81321 College Success Use this b ook as a Reference Guide. Four hundred eighty seven pages of excellent information and advice on ALL matters pertaining to college success. Benefit from the first-hand experience of professionals to achieve your goals and lead a balanced life. Save to a folder on your computer for future reference. Use the Control F key to bring up a search field, to easily find needed information by entering a word or words (example: reaching goals); or by entering the page number from the Table of Contents. Read Chapter 2.1 Setting and Reaching Goals (page 55) Fifteen pages of excellent advice on how to achieve your goals. dh Contents Publisher Information viii Chapter 1: You and Your College Experience 1.1 Who Are You, Really? 6 1.2 Different Worlds of Different Students 15 1.3 How You Learn 21 1.4 What Is College, Really? 32 1.5 Let’s Talk about Success 40 1.6 Chapter Activities 46 Chapter 2: Staying Motivated, Organized, and On Track 2.1 Setting and Reaching Goals 55 2.2 Organizing Your Space 67 2.3 Organizing Your Time 73 2.4 Chapter Activities 94 Chapter 3: Thinking about Thought 3.1 Types of Thinking 104 3.2 It’s Critical 108 3.3 Searching for “Aha!” 116 3.4 Problem Solving and Decision Making 122 3.5 Chapter Activities 126 Chapter 4: Listening, Taking Notes, and Remembering 4.1 Setting Yourself Up for Success 133 4.2 Are You Ready for Class? 135 4.3 Are You Really Listening? 137 4.4 Got Notes? 142 4.5 Remembering Course Materials 154 4.6 Chapter Activities 161 Chapter 5: Reading to Learn 5.1 Are You Ready for the Big Leagues? 168 5.2 How Do You Read to Learn? 170 5.3 Dealing with Special Texts 178 5.4 Building Your Vocabulary 190 5.5 Chapter Activities 194 Chapter 6: Preparing for and Taking Tests 6.1 Test Anxiety and How to Control It 202 6.2 Studying to Learn (Not Just for Tests) 206 6.3 Taking Tests 212 6.4 The Secrets of the Q and A’s 217 6.5 The Honest Truth 222 6.6 Using Test Results 226 6.7 Chapter Activities 230 Chapter 7: Interacting with Instructors and Classes 7.1 Why Attend Classes at All? 238 7.2 Participating in Class 243 7.3 Communicating with Instructors 249 7.4 Public Speaking and Class Presentations 260 7.5 Chapter Activities 270 Chapter 8: Writing for Classes 8.1 What’s Different about College Writing? 278 8.2 How Can I Become a Better Writer? 282 8.3 Other Kinds of Writing in College Classes 293 8.4 Chapter Activities 296 Chapter 9: The Social World of College 9.1 Getting Along with Others 304 9.2 Living with Diversity 319 9.3 Campus Groups 331 9.4 Chapter Activities 337 Chapter 10: Taking Control of Your Health 10.1 Nutrition and Weight Control 346 10.2 Activity and Exercise 352 10.3 Sleep 356 10.4 Substance Use and Abuse 361 10.5 Stress 373 10.6 Emotional Health and Happiness 382 10.7 Sexual Health 391 10.8 Chapter Activities 401 Chapter 11: Taking Control of Your Finances 11.1 Financial Goals and Realities 409 11.2 Making Money 412 11.3 Spending Less 416 11.4 Credit Cards 430 11.5 Financing College and Looking Ahead 438 11.6 Chapter Activities 444 Chapter 12: Taking Control of Your Future 12.1 The Dream of a Lifetime 452 12.2 Career Exploration 454 12.3 Choosing Your Major 461 12.4 Getting the Right Stuff 463 12.5 Career Development Starts Now 468 12.6 The Power of Networking 470 12.7 Résumés and Cover Letters 475 12.8 Interviewing for Success 480 12.9 Chapter Activities 485 Please share your supplementary material! 487 Publisher Information College Success is adapted from a work produced and distributed under a Creative Commons license (CC BY- NC-SA) in 2010 by a publisher who has requested that they and the original author not receive attribution. This adapted edition is produced by the University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing through the eLearning Support Initiative. This adaptation has reformatted the original text, and replaced some images and figures to make the resulting whole more shareable. This adaptation has not significantly altered or updated the original 2010 text. This work is made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. viii Chapter 1: You and Your College Experience Figure 1.1 CollegeDegrees360 – College Student – CC BY-SA 2.0. Where Are You Now? Assess your present knowledge and attitudes. 1 2 College Success Yes Unsure No 1. I understand all the benefits of a college education for my future life. 2. I have clear-cut career interests and have already planned my college program to prepare me best for my future work. 3. I am aware of how my previous educational background has prepared me for college work. 4. I have all the personal traits of a successful college student. 5. I know how the learning process functions and make an effort to maximize my learning at each step in this process. 6. I know my personal learning style and use it to my advantage when learning new things. 7. I know how to pay attention to gain the most from my classes. 8. I am aware of my college’s policies for academic honesty and behavior on campus. 9. I know where to find all the resources of my college that can help me succeed both academically and personally. 10. I am confident I can earn the grades I need to achieve success in my college courses. 11. I know the first year of college will be the most difficult, but I am fully prepared and take responsibility for my own success. 12. I am taking steps every day to ensure I am successful in every aspect of the college experience. Where Do You Want to Go? Think about how you answered the questions above. Be honest with yourself. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your present skills for succeeding in college? Not very strong Very strong 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 In the following list, circle the three most important areas in which you think you can improve: • Relating my personal values to education • Choosing a program or degree major • Finding the best career for my interests and skills • Being prepared for college-level work • Developing a positive attitude for college • Successfully using each step of the learning process • Adapting and broadening my personal learning style • Getting the most out of classes large and small • Following all college policies Chapter 1: You and Your College Experience 3 • Taking advantage of all college resources • Getting the best grades I can get • Successfully transitioning to college and completing the first year • Doing everything I can every day to ensure I succeed in college Are there other areas or skills that need more attention in order for you to succeed in college? Write down other things you feel you need to work on. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ How to Get There Here’s what we’ll work on in this chapter: • Viewing college in terms of your personal values • Recognizing the importance of making a commitment to succeed in the first year of college • Discovering what career and college major best match your interests and skills • Understanding the obstacles students like you may have to overcome when transitioning into college • Figuring out how to learn best in each step of the learning process • Using your personal learning style effectively while also expanding to include other forms of learning • Staying motivated and succeeding in large lecture classes as well as small discussion classes • Working with your academic advisor to select courses and plan your program • Discovering what resources your college offers students to succeed not only in classes but also in their personal and social lives • Understanding why grades matter • Understanding why the first year of college is so critical and how to ensure you make it through • Knowing what steps you can take starting today and every day to ensure your success in college Welcome to College! Congratulations on your decision to attend college! For the great majority of college students, it really was your decision—not just an automatic thing to do. If you happen to be one of the few who just sort of ended up in college for want of anything better to do, the benefits of college will soon become obvious. The reason for this book, and for almost all college courses, is that college does require commitment and effort. Like everything else in life that leads to meaningful results, success in college is not automatic. But when you apply yourself to your studies using the skills you’ll learn in this book, you’ll find you can succeed. 4 College Success When asked, most students say they’re in college primarily for the job or career they expect to follow after college. And they are correct that college pays off enormously in terms of future earnings, job security and stability, and job satisfaction. Every statistic shows that people with a college education will make much more in their lifetime (much, much more than the cost of college itself) and be much happier with the work they do. But job and career issues are only a part of the big picture.