What is your best advice for kids heading off to college this fall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learn what office hours are. Believe it or not, going to a prof's office is not punishment and doesn't mean you are in trouble.

Yes -- absolutely. Also, when you choose classes, ask upper-classmen/women about the classes they found most interesting and teachers they found most effective and helpful.

And, friends are important. I'm 30 years out from college and those friendships have been mainstays in my life through some difficult times. My oldest kids are recent college grads, and I already see how much their college friends mean to them. Take time to be a friend.

Set time aside for exercise and sleep.

Finally, birth control is essential.

Either your age is showing, or your nerdiness, or both.

What part of what pp said is nerdy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learn what office hours are. Believe it or not, going to a prof's office is not punishment and doesn't mean you are in trouble.

I don't know anyone who has ever gone to a professor's office for any reason, ever -- except maybe to ask for a recommendation. I never did and I graduated summa cum laude. None of my kids ever did either.

I do, many. And it was highly encouraged this year at orientation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learn what office hours are. Believe it or not, going to a prof's office is not punishment and doesn't mean you are in trouble.

I don't know anyone who has ever gone to a professor's office for any reason, ever -- except maybe to ask for a recommendation. I never did and I graduated summa cum laude. None of my kids ever did either.

I do, many. And it was highly encouraged this year at orientation.

+1 pp is strange

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of us have kids starting college in the upcoming weeks. For those of you who have been through this, what is your best advice for incoming college freshman and for parents of freshman? Is there anything you wish you had known or done before your kid started college?

Get a vaccine and wear sunscreen! (kidding, but not kidding)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of us have kids starting college in the upcoming weeks. For those of you who have been through this, what is your best advice for incoming college freshman and for parents of freshman? Is there anything you wish you had known or done before your kid started college?

Get a vaccine and wear sunscreen! (kidding, but not kidding)

LOL. I don't even know what sunscreen is safe anymore.

[Anonymous]

I wish I had taken an easier course load first semester and will encourage my kid to do same. I pushed to place into more advanced classes. First semester and even year are a time of big adjustment.

If you don’t want me to call you, send me a text about your day. Silence will make me worry.

Set your alarm for classes - even afternoon ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learn what office hours are. Believe it or not, going to a prof's office is not punishment and doesn't mean you are in trouble.

I don't know anyone who has ever gone to a professor's office for any reason, ever -- except maybe to ask for a recommendation. I never did and I graduated summa cum laude. None of my kids ever did either.

I do, many. And it was highly encouraged this year at orientation.

please don't tell me you went to orientation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learn what office hours are. Believe it or not, going to a prof's office is not punishment and doesn't mean you are in trouble.

I don't know anyone who has ever gone to a professor's office for any reason, ever -- except maybe to ask for a recommendation. I never did and I graduated summa cum laude. None of my kids ever did either.

I do, many. And it was highly encouraged this year at orientation.

+1 pp is strange

Getting to know professors can be so valuable. You can do research for them or use them for references. They connected ones also may have opportunities up their sleeves for motivated students. They also tend to tell people tips and tricks for their exams at office hours. If you're gunning for an A in a tough course (e.g., are a pre med in organic chemistry) you'd be stupid to skip office hours.

Relationships with professors are how I got two fully funded summers in Europe doing research in renowned labs, numerous scholarships, and admission into a great grad school.

[Anonymous]

I'm the college professor PP who said go to office hours. Let me clarify: build a relationship with your professor that is not based on complaining or demanding. Go early in the term for guidance and to continue learning outside the classroom. If you have a serious concern about how your work was graded, you can also approach them about that, but don't be that a*hole whom the professor only hears from in angry consumer mode. It's not a good look.

If you make time to have some one-on-one chats with professors in your first-year courses, you will end up having more advocates who can advise you on your major and study abroad and grad school and the like, and ultimately write you good references. You don't need to go constantly or and you don't need to brownnose. Think about scheduling a visit after your first paper comes back, or when you're first planning your term paper, or at any point where you feel like the material is getting ahead of you.

PS: I am/was a shy person and definitely hid behind pillars, back in the day. But I also went to a tiny college where my profs knew me really well anyway. And the expectations have changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learn what office hours are. Believe it or not, going to a prof's office is not punishment and doesn't mean you are in trouble.

Yes -- absolutely. Also, when you choose classes, ask upper-classmen/women about the classes they found most interesting and teachers they found most effective and helpful.

And, friends are important. I'm 30 years out from college and those friendships have been mainstays in my life through some difficult times. My oldest kids are recent college grads, and I already see how much their college friends mean to them. Take time to be a friend.

Set time aside for exercise and sleep.

Finally, birth control is essential.

Either your age is showing, or your nerdiness, or both.

Ha -- I'll gladly cop to both of those (note that I mentioned I graduated 30 years ago). How about you -- will you cop to your ageism and general nastiness? How does it make you feel? Do you need to be gratuitously mean to make yourself feel better? There are other ways to do that, you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learn what office hours are. Believe it or not, going to a prof's office is not punishment and doesn't mean you are in trouble.

I don't know anyone who has ever gone to a professor's office for any reason, ever -- except maybe to ask for a recommendation. I never did and I graduated summa cum laude. None of my kids ever did either.

Not true for my DS who is in a top 20. He has meet with his professors for various reasons, one of which was to challenge how one of the questions on his exam was graded. He actually got points back based on his explanation of how he approached a particular math problem.

My biggest advice is to learn to advocate for yourself and don't be afraid to ask questions. Find a professor you can connect with who can act as a mentor. These are things I wish I had done.

LOL my kids went to top 20s also. That's not the determining factor.

I still remember walking around campus with my oldest when she saw one of her professors and said "this is my idea of contact with professors" and quickly darted behind a pillar of a building to hide. We had a good laugh.

Lighten up, people.

If you think that is funny, I think I know your type. And I avoid people like you (and your kid).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learn what office hours are. Believe it or not, going to a prof's office is not punishment and doesn't mean you are in trouble.

I don't know anyone who has ever gone to a professor's office for any reason, ever -- except maybe to ask for a recommendation. I never did and I graduated summa cum laude. None of my kids ever did either.

Not true for my DS who is in a top 20. He has meet with his professors for various reasons, one of which was to challenge how one of the questions on his exam was graded. He actually got points back based on his explanation of how he approached a particular math problem.

My biggest advice is to learn to advocate for yourself and don't be afraid to ask questions. Find a professor you can connect with who can act as a mentor. These are things I wish I had done.

LOL my kids went to top 20s also. That's not the determining factor.

I still remember walking around campus with my oldest when she saw one of her professors and said "this is my idea of contact with professors" and quickly darted behind a pillar of a building to hide. We had a good laugh.

Lighten up, people.

Wow, you're so cool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learn what office hours are. Believe it or not, going to a prof's office is not punishment and doesn't mean you are in trouble.

I don't know anyone who has ever gone to a professor's office for any reason, ever -- except maybe to ask for a recommendation. I never did and I graduated summa cum laude. None of my kids ever did either.

I do, many. And it was highly encouraged this year at orientation.

+1 I'm a professor and the students who come to my office hours are the ones who get the most help if they need and more opportunities if they want them. They usually are a kind of bimodal distribution--the strongest students and the ones needing more help. I encouraged my own kid to go to office hours for every class. One-on-one or small group time with a professor both helps students on class material, contextualizes it more with their personal interests, and alerts them to relevant opportunities to further explore. Graduating summa cum laude is impressive, but grades are a relatively small part of education, and I am on more on the lookout for I would say I would find it odd for students to go to every office hour session, but I find my most diligent students come 1-3x a semester depending on the course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Learn what office hours are. Believe it or not, going to a prof's office is not punishment and doesn't mean you are in trouble.

I don't know anyone who has ever gone to a professor's office for any reason, ever -- except maybe to ask for a recommendation. I never did and I graduated summa cum laude. None of my kids ever did either.

I do, many. And it was highly encouraged this year at orientation.

+1 I'm a professor and the students who come to my office hours are the ones who get the most help if they need and more opportunities if they want them. They usually are a kind of bimodal distribution--the strongest students and the ones needing more help. I encouraged my own kid to go to office hours for every class. One-on-one or small group time with a professor both helps students on class material, contextualizes it more with their personal interests, and alerts them to relevant opportunities to further explore. Graduating summa cum laude is impressive, but grades are a relatively small part of education, and I am on more on the lookout for I would say I would find it odd for students to go to every office hour session, but I find my most diligent students come 1-3x a semester depending on the course.

Oops--something got cut away--should add "opportunities for those who tell me they want them."

[Anonymous]

Decide the times every week you are going to the library to study and actually go. No matter what. Even if you think you have a light load that week.

Do the reading.

In HS, it is somewhat easier in the sense that your teacher will notice quickly if you're doing jack sh*t. Parents will be informed.

In college, you can go through the whole semester and no one will know or care you have done jack sh*t.

Even the most responsible students get a taste of freedom and slack off a bit in the beginning. The sooner you learn this lesson and correct it, the better.