I'm currently a college student and I've been in college since September 2012. I've been going to the college I'm currently attending since Spring 2013.
At first I was going along with my mom's plan for me to be a nurse but now I'm trying to get into the Diagnostic Ultrasound program at my school.
The program itself is only two years and there are only six prerequisites.
If I had plan accordingly and passed all my classes in one try, I probably would've been graduating in 2017.
But no.... at this rate, I'll probably graduate in 2018.
If you don't want to end up like me and stay in college more than you actually need or plan to then here are some helpful tips I've learned throughout my college years.
- Know what you're going to major in!
- Knowing your major is a serious thing and will determine how long you'll be in school for. Well, that and what you passed in high school. There are people I know who chose a major but then end up switching it to something way different. Right then and there you're wasting both time and money. I mean don't get me wrong, if you choose to switch majors once or even twice is fine, that just means your interests changed. But don't be a person who switches from teaching to healthcare, to business. None of your previous classes will be able to fulfill your prerequisites. Also for some schools, you have to officially declare your major before your third or so year. So, be sure you know what you're majoring in!
- Make sure you go to a counselor!
- This is SO important! I didn't go to one because I thought since I have a friend that did running start, that I would know how to plan out my classes if I have her with me. Counselors can help with class planning and with questions your friends might not know the answer to. If you fail a class, you can go to them for options on how to get through that class so you can reach completing your prerequisites.
- Have your Prerequisites memorized or written down.
- Memorizing or writing down your prerequisites is very helpful especially when your planning or choosing what classes to take. Keep in mind that some classes require you to take a different class before taking that one. Not knowing your prerequisites isn't a good thing because then you'll choose classes by what you want to learn not what you need to learn. For example, my first quarter I chose to take Japanese instead of taking math. Sure I refreshed my limited Japanese but I now have a wasted credit from that class
- Do your research on professors.
- This helps make sure you know how hard or helpful a professor is before you take a class. The site I use is: ratemyprofessor.com. This site lets people rate the professor based on helpfulness, clarity, and easiness. It also shows what the average grade people get in the class. I try to choose the professors with overall rating that are close to 4.0. The only downside (or what can be a downside) is that the results of the professor show reviews from all the classes they teach.
- Be sure the class you want is available during the quarter.
- The worse thing to happen is that when you're registering at the end of the quarter and find out the class you want to take next quarter is only available in the current quarter. Now you have to wait a whole year until you can take that class. What do I mean by this? For example, at my school one of my prerequisites is Physics 100 which is only available during fall quarter.
- Get help right away!
- The most scariest and worst thing to happen to any student is finding out at the end of the quarter that you're either not going to pass the class or that your grade isn't good enough to get into your prerequisite class. Everybody is going to tell you this and now I'm going to tell you this, get help RIGHT AWAY. There was an instant that I didn't look for help until the end of the quarter and I ended up dropping the class which is bad because now I will forever have a W (for withdraw) on my transcript. It's not bad to have W's on your transcript, as long as you don't have too many and if you retake the class and do really good the next time. So, DO NOT wait until later to ask for help. Once you realize you're having trouble find a tutor, ask your professor, or go to a learning center. Learning centers are just that, you go and get help with the subject you're having trouble on, it's like a group tutoring session.
Choosing classes in college is actually pretty fun because you can schedule who you take and what time you take the class so that it fits around your schedule. The university I went to during my very first quarter of college had class options where you go to class for two and half hours but the class is only a couple days a week. If you choose that kind of class, don't become lazy to show up during the days you actually have to go.
What you get done in high school is important as well, I didn't realize that until my senior year like most people. But be sure you're ready. I'll post another "Piece of Advice" on tips for those of you guys still in high school. Be on watch for that one!
Hope this was helpful! ♡
