Surviving Academically in College

Here are a few helpful tips from some of us who have been through it:

1. Get to know your advisor and check in with her/him regularly. She or he can help you with more than just your course schedule.
2. Puget Sound fosters a friendly environment, and people here are easy to talk to -- so if you have a question, ask someone for help with it.
3. Learn to budget your time from the very beginning. There is plenty of time for both your studies and your other activities, so long as you plan and use your time wisely.
4. Take the initiative to make friends on campus, particularly with people in your classes. The friendships will lead both to a richer social life and to mutual academic support (understanding assignments, getting notes when you miss class, working together in study groups).
5. Get to know your instructors and visit them during their office hours. You are not making a nuisance of yourself when you see your instructors for clarification of things that are happening in class, you are simply availing yourself of the faculty support that is a hallmark of Puget Sound. Students who work closely with faculty are usually more academically involved and always more successful.
6. Take notes in your classes. Nobody can remember all that went on in a class without them.
7. Get to know students in your major. They know the ropes and will be happy to share them.
8. Always be sure of prerequisites for courses and of the sequences in which courses should be taken before you register (these are in the Bulletin).
9. Consult the university's online Calendar so that you know the important academic deadlines (such as add/drop, withdrawal).
10. Learn and practice good study habits.
11. Stay on top of your studies, keeping up with them from day to day. You'll feel better about yourself as a student (and less guilty when you want to play). Most important, you won't get trapped by paper and exam deadlines, wind up cramming, and turn in less than your best work.
12. Cultivate a social life. All books and no play will take the fun out of life.
13. Go to class, participate in it, and make every effort to accommodate to your instructor's style in approaching the material (this does not mean merely swallowing her/his ideas and parroting them up at exam time, however). If you must miss class, inform your instructor in advance and pick up the assignment.
14. Get involved in campus life. Find out what the university has to offer beyond its academics from the Associated Students, and get involved.