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Rodney · 07-14-2004, 06:37 PM

Don't take 8 o'clock classes unless you have to, or unless you're really perky in the morning, or unless it's something really unimportant.

If possible, try to schedule classes so you have few or no classes on one or two weekdays. That's the time for playing catchup on anything you need to catch up on: reading, papers, projects, project-group or study-group meetings -- anything that's more easily done during the week than one the weekend. Or, if you have to work, that's the day to work the most hours.

If you're in the dorm, you'll note that things keep happening long into the wee hours, even on weeknights. Set a time to go to sleep Sunday night through Thursday night, and keep it. Otherwise you'll fall behind fast and soon be on the bus home to Bakersfield or wherever. A lot of freshmen flunk out because they aren't used to managing their own lives (they've relied on their parents to do it).

There are many fine college professors. There are also many losers. A goodly number of them like to mess with students' heads because of the petty power they have over your (the grade). They would deny this, but as a 48-year-old going back to college, I'm very aware that a lot of profs (most of whom are my age or younger) are putting stuff on the students that they should have handled themselves. I've seen profs who were unprepared, profs who couldn't even get the syllabus together by the second week, profs who forgot to show up for their own finals (that really bummed me because he'd promised anybody who aced the tests didn't have to come, and I had; then he changed his mind, and I had to; then he never showed up! And when I complained to the department, all I got was, "oh, that happens.") They all cover for each other.

When I was 19, the first time through, I bowed to their authority, which is what they all want and need. This time around, I was respectfully questioning of their decisions; not all of them can take that.

So, for any class that's _really_ important, find out everything you can about the profs from people who've already had them. Oftentimes, the newer guys -- the younger professors, the untenured assistants, the lecturers -- are a lot more together and up-to-date in their fields than the old guys who've got their tenure and have decided to stop trying so hard.

07-14-2004, 06:37 PM	#12 (permalink)
Rodney Observant Ruminant Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town	Don't take 8 o'clock classes unless you have to, or unless you're really perky in the morning, or unless it's something really unimportant. If possible, try to schedule classes so you have few or no classes on one or two weekdays. That's the time for playing catchup on anything you need to catch up on: reading, papers, projects, project-group or study-group meetings -- anything that's more easily done during the week than one the weekend. Or, if you have to work, that's the day to work the most hours. If you're in the dorm, you'll note that things keep happening long into the wee hours, even on weeknights. Set a time to go to sleep Sunday night through Thursday night, and keep it. Otherwise you'll fall behind fast and soon be on the bus home to Bakersfield or wherever. A lot of freshmen flunk out because they aren't used to managing their own lives (they've relied on their parents to do it). There are many fine college professors. There are also many losers. A goodly number of them like to mess with students' heads because of the petty power they have over your (the grade). They would deny this, but as a 48-year-old going back to college, I'm very aware that a lot of profs (most of whom are my age or younger) are putting stuff on the students that they should have handled themselves. I've seen profs who were unprepared, profs who couldn't even get the syllabus together by the second week, profs who forgot to show up for their own finals (that really bummed me because he'd promised anybody who aced the tests didn't have to come, and I had; then he changed his mind, and I had to; then he never showed up! And when I complained to the department, all I got was, "oh, that happens.") They all cover for each other. When I was 19, the first time through, I bowed to their authority, which is what they all want and need. This time around, I was respectfully questioning of their decisions; not all of them can take that. So, for any class that's _really_ important, find out everything you can about the profs from people who've already had them. Oftentimes, the newer guys -- the younger professors, the untenured assistants, the lecturers -- are a lot more together and up-to-date in their fields than the old guys who've got their tenure and have decided to stop trying so hard.