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10 Signs You’re in Trouble at College
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2009 Comment (12)Many college students are in serious trouble and don't even recognize it. They think that nothing is really wrong, that everyone else is in the same boat, or that college is just supposed to be hard. Other students are just not sure: "Am I doing bad or doing really bad?" they wonder. "Should I take some decisive action or just wait it out, hoping it'll get better?"
In order to help you decide whether you're in serious difficulty or just caught up in the ordinary ebb and flow of higher education, here are 10 signs that you're in real trouble at college. If you, or someone you know or love, exhibits any of these signs, it's time to do some major reassessment and make some big changes:
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15 Secrets of Getting Good Grades in College
Tweet Share on Facebook August 19, 2009 Comment (21)Grades are the measure of college success. Like the salary at a job, the batting average in baseball, or the price of a stock, your grade-point average is an objective indication of how you're doing. And yet, there's surprisingly little good information—least of all from professors—about just what you should do to get good grades at college. Here are the 15 best tips from our Professors' Guide to Getting Good Grades in College—with our best wishes that you get all A's as you start your college year:
1. Take charge of this thing. College isn't like high school. There's no teacher or parent to remind you every day of what you need to do. So step up to bat and take responsibility. What grades you get will depend on what you yourself do.
2. Select, don't settle. To get good grades in college, it's very important that you pick the right courses. Pick classes that you think you can do. And be sure to pick the right level in required courses such as math, English comp, sciences, and languages (in some colleges, there are five courses all bearing the name "college math"). Most of all, don't accept some "standard freshman program" from your adviser. Pick your courses one by one, paying careful attention that some fulfill distribution requirements, some count to a possible major, some satisfy some interest of yours, and at least one is something that somehow "sounds interesting." You'll do better if you've made the right choices.
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Why Does Diversity Matter at College Anyway?
Tweet Share on Facebook August 12, 2009 Comment (18)Henry Louis Gates Jr., President Barack Obama, and Police Sgt. James Crowley have certainly done their part to get race relations into the national discussion. But diversity is hot on college campuses, too—not only race, ethnicity, and gender but also religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and age. But why is diversity important in college at all? Visiting blogger Aaron Thompson, professor of sociology at Eastern Kentucky University and coauthor (with Joe Cuseo) of Diversity and the College Experience, offers eight reasons why diversity matters at college:
1. Diversity expands worldliness. College might be the first time you have had the opportunity to have real interaction with people from diverse groups. Whether we like it or not, many times we find ourselves segregated from other groups in schools, churches, and our own neighborhoods. A college campus is like opening the door to the entire world without traveling anywhere else.
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10 Tips for Whipping the Math Requirement
Tweet Share on Facebook August 5, 2009 Comment (6)For many college students, the math requirement is the single biggest obstacle standing between them and their cap and gown. Believe it or not, some students take the same math course two or three times and by the end of their ordeal have just barely passed. It doesn't have to be this way. College math is easily manageable and might even turn out to be fun if you follow our 10 tips for acing the math requirement:
1. Get in—and stay in—the right level. Colleges often have several levels of calculus and up to five versions of algebra. Select carefully to avoid taking classes that are too hard (or too easy) for your level of ability and training. Double-check after the first test, and switch classes then if necessary. Why torture yourself if you're never going to able to master delta-epsilon proofs?
