We’ve got some really cool secrets that’ll help you succeed in college. Brace yourself; your mind is about to expand.
- Did you know you can audition your professors? OK, so you can’t exactly make them tap-dance on a stage and then yell “Next!” But you kind of can! Go to the first class or two, and find out if the professor is engaging. They don’t have to be Robin Williams in “Dead Poets Society,” but do they have a passion for their subject and know how to present it in a way that won’t leave you face-down, drooling on your desk? If they don’t cut it, drop the class and find another. A semester is a looooong time to be locked into a “meh” class. Also, it’s fair game to check online review sites, such as RateMyProfessors.com. They can be very revealing.
- Want to get awesome grades? Take each test at least three times. ”Before the exam, construct a pre-test (use questions from the study guide, from last year’s exam, or from hints the professor dropped in lecture) and take it under ‘test conditions’ (write it out, under strict time limit, with no looking at the book),” advises U.S. News and World Report.
- Never major on the way in. If you think you know what you’d like to study, take three or four courses in that field at both lower and upper levels to determine if it’s really for you. Try not to feel pressured to declare a major until you’re ready. “And don’t double or triple major unless there’s some academic reason to do so: marketing and Mandarin Chinese, or chemistry and microbiology, go well together; art history and ichthyology—well, that’s a combination for the birds,” says U.S News.
To read the full article “Top 10 Secrets of College Success” (and it’s a goodie), click here.