Your Student Guide to College Life

November 26th, 2008

Wouldn’t It Be Nice to Have ALL Your Classes on just 2 or 3 Days?

So it’s time to register, and you are thinking of awarding yourself more days to yourself. You’re thinking, if I take all my classes on the same meeting day schedule, then I will free up 2 or maybe 3 more days a week! I’ll have 5 days per week off if I take all of my classes on either Tuesday & Thursday or the increasingly popular Monday & Wednesday, you tell yourself. Either way, I’ll have Friday through Sunday off! And if I load up with Tuesday & Thursday classes, then I’ll be off Friday through Monday.

That’s some brilliant brain work you just did there. But hold on there just a second before you hit send on your online registration confirm page. This option isn’t for everyone, and it’s a whole lot tougher than it sounds.

Let’s assume you have the average 12-unit schedule for a moment. To meet 12 hours per week when the class meets on only 2 days that means 6 hours of classes. And since the bulk of classes are taken from 8:00-2:00, guess what—that means you’re stacked up with 6 hours of back-to-back classes. At the college level, that can fry the best of brains and lay the groundwork for some not so stellar converge of forces.

First of all, with that schedule, you are asking your onboard computer to do some heavy processing for 6 consecutive hours. Not to mention going that long without much more to eat than the protein bar you chomp down between classes. For most young guys especially, that’s a long time to go during primetime waking hours without food, which will make skipping out on classes all that much more tempting.

But back to the brain. You know how tired you are after cramming for a test for 4 or 5 or 6 hours? Well, imagine that 2 times per week, every week, PLUS your actual studying time in addition to those hours. Chances are you will be too fried after most of those days to get much studying done after class, which will leave the days in between to get your homework done. Now, you are essentially doing school at least 4 days per week, but you are completely wiped out half of that. Not so great of an option.

Choosing to load up heavy on Mondays, Wednesday s and Friday s is a little better. Assuming the same 12 hour week, now you have reduced your in-class hours down to 4, which means you can also schedule in a break for your brain and time to eat, which will make all the difference in getting through your class days.

One big hurdle either option shares is that since all your classes meet on the same days, you can take some grueling hits, especially during midterm season. It is bad enough when you have a paper due and exams in all your classes in the same week, but risking having them all converge even on the same day is playing a little bit of college roulette. No matter how good of a student, how much time can you devote to any one class the night before you have a test or paper in all of them.

Fellow Padawans, this has happened to me, and it hurt. And I was cranky most of the time, spent my weekends catching up on sleep, and my dog spent the semester staring at me, wondering, I’m sure, what was up with the deranged look of frustrated futility in my eyes, and were we ever going to play ball again? It was a long semester for both of us. I made it, but I don’t recommend it, especially at the upper division levels, where there is more work , and it is harder work to get through.

If you do decide to go for it, may the force be with you—and as Obi-Wan would say, my young Padawans, be prepared for anything

November 25th, 2008

Living with Roommates

Living with roommates is one of the greatest changes any student experiences when going to college. Even if you shared a room with a sibling at home, it’s nothing like living in a dorm or an apartment with a roommate. Because everyone has heard a roommate horror story, it can be nerve-wracking thinking about living with a roommate. Despite all of the stories, the truth is that the vast majority of students get along with their roommates just fine and have very few issues.

It is very likely that you will be randomly assigned a roommate when you first move to campus. Although residence life organizations attempt to match students with similar interests, there is no guarantee that you and your new roommate will have anything in common. This may prove to be a blessing in disguise. Roommates can introduce you to many activities and people that you may never have considered or met if it hadn’t been for your roommate.

Having a roommate also helps you learn interpersonal skills that you’ll use for the rest of your life. If an issue arises, you’ll have to deal with it—you can’t put dealing with things off forever when you live with someone. Being able to respectfully and productively talk about and resolve these issues is an important skill that you’ll develop and use throughout the rest of your academic and professional career. It’s also likely that you and your roommate will prefer different types of communication—by learning to interact with them, you’ll develop the ability to effectively communicate with a great number of people.

Having a roommate can be a great experience if you’re willing to put some effort into it—don’t let the terrible stories scare you! Go and meet your roommate as soon as you can and start building a friendship. Who knows? You may get together so well that you’ll end up living together throughout the rest of your four years of college.

November 24th, 2008

Life as a Working Student

Many college students hold jobs in addition to being full-time students. In fact, you may find that the majority of people that you meet at your university hold jobs outside of school. Whether or not you have to get a job may depend on your family’s financial situation, including how much you may have worked and saved during high school.

While making extra money is an inviting prospect, that desire has to be moderated with a certain amount of realism. Whether or not they want to admit it, many students simply do not have time for a job. Because every student’s major, class load, and time required to study is different, it is difficult to develop any guidelines for how much time can be afforded to work. Some students need to spend very little time studying—others need to spend several hours each day. Holding a job, regardless of weekly hours, will cut into studying time. Whether or not the extra money is worth the reduced studying time is a decision that every student will have to make for him or herself.

Another important consideration when thinking about getting a job is your social life. College is a time when life-long friends are made; if a student spends all of their free time working, they will likely not have a very active social life. While it’s easy to prioritize money ahead of being social, students need to remember that having fun and being able to relax are both very important aspects of having a successful college experience.

Despite the above warnings, having a job in college can be a very rewarding experience. Many employers look to hire college students because it can be cheaper than hiring graduates. This means that there are ample employment opportunities, especially near college campuses. Searching for a job can be a great opportunity to try something that you’ve never done before and to meet people that you may not have otherwise. Although the jobs held by college students often have very high turnover rates, it’s possible that you may find a long-term position that can develop into a career. Holding a job related to the field that you’re studying is also a great way to develop your education and learn about the real-life tasks that someone who works in your field has to perform every day.

Although having a job while attending college can be taxing, it’s a great way to learn new things, meet new people and develop time management skills that you’ll use for the rest of your life. If you decide that holding a job is the right decision for you, you’ll find plenty of resources around campus to assist you in finding employment. Check local newspapers and websites (including school newspapers and websites) to find jobs that appeal to your specific tastes. Above all else, don’t forget to have fun—both at work and outside of it.

November 20th, 2008

Student Reviews of Colleges and Universities at StuVu.com

The ultimate source for student reviews of colleges and universities is now live at StuVu.com!  The recent release of our website has been exciting, especially with the timing for high school students.  November is the month where most colleges have their deadlines for applications, and it’s also the month where college bound high schoolers are thinking about which college they want to go to.

That’s where StuVu.com comes in.  StuVu.com is a place for high school students to research schools that they want to attend, and get an idea of what being a student at that particular campus is like through the eyes of a student.  All of the videos, photos and reviews on the site are created by students at those universities, which ensures that everyone gets an authentic view of a “day in the life” of a university student at that particular college.  College bound high school students, and even undergraduates looking for grad schools can base their decision on student reviews of colleges and universities rather than statistics and guide books written by people who haven’t been in college in years.

StuVu.com is also a place for current college and university students to share reviews, photos and videos of all kinds of facilities, restaurants, services and events around campus with their fellow students.  As a newer student on campus, you may not be familiar with certain campus services, or hot spots in town that other students may know about. StuVu.com can bridge that gap of knowledge and make sure that everyone on campus knows where to go and what things they should avoid.

The bottom line is that most high school students currently base their college decision on top 100 lists, statistics and pamphlets created by the schools themselves.  StuVu.com provides a community that allows college students to be the voice that directs college bound students to the right colleges based on what’s important to them, because in the end, there’s a lot more to college than just statistics.

November 19th, 2008

The Art of the Strategic Suck-up

Okay, to heck with everyone else, you say, I WANT A GOOD GRADE! Now what do I do?

First, you’ve got to get your head in the right place and looking at that teacher with the right perspective. The teacher is not the enemy, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Think of that teacher as a member of the fraternity or sorority you want to join, or the one that’s doing the hiring for that job you really want, or—to a mild extent—that guy or girl you have a crush on. What do they all have in common? You would be nice to all of those people and you would probably laugh or at least attempt a sincere smile at their jokes, even if it was really lame. You would say “Hi, how’s it going?” if you passed them on campus or around town, or you would at least give them a nod and a friendly smile. You would make eye contact when they were talking to you, unless of course the guy or girl was so hot that you couldn’t maintain eye contact without turning every shade of oh-my-god-I-know-I’m-blushing. But how often is a teacher that hot?

Is it really that simple? Sure. Teachers are people too, and they respond the same way most people do; they remember the people who are nice to them, especially when they just attempted a witty joke that bombed and almost nobody thought it was funny. They also remember the people who aren’t so nice to them, just the way we do.

For the really shy or too cool, there are ways of getting the suck-up benefit without even having to do anything. As part of the strategic suck-up, here’s what you probably don’t want to do and stuff you probably wouldn’t do if the teacher was one of those people that you wanted to like you. You probably wouldn’t glare at them with death ray eyes because it’s exactly the moment that class ended and the teacher is still finishing their last couple of sentences. You probably wouldn’t be late to meet them or for a date. And you probably wouldn’t turn to your friend and start whispering while they were talking to you.

Of course, you can really pull out the stops and make sure that teacher will think of you favorably simply by doing the work and then showing the teacher that you are doing the work when they ask the class a question. But that’s not for everybody.

At the bare minimum, think of class as a date: show up on-time and smiling, and show that you’re listening to them when they’re talking. It all helps.