choosing a major, the same advice applies – find what you love to do; keep looking, and don’t settle. 

Why?  Ideally, that major will be the key that opens the door to that job you love and look forward to going to each and every day.

More immediately, that major will determine a large percentage of the courses you are required to take during your college career.  If you don’t enjoy those classes, college will be a pretty miserable experience.  So, when you open up your course catalog (or download it, as you are more likely to do), start searching for majors that line up with your interests. 

For some of you, that may mean pursuing less “useful” majors – majors that don’t immediately correlate to specific jobs or that don’t lead to high paying jobs.  Take for instance my undergraduate major – English.  Not quite the field people think of going into when they want to be rich and famous.  But for me, the English major was a perfect fit.  I have always loved to read, and studying English allowed me to dabble into all kinds of other fields – history, religion, sociology, psychology, etc.  In other words, I never got bored and felt like I had more to learn at the end of every semester.

Am I making lots of money now?  No.  Did all of my family think an English major was the best choice?  Definitely no.  But I am currently in a job that I thoroughly enjoy and am able to live comfortably as a result.  I couldn’t ask for a better, especially in today’s tough economic situation.

If you are in need of resources to help you choose a major, be sure to visit your campus’ career center and talk to professors whose classes you enjoy.  They can help you to determine if their area of study is right for you.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Friday’s Fact

Check in each Friday for your weekly Get College Smart fact.

In lieu of our regular Friday Fact, we would like to pay tribute to Steve Jobs.  Jobs lost his fight with pancreatic cancer on Wednesday.  He was just 56 years old.  Perhaps the greatest innovator of our age, he changed the shape of the world with creations like the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.
In 2005, Jobs gave an inspirational commencement speech to the graduating class at Stanford University.

Below are some of the highlights of that speech in the form of a video tribute that was recently posted on YouTube.

College students take note; this speech contains words of wisdom for you. 


Thursday, October 6, 2011

#WISHIHADKNOWN Postcard Contest

Check out the #WISHIHADKNOWN postcard contest sponsored by CollegeMagazine.com.  Upload a photo and your advice for college freshmen, and you could win $500!  And be sure to share your entry with us here at Get College Smart – we’d love to feature your advice in a column.  Simply email us your words of wisdom at askcollegesmart@gmail.com.

What advice would we give?  Check out our postcard creation.

graduate-aug11

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Bonus Edition: Preparing for an Essay Exam

Since teaching students how to write just so happens to be my forte, I thought I'd do a bonus edition on a particular anxiety-causing type of exam: the essay exam.  Even if writing is not your "thing," you don't have to lose sleeping stressing about the essay portion of your test if you follow these tips:

If the essay is on a particular topic and you are expected to regurgitate information:
  • Study the material you will be tested on
  • Plan a response - identify your main point and all the examples or explanations you will need to illustrate that point
  • Practice writing the essay - by the time you take the exam, the information should be firmly planted in your head.

If you're unlucky enough not to know the exact topic in advance:
  • Be sure to study all the material you will be tested on
  • If you have the time, create a study guide on the topics you will be tested on (assuming you have an idea what those topics are), identifying the information relevant to each topic
  • Practice writing essays on those topics.

If you're like my students and are being tested on your writing skills:
  • Come to the exam with a plan - know, in advance, how much time you will spend planning, drafting, and revising your essay.
  • Know the features of the essay you will be asked to write, and make sure those features are present in the essay you write on the day of the exam.
For any one of these kinds of essay exams, you should also know what your professor is looking for in your essay response.  If he or she does not give you this information in advance, be sure to ask.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

How do I prepare for Mid-Terms?

Many of you are right at the mid-point of your semester and having several exams looming.  How should you go about preparing for these exams?

If you have at least a couple of weeks to prepare:

  • Start reviewing your class notes.  Set aside 15 minutes or more each day to review your lecture notes.  This will allow you to study small sections of material, which are easier to remember.
  • Reread key sections of your textbook.  How do you know which sections are important?  Typically, your professor will emphasize the material s/he feels is important in class and on quizzes. 
  • Create study guides.  These are short documents that list all the major concepts/points that you might be asked about on your exam.
  • Create your own quizzes.  This will force you to think like your professor and will help you to anticipate the types of questions that may be asked.

If you’re short on time:

  • Be prepared to give up your free time.  The less time you have to prepare, the more cramming you will have to do.
  • Avoid “marathon stretches” of studying, if possible.  Limit yourself to a couple of hour blocks of studying, followed by breaks.  This will help you to retain the information you study.
  • Find a good study partner.  I’m not talking about the cute guy/girl in your class that takes your mind off your work.  Instead, seek out the student who stays on top of his/her work (like you do!) and see if s/he would be willing to split the study materials with you.  That way, you will only be responsible for studying half the material, and your study buddy will teach you the other half of the material.  Don’t forget to return the favor – a study group only works when each member carries his or her own weight!
  • Attend study sessions, if offered.  The TAs who lead these sessions often are “in the know” about what will be on the exam.
  • Get plenty of rest, and eat right. No one studies well when tired or hungry. Be sure to take care of your body while filling your mind with knowledge.
  • Do what you can, and try not to worry about the rest.  No exam is worth excessive amounts of stress.  Sometimes, limited time will only allow you to cover a portion of the material you need to know.  While this is not the ideal circumstance for your grade, it should teach you a valuable lesson – give yourself more time to study for big exams!