Successful College Students

College Success: Chapter 1 is a great recourse for every student whether they are experienced or not. Specifically, descriptions about the best possible choices made to get the most out of your experience are plentiful, and self-assessments are included to evaluate a starting point. If one were to follow the step-by-step advice given, such as overcoming obstacles and enriching your learning experience, it would be close to impossible not to have a great experience at college. The author wasn’t afraid to delve deep into the fact that college is difficult and requires a lot of commitment to follow through. The information given is easily suitable for a wide range of students, including anything from discovering resources many colleges offer,

In the news article, “The Biggest Misconception About Today’s College Students” I am not really shocked, but there was some information that made me feel sad. It gave me a new perspective on college. When Mellow talks about peoples perception on college, I agree because I know that college is sometimes perceived differently by people and it is not what I may think. Right now I do not see the full picture because I only see what is the best school for me to attend. I will soon understand more on this topic when I go to college and may feel similar feelings.

The first two chapters of “What the Best College Students Do” cover several topics. Throughout the chapters, the lives and experiences of different college students are explored. A reoccurring theme in the book is the concept of learning styles. Essentially, the three learning styles are memorization, comprehension, and strategy. According to the author, comprehension is the most effective style of learning. While everyone will possess one of these three learning styles, it is not impossible for someone to adjust to another style. Additionally, the author elaborates on academic ideas such as independence, grades, and outside influences.

Practice makes perfect. This statement directly relates to chapter 1 and 2 in “What the Best College Students Do,” by Ken Bain. Throughout the chapters, Bain provides examples of successful people, studies, and tools to support his idea that learning surpasses grades and other awards in the scheme of life. To accomplish the skill of learning, students must possess determination, intrinsic motivation, and a passion.

Correspondingly, with all the class options that are provided by community colleges, it helps a student learn to appreciate the value of time management. It is common knowledge that many students will take a part-time or even a full-time job to support themselves while they are in school. There are times where it can seem like a nightmare juggling getting to class on time, getting to work on time, finding time to study, and still have time to write a five to eight-page paper. There are even some that would argue that it is too much of a hardship to do while attempting to keep up your grades up. However, this is something that exposes character. If college life was simple, then everyone would do it. But, once you properly synchronize your schedule, everything else will

There is abundant research on how second-generation college students have an advantage on first-generation college students. For one, according to (Garcia, V. (2015), a second-generation student is more informed about entry exams that include placement tests, ACT, and SAT. Simultaneously, these individuals may be unaware of the preparation required to earn a passing score on such exams.

Life at school is just as difficult as life at home. Sometimes the professor won’t give make up work or extensions, even though the student has a valid excuse. He or she could have been working, or be at a doctor appointment, etc. life between these two worlds can affect the student in many ways. For example, when a first generation college student is working to help or support his or her family, he or she is more focused on that than on

Darolia (2013) places itself in a theoretical context which concerns the link between time use and student outcomes. Darolia notes that students have a fixed amount of time to accomplish various tasks (e.g., academic work, extracurriculars, and social activities). Working while in school further limits a student’s time constraint; as a consequence, work-study can injure the quality of those aforementioned activities. In order to ground his point, Darolia cites the work of Kalenkoski and Pabilonia (2010) which asserts that work has a negative impact on first-semester GPA for full and part-time college students. However, Darolia notes that work can positively affect student outcomes, because work encourages students to engage in better time-management practices. He does not directly support this in his paper; but, he cites a study which asserts a positive association between FWS and credit completion (another indicator of student

When a student goes off to college, they begin to no longer rely on their parents as much as they once have. The majority of college students choose to live on campus. They start becoming more independent. They learn to make their own food, do their homework and clean up after themselves without being told, and they start providing for themselves for the most part. They discover they have to be responsible with their money because they now have tuition to pay; and books, tuition, and other miscellaneous items to buy. They also gain a better sense of responsibility by deciding their major and choosing their career

Working college students can also suffer outside of classes and the workplace. For example my schedule illustrates the conflicts of trying to take on too many duties. Since I work nights during the week, the weekends are a more convenient time that I can study. Because I have to use my weekends to do school work, I can’t do other things. My apartment is a mess since I have no time to clean it. Worse, my girlfriend is threatening to leave me because I have no social life. We never even go out like we once used to now when she comes over, I am too busy studying. However the rewards of earning a college degree in this economy can be the difference between having

Here I am in my second year, not as far along as I had hoped. But I have discovered that many of my classmates also work full-time, and we see many advantages to being a working student. We are more mature and self-disciplined because we carry our work habits over to our studies. We concentrate harder than some of the younger, non-working students. Teachers seem to show us more respect. By taking longer to earn degrees, we have time to assimilate what we learn and develop our awareness from one semester to the next. While it’s true that we don’t have much time for socializing or extracurricular activities, we do learn to make friends quickly in classroom situations and make the most of our social opportunities between classes.

According to Lupien, McEwan, Gunnar, and Heim (2009), going off to college involves significant adjustments to their daily routines; sleeping and eating habits, time-management skills, and stress levels will be altered in one way or another. First-year students have to adjust to the new school environment, different social settings, and new schedules, all without the help and guidance from their parents, who have been there for them for eighteen years. Over 30% of college freshman report that they feel overwhelmed (Klainberg, Ewing, & Ryan, 2010), where some students even opt to work as they juggle their class and work schedules. Some students work at a job or study harder than others, but they are all trying to get degrees so maybe one day they will have meaningful and significant lives. It is a constant struggle for everyone who is trying desperately to make him or herself into a success. And every college student wants to be involved in society in a positive manner, allowing contribution of their ideals and values to others.

     Balancing your lifestyle while in college is very difficult because if you have a lot on your plate like children or other important responsibilities it’s hard to balance them all and attend college. I think this has a lot to do with time management because when making a schedule you have to put your family or other responsibilities in that schedule and make time for everything. Some people work full time and go to school full time and if you have a lot of things to deal with you will burn out from the stress that such a pace imposes on your mind and body. If you work less and eliminate some things than you will have more time while in college.

Furthermore, many people want to progress in their work, some simply want to gain in depth education on the particular field they want to achieve. However, individual’s bosses do not always understand. Having a job while in college is a huge demand. Depending on whether students have families or not will put them in a tight position. Ultimately the demand for both will result in them dropping out of college. Mark Kantrowitz says, “Many students who drop out of college has to work while enrolled in college (Why Do Students Drop out of College Kantrowitz)." He follows up by saying that “they often find it very difficult to support themselves and their families and go to college at the same time (Why Do Students Drop out of College Kantrowitz)." In most homes, one's family always comes first no matter what. For example, the desired accomplishments of the mother are not greater than the needs of her children. School work and the work one puts into he/she's job alone are hard to manage. Having to

If a student spends too much time working, then they will not have enough time or focus on homework, which has a detrimental effect on grades. It is not worth sacrificing excellent grades and scholarships just to work a job. Also, overworking with little downtime will put a lot of stress on a student. When a student works excessively, it takes away time with family and friends. This may weaken relationships with family and friends and cause more tension when a student is around others. But, this can all be avoided if school and a student’s social life are balanced with