The Ultimate Guide for College Freshmen and College Students Part 3: What Happens When the Work Really Begins
So you made it to college or university, survived freshman week, got drunk, got your first taste of what a student’s hangover feels like, and got drunk again. You have a ton of new friends and you’ve made your way around campus. You have learned to cook, everything in life is rosy and then you wake up!
It’s Monday, it’s very early and your head hurts and your brain vaguely remembers that you have to be somewhere on campus but where? Then it realizes that you are at the university and your lectures start in 15 minutes! Run!
This final part of the ultimate guide for college students and college freshmen aims to answer the question “What happens when the job really starts?”
Most universities and colleges will be very welcoming and try to gently ease the work process for you. You’ll probably have a week without lectures to start with, while you enjoy the whole “Freshers” experience, but then the work will begin.
The structure of most degree courses consists of a program of lectures, seminars and tutorials.
Lectures are normally large group classes taught by 1 or more professors in specially designed lecture rooms if you are lucky or in large cold classrooms if you are not so lucky. The process will vary by university or college, course, and professor, but a university or college lecture is generally a time for the student to sit, listen, and take notes. Falling asleep is optional, but not recommended. The main advice is that the lectures are the only time someone will teach you, after that you will be on your own; So don’t waste your reading catching up with your eyes closed! It’s also better not to have a hangover, but that’s not always realistic.
A word about note taking. Take note! It really is as simple as that, forget about any thoughts about not wanting to seem overzealous, relying on memory, or stealing someone else’s notes later on. Everyone is excited at first, you won’t remember when it comes to revising, and no one will like you if you’re always stealing their notes! The biggest regret of all students is at the end of each year when they revise frantically, it was that they hadn’t taken enough notes in their classes and it probably cost them a grade!
As a full-time student, you will probably have a minimum of 8 hours a week in lectures, in some courses it can be as high as 30, and in others you may never have more. The rest of her formal education is taken up by seminars and tutorials.
Seminars are typically large group events with a seminar leader, probably one of your professors, where you are encouraged to actively participate in discussions about what you have learned in the conference. Seminars are often held immediately after the lecture and give her an opportunity to ask questions and respond to the class she’s just been in. Be prepared to speak at seminars. You may be nervous expressing yourself in front of a group of other new students, but if you don’t speak, who will? Seminars only work if everyone participates, the seminar leader will encourage this as much as possible. Also, if you don’t speak up, the seminar can be hijacked by loudmouths who think they know everything and they usually don’t. These people should be discouraged from taking over a seminary group! Expect to have a minimum of 4 hours a week in seminars.
Tutorials are small group sessions with a teacher or tutor. They are a great opportunity to discuss topics that have come up during the week, as well as being a chance to get to know a group of students and a teacher very well. Tutorials can be a lot of fun and there can be a great feeling of camaraderie. Some universities and colleges will have a different system with tutoring in individual sessions with a tutor or professor. These sessions may be more beneficial for shy students, who may be intimidated by speaking in a group, but I believe that the “group spirit” of a tutorial group is much more beneficial for student development. Tutorials are also a good time to bring up any personal issues that are bothering you; you can discuss them in the group or make an appointment to speak with your tutor, who will usually be happy to help you. Expect a minimum of one hour in tutorials each week.
Investigation. The rest of your time in college will be spent doing research for projects, course essays and tutorials, and eventually the dreaded dissertation! It is expected that you will spend the majority of your time doing research on your own, although you will be given guidance on how to do so. You will have all the resources of the university or college at your disposal including: free Internet, online databases, CD databases, periodicals, newspapers and research projects. You will also have a library and computer rooms that will become your second homes! Guidance on how to make the best use of all of the above resources will be given to you, but then it’s up to you.
The biggest difference between school and college or university is the need to work for yourself. You have to expect to do 2 hours of research for every 1 hour of formal lectures minimum! In some courses, this ratio can be much higher, while in others, such as engineering, it can be much lower.
Your department will be able to provide you with much more information once you start at the university or college. They will tell you what is expected of you and how to achieve it. But as a general rule, you are expected to be “working” for 35 hours a week in most academic courses. This may sound like a lot, but it can be spread over 7 days and at most universities the facilities will be open 24 hours a day so you can work to suit you. If you like working at 2 am better than 2 pm, you probably can!
Whatever course you are starting this September, try to start as you plan to continue. With a measure of common sense, hard work, and all the talent that got you through college or university in the first place, you’ll be fine.