It’s the first day of classes. You’ve had two classes so far and feel pretty good about what you will need to do during the semester and your ability to learn from the instructors involved. You go to your third class of the day hoping for more of the same. But as that first class meeting goes on, you are a bit uneasy. Maybe it’s something about the instructor’s teaching style. Maybe it’s all those out of class group assignments that won’t fit well with your busy work schedule. Regardless of what particular aspect of this class makes you unsure that you should continue with it, it is important to think carefully about whether you should stay (keep the class) or whether you should go (drop the class). Here are some steps to take in making that decision.
Look at the syllabi for all of your classes and assess what your academic workload will be for the semester and also consider your non-academic obligations (family, work, faith activities, etc.). Be realistic about the time it will take you to study and complete assignments. If your schedule seems to be mind-blowingly full, you may want to consider dropping a class.
If you cannot drop a class without compromising your financial aid award, be prepared to immediately add another class to replace the units of the one you will be dropping. That means having an add code/permission to register in hand and ready to go. If you are doing the drop and add on paper, submit them simultaneously to registration personnel. Even if you can do the drop and add over the computer, I would still recommend going in person in case there is something that needs an override by registration personnel.
If you decide to drop the class, do it the right way and do it promptly. You enrolled yourself for the class, so it’s your responsibility to unenroll yourself. While some instructors will drop students if they stop showing up for class, they are not obligated to do so. You could wind up with a nasty F slamming your GPA down at the end of the semester just because you didn’t bother to formally drop a class. Going through the proper procedure to drop a class may also free up a space for another student who really needs it. Be mindful of drop and add deadlines and how they might affect how much of your money will be refunded. If you’ve held off on your decision to drop a class until you won’t be getting any of your money back, you might want to reconsider.
There also can be some compelling reasons to keep a class even if you’re feeling uncomfortable about it. Here are a few:
Are you close to transferring or graduating? If this is a class you need to accomplish either of those, you might be better off hanging in there so you can finish up on time.
Is the class not offered every semester? This is quite common, especially at the university upper-division level. It can be a nightmare for seniors to get into these classes, so dropping a capstone class can set you back significantly.
Is it a class that serves as a prerequisite to other classes? Dropping a prerequisite class will limit your ability to enroll in some other classes in the future, including required classes in your major.
Is the class only taught by one instructor? If you are uneasy about the instructor’s teaching style and he/she is the only faculty member who teaches that class, you might as well keep the class and find ways to get through it.
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Monday, August 23, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Parking Maze
Parking lots at colleges and universities are some of the craziest places on earth. You have an extremely large number of people traveling in and out of campus at set times all vying for what seems to be very few decent parking spaces. As an undergraduate at Western Michigan University, I remember driving around at 3:30 pm with my lowly W sticker (commuter student permit) looking for a halfway reasonable parking spot near Sangren Hall. I would barely make it to my 4:15 pm class on time. (If any Broncos past or present are reading this, you know exactly what I mean.) I even left work extra early on class days to allow for hunting down a parking space so I could try to make it to class on time. Ah, memories.
Nothing can completely eliminate the pain of parking on campus, but here are some tips to make it a little easier.
Include time to look for a parking space in your travel time to campus. Some days you will hit it lucky and find a perfect space right away; other days will not go so well. If you plan ahead, you are saving yourself from the frustration of running late to class, which can be particularly stressful on exam days or if you have an instructor who is strict about late arrivals.
Do not park in restricted spaces. You will get busted. Maybe not the first time, maybe not the tenth time, but believe me, your luck will run out and you will have a hefty parking fine on your hands. It is true that faculty and staff parking spaces are often more convenient to campus buildings than student spaces, but there are good reasons for that. Their time deadlines to be someplace on campus are much more stringent than students' time deadlines. If you've ever complained because an instructor was late to class, consider that a possible reason was a student was unfairly taking a faculty parking space.
Many campuses give a one week grace period after the start of classes for parking permits. It's a good idea to get your parking permit as soon as possible. It is all too easy to let the grace period slide by and then get the unpleasant surprise of a ticket on your window. I am in the habit of obtaining my campus parking permits on the first or second day of class. Contrary to what many students believe, faculty and staff generally have to pay for parking permits too.
If possible, try to carpool or use public transportation to get to campus. This is not a good solution for everyone, but in some cases, it works great. Most of the campuses I have worked at have nice incentive programs to encourage people who carpool or use public transportation. Even if you do it part of the time, it helps lessen the parking crunch.
If money is a concern, do a little math to see whether you truly need to buy a full semester parking pass. For instance, if your campus daily permit rate is $1.50, you are only on a campus two days per week, and the full semester parking permit is $60.00, you will save $12.00 in a 16 week semester by using daily permit. Buying daily permits will also save you money if you are carpooling or using public transportation part of the time.
Nothing can completely eliminate the pain of parking on campus, but here are some tips to make it a little easier.
Include time to look for a parking space in your travel time to campus. Some days you will hit it lucky and find a perfect space right away; other days will not go so well. If you plan ahead, you are saving yourself from the frustration of running late to class, which can be particularly stressful on exam days or if you have an instructor who is strict about late arrivals.
Do not park in restricted spaces. You will get busted. Maybe not the first time, maybe not the tenth time, but believe me, your luck will run out and you will have a hefty parking fine on your hands. It is true that faculty and staff parking spaces are often more convenient to campus buildings than student spaces, but there are good reasons for that. Their time deadlines to be someplace on campus are much more stringent than students' time deadlines. If you've ever complained because an instructor was late to class, consider that a possible reason was a student was unfairly taking a faculty parking space.
Many campuses give a one week grace period after the start of classes for parking permits. It's a good idea to get your parking permit as soon as possible. It is all too easy to let the grace period slide by and then get the unpleasant surprise of a ticket on your window. I am in the habit of obtaining my campus parking permits on the first or second day of class. Contrary to what many students believe, faculty and staff generally have to pay for parking permits too.
If possible, try to carpool or use public transportation to get to campus. This is not a good solution for everyone, but in some cases, it works great. Most of the campuses I have worked at have nice incentive programs to encourage people who carpool or use public transportation. Even if you do it part of the time, it helps lessen the parking crunch.
If money is a concern, do a little math to see whether you truly need to buy a full semester parking pass. For instance, if your campus daily permit rate is $1.50, you are only on a campus two days per week, and the full semester parking permit is $60.00, you will save $12.00 in a 16 week semester by using daily permit. Buying daily permits will also save you money if you are carpooling or using public transportation part of the time.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
The First Day of Class - Don't Miss It
Has another college student ever told you something like this?
I never bother going to the first day of classes. Nothing happens. The instructor hands out the syllabus and then lets us leave, or drones on and on about the syllabus and other unimportant things. No real material gets covered at all. No, I never bother going to the first day of a class. It's a waste of my time.
Wrong, wrong, so wrong. The first day of a class is essential in numerous ways. Here are a few major ones.
The syllabus sets forth the expectations you need to meet in order to do well in a class, and a review of the syllabus clarifies any questions you may have about those expectations. It gives you an overall feel for how much and what type of work you will need to do during the semester. This can be very important to maintaining your grades at a level you desire. For instance, if you will be balancing a hectic work schedule with your classes, you might find that a class that requires a lot of group work scheduled outside of class hours is not the best idea.
A syllabus, along with the instructor's overview of it, can also give you other valuable information in deciding whether this is a class you want to keep in your schedule. Not only will you get an idea of what the work for this class will be like, you also get a taste of the individual instructor's style and approach to teaching and learning. Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, the way a specific instructor teaches and the way a specific student learns is not a good match. It is better to find this out right away while there is a possibility of successfully adding another class to replace the one you feel won't work for you. There is no one perfect way to teach material, nor is there one perfect way to learn material.
Much important information that is not on the syllabus is often provided the first day of class. For example, I routinely demonstrate how to log into the course management system and access the student areas of my website during the first session. I will often have a college procedures question and answer session. I often talk about specific features of the textbook and give suggestions on how to best use it to maximize success. When time allows, I show the students how to search for and obtain a scholarly journal article online. So much of what happens in class, not just on the first day but during any class session, consists of non-repeatable events.
While some instructors may simply hand out syllabi and dismiss class on the first day, many of us are going to dig right into introductory material that lays the foundation for the rest of the semester. Time in the classroom is precious, and I for one firmly believe in getting the learning underway as soon as possible.
I saved the most compelling reason to attend the first day of class for last. Quite a few instructors will immediately drop students who do not show up on the first day and immediately take adds to fill in their places. In today's climate of an increased number of students trying to register for a smaller number of classes, keeping a seat in a class is becoming more competitive. It has become routine for full classes to also have a waitlist of 20, 30, or more students. While it's nearly impossible to get everyone on the waitlist into an already full section, many instructors will try to reasonably accommodate at least some of them. Therefore, if you choose not to go to the first day of a class, don't be too surprised if someone else has taken your place when you finally show up.
I never bother going to the first day of classes. Nothing happens. The instructor hands out the syllabus and then lets us leave, or drones on and on about the syllabus and other unimportant things. No real material gets covered at all. No, I never bother going to the first day of a class. It's a waste of my time.
Wrong, wrong, so wrong. The first day of a class is essential in numerous ways. Here are a few major ones.
The syllabus sets forth the expectations you need to meet in order to do well in a class, and a review of the syllabus clarifies any questions you may have about those expectations. It gives you an overall feel for how much and what type of work you will need to do during the semester. This can be very important to maintaining your grades at a level you desire. For instance, if you will be balancing a hectic work schedule with your classes, you might find that a class that requires a lot of group work scheduled outside of class hours is not the best idea.
A syllabus, along with the instructor's overview of it, can also give you other valuable information in deciding whether this is a class you want to keep in your schedule. Not only will you get an idea of what the work for this class will be like, you also get a taste of the individual instructor's style and approach to teaching and learning. Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, the way a specific instructor teaches and the way a specific student learns is not a good match. It is better to find this out right away while there is a possibility of successfully adding another class to replace the one you feel won't work for you. There is no one perfect way to teach material, nor is there one perfect way to learn material.
Much important information that is not on the syllabus is often provided the first day of class. For example, I routinely demonstrate how to log into the course management system and access the student areas of my website during the first session. I will often have a college procedures question and answer session. I often talk about specific features of the textbook and give suggestions on how to best use it to maximize success. When time allows, I show the students how to search for and obtain a scholarly journal article online. So much of what happens in class, not just on the first day but during any class session, consists of non-repeatable events.
While some instructors may simply hand out syllabi and dismiss class on the first day, many of us are going to dig right into introductory material that lays the foundation for the rest of the semester. Time in the classroom is precious, and I for one firmly believe in getting the learning underway as soon as possible.
I saved the most compelling reason to attend the first day of class for last. Quite a few instructors will immediately drop students who do not show up on the first day and immediately take adds to fill in their places. In today's climate of an increased number of students trying to register for a smaller number of classes, keeping a seat in a class is becoming more competitive. It has become routine for full classes to also have a waitlist of 20, 30, or more students. While it's nearly impossible to get everyone on the waitlist into an already full section, many instructors will try to reasonably accommodate at least some of them. Therefore, if you choose not to go to the first day of a class, don't be too surprised if someone else has taken your place when you finally show up.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Get Textbook Smart
Fall semester at my college begins over a month from now, but yesterday I received an email from a newly registered student inquiring about textbooks. What a good move on his part! Thinking ahead about this significant chunk of your college budget can save you plenty of money, prevent lots of headaches, and help you be as prepared as possible for the first day of class.
It’s very wise to check into your textbooks as soon as you have registered for classes. Many students say “I never buy my textbooks until the first week of class, because I might want to drop the class.” While this does make sense on one level, it is probably not the best long-term strategy.
If you wait until classes have started to buy books, you don’t have the luxury of time to search down the best price for your textbook. By then, you will need the book immediately and risk falling behind in class if you’re waiting for your bargain to arrive.
You also will greatly reduce your chances of saving money by buying a used book. Used textbooks move quickly out of campus bookstores, and you may be left with a considerably more expensive new book as your only choice. Even worse, you may find that the book is entirely out of stock. While instructors direct bookstores to purchase an adequate number of texts to cover their enrollments, things do happen such as ordering and delivery mistakes, understocks at the publisher’s end, and additional students added to classes.
If you get your textbooks early, you can even read the first couple of chapters before the first day of class. Every little extra edge helps.
After you’ve registered for classes, check textbook information at your campus bookstore, either online or in person. There you should find the title, edition number, author, and ISBN (the unique identification number) of each book you need for your classes. It is very important to know the section number and instructor for each of your classes. For example, your campus may offer ten different sections of Introduction to Psychology taught by five different instructors. While some colleges do use the same textbook for all sections of a class, you will probably see several different introductory psychology textbooks on the shelf. Different instructors have different textbook preferences, and you really want to make sure you have the same textbook as your instructor is using. If you plan to shop elsewhere than your campus bookstore, write down the title, edition number, author, and ISBN carefully.
If your campus bookstore does not have or does not share textbook information, look up your instructor’s email on and drop him/her a note asking for the title, edition number, author, and ISBN of the text. Believe it or not, your instructors and professors remember what it is like to be a student facing down an ugly textbook bill. You may also want to ask if using the next older edition of the book would be okay. For instance, if the instructor tells you the 4th edition is being used, ask if the 3rd edition would work. Keep in mind, however, that not just any textbook in the subject will do. In a developmental psychology class, I once had a student bring me a 10 year old textbook by an obscure author and ask me if it would work for the class. Unfortunately, the answer was no. Textbooks, on average, are updated every three years or so. Sometimes there are small changes; sometimes there are big changes. Expect textbooks in the sciences (unfortunately some of the most expensive ones) and other rapidly developing fields to be only acceptable in the current edition.
The internet is invaluable in finding textbooks and getting them at the best price. I did ten minutes of casual online research on a text for my upcoming personality psychology class and turned up an array of choices (buy new, buy used, rent, online only) with a wide range of prices (buy new at $162.00 at a campus bookstore, buy used for $94.83 at another online site, online only access for $60.75, rent for $48.66 from a book rental service). I was able to look up most of these options all at once using DirectTextbook.Com. I am not at all affiliated with them, but I was quite impressed with seeing about 25 sources for the textbook with one click.
Before deciding which textbook format to use, think about the pluses and minuses of each of them and the logistics in ordering them. New textbooks are expensive, but they are more likely to be immediately available for pickup or shipping if you’ve cut yourself short for time. Used textbooks online may be a one copy only deal, so order quickly and have a backup plan in place in case something goes awry, like an indefinite backorder. On book rental websites, note very carefully the period for which you would be renting a book. Quarters will rent for less than semesters, but if you’re taking semester-length classes, only renting for a quarter could be problematic. Online only books might work well for you if you have a fast and reliable internet connection and are comfortable doing the intensive reading required for a textbook on screen.
Unless clearly stated otherwise in the registration information or at the bookstore, textbooks are required. One of the most common gripes I hear from newly entered college students in my psychology classes is “I paid all this money for this textbook and we don’t even use it in class!” That’s right. This does not work like high school where students are using the book every day as part of class activities. You’re supposed to be reading and using the textbook on your own to form a basis of knowledge that will allow you to come to class better prepared to absorb the lecture materials and apply your knowledge in practical ways. The majority of college level learning takes place outside of the classroom and at the student’s own direction. Textbooks play an essential part in that process. Read and use your textbooks on a regular basis and you will be pleasantly surprised by the results.
It’s very wise to check into your textbooks as soon as you have registered for classes. Many students say “I never buy my textbooks until the first week of class, because I might want to drop the class.” While this does make sense on one level, it is probably not the best long-term strategy.
If you wait until classes have started to buy books, you don’t have the luxury of time to search down the best price for your textbook. By then, you will need the book immediately and risk falling behind in class if you’re waiting for your bargain to arrive.
You also will greatly reduce your chances of saving money by buying a used book. Used textbooks move quickly out of campus bookstores, and you may be left with a considerably more expensive new book as your only choice. Even worse, you may find that the book is entirely out of stock. While instructors direct bookstores to purchase an adequate number of texts to cover their enrollments, things do happen such as ordering and delivery mistakes, understocks at the publisher’s end, and additional students added to classes.
If you get your textbooks early, you can even read the first couple of chapters before the first day of class. Every little extra edge helps.
After you’ve registered for classes, check textbook information at your campus bookstore, either online or in person. There you should find the title, edition number, author, and ISBN (the unique identification number) of each book you need for your classes. It is very important to know the section number and instructor for each of your classes. For example, your campus may offer ten different sections of Introduction to Psychology taught by five different instructors. While some colleges do use the same textbook for all sections of a class, you will probably see several different introductory psychology textbooks on the shelf. Different instructors have different textbook preferences, and you really want to make sure you have the same textbook as your instructor is using. If you plan to shop elsewhere than your campus bookstore, write down the title, edition number, author, and ISBN carefully.
If your campus bookstore does not have or does not share textbook information, look up your instructor’s email on and drop him/her a note asking for the title, edition number, author, and ISBN of the text. Believe it or not, your instructors and professors remember what it is like to be a student facing down an ugly textbook bill. You may also want to ask if using the next older edition of the book would be okay. For instance, if the instructor tells you the 4th edition is being used, ask if the 3rd edition would work. Keep in mind, however, that not just any textbook in the subject will do. In a developmental psychology class, I once had a student bring me a 10 year old textbook by an obscure author and ask me if it would work for the class. Unfortunately, the answer was no. Textbooks, on average, are updated every three years or so. Sometimes there are small changes; sometimes there are big changes. Expect textbooks in the sciences (unfortunately some of the most expensive ones) and other rapidly developing fields to be only acceptable in the current edition.
The internet is invaluable in finding textbooks and getting them at the best price. I did ten minutes of casual online research on a text for my upcoming personality psychology class and turned up an array of choices (buy new, buy used, rent, online only) with a wide range of prices (buy new at $162.00 at a campus bookstore, buy used for $94.83 at another online site, online only access for $60.75, rent for $48.66 from a book rental service). I was able to look up most of these options all at once using DirectTextbook.Com. I am not at all affiliated with them, but I was quite impressed with seeing about 25 sources for the textbook with one click.
Before deciding which textbook format to use, think about the pluses and minuses of each of them and the logistics in ordering them. New textbooks are expensive, but they are more likely to be immediately available for pickup or shipping if you’ve cut yourself short for time. Used textbooks online may be a one copy only deal, so order quickly and have a backup plan in place in case something goes awry, like an indefinite backorder. On book rental websites, note very carefully the period for which you would be renting a book. Quarters will rent for less than semesters, but if you’re taking semester-length classes, only renting for a quarter could be problematic. Online only books might work well for you if you have a fast and reliable internet connection and are comfortable doing the intensive reading required for a textbook on screen.
Unless clearly stated otherwise in the registration information or at the bookstore, textbooks are required. One of the most common gripes I hear from newly entered college students in my psychology classes is “I paid all this money for this textbook and we don’t even use it in class!” That’s right. This does not work like high school where students are using the book every day as part of class activities. You’re supposed to be reading and using the textbook on your own to form a basis of knowledge that will allow you to come to class better prepared to absorb the lecture materials and apply your knowledge in practical ways. The majority of college level learning takes place outside of the classroom and at the student’s own direction. Textbooks play an essential part in that process. Read and use your textbooks on a regular basis and you will be pleasantly surprised by the results.
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