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How College is Different
from High School
FOLLOWING THE RULES IN
HIGH SCHOOL |
CHOOSING RESPONSIBLY
IN
COLLEGE
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* High school is mandatory
and usually free.
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* College is voluntary and
expensive. |
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* Your time is structured by
others. |
* You manage your own time. |
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* You need permission to
participate in extracurricular activities. |
* You must decide whether to
participate in co-curricular activities. |
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* You can count on parents and
teachers to remind you of your responsibilities and to guide you
in setting priorities. |
* You must balance your
responsibilities and set priorities. You will face moral and
ethical decisions you have never faced before. |
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* Each day you proceed from one
class directly to another, spending 6 hours each day--30 hours a
week--in class. |
* You often have hours between
classes; class times vary throughout the day and evening and you
spend only 12 to 16 hours each week in class. |
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* Most of your classes are arranged for you. |
* You arrange your own schedule
in consultation with your adviser. Schedules tend to look
lighter than they really are. |
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* You are not responsible for
knowing what it takes to graduate. |
* Graduation requirements are
complex, and differ from year to year. You are expected to know
those that apply to you. |
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* Guiding principle: You will
usually be told what to do and corrected if your behavior is out
of line. |
* Guiding principle: You
are expected to take responsibility for what you do and don't
do, as well as for the consequences of your decisions. |
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GOING TO HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES |
SUCCEEDING IN COLLEGE CLASSES |
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* The school year is 36 weeks
long; some classes extend over both semesters and some don't. |
* The academic year is divided
into two separate 15-week semesters, plus a week after each
semester for exams. |
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* Classes generally have no more
than 35 students. |
* Classes may number 100 students
or more. |
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* You do most of your studying in
class, with homework as a back-up. |
* You do most of your studying
outside of class (at least 2 to 3 hours outside of class for
each hour in class) with lectures and other class work as a
guide. |
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* You seldom need to read
anything more than once, and sometimes listening in class is
enough. |
* You need to review class notes
and text material regularly. |
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* You are provided with textbooks
at no expense. |
* You need to budget substantial
funds for textbooks, which will usually cost more than $300 each
semester. Textbooks must be bought promptly (before the
bookstore returns unpurchased copies). |
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* You are expected to read short
assignments that are then discussed, and often re-taught, in
class. |
* You are assigned substantial
amounts of reading and writing which may not be directly
addressed in class. |
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* Guiding principle: You will
usually be told in class what you need to learn from assigned
readings. |
* Guiding principle: It's up
to you to read and understand the assigned material; lectures
and assignments proceed from the assumption that you've already
done so. |
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HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS |
COLLEGE PROFESSORS |
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* Teachers check your completed
homework. |
* Professors may not always check
completed homework, but they will assume you can perform the
same tasks on tests. |
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* Teachers remind you of your
incomplete work. |
* Professors may not remind you
of incomplete work. |
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* Teachers approach you if they
believe you need assistance. |
* Professors are usually open and
helpful, but most expect you to initiate contact if you need
assistance. |
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* Teachers are often available
for conversation before, during, or after class. |
* Professors expect and want you
to attend their scheduled office hours. |
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* Teachers have been trained in
teaching methods to assist in imparting knowledge to students. |
* Professors have been trained as
experts in their particular areas of research. |
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* Teachers provide you with
information you missed when you were absent. |
* Professors expect you to get
from classmates any notes from classes you missed. |
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* Teachers present material to
help you understand the material in the textbook. |
* Professors may not follow the
textbook. Instead, to amplify the text, they may give
illustrations, provide background information, or discuss
research about the topic you are studying. Or they may expect
you to relate the classes to the textbook readings. |
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* Teachers often write
information on the board to be copied in your notes. |
* Professors may lecture nonstop,
expecting you to identify the important points in your notes.
When professors write on the board, it may be to amplify the
lecture, not to summarize it. Good notes are a must. |
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* Teachers impart knowledge and
facts, sometimes drawing direct connections and leading you
through the thinking process. |
* Professors expect you to think
about and synthesize seemingly unrelated topics. |
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* Teachers often take time to
remind you of assignments and due dates. |
* Professors expect you to read,
save, and consult the course syllabus (outline); the syllabus
spells out exactly what is expected of you, when it is due, and
how you will be graded. |
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* Teachers carefully monitor
class attendance. |
* Professors may not formally
take roll, but they are still likely to know whether or not you
attended. |
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* Guiding principle: Teachers
bear much of the responsibility for your learning. |
* Guiding principle: You bear
the responsibility for your learning while your professors serve
as guides, mentors, and resources. |
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TESTS IN HIGH SCHOOL |
TESTS IN COLLEGE |
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* Testing is frequent and covers
small amounts of material. |
* Testing is usually infrequent
and may be cumulative, covering large amounts of material. You,
not the professor, need to organize the material to prepare for
the test. A particular course may have only 2 or 3 tests in a
semester. |
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* Makeup tests are often
available. |
* Makeup tests are seldom an
option; if they are, you need to request them. |
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* Teachers frequently rearrange
test dates to avoid conflict with school events. |
* Professors in different courses
usually schedule tests without regard to the demands of other
courses or outside activities. |
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* Teachers frequently conduct
review sessions, pointing out the most important concepts. |
* Professors rarely offer review
sessions, and when they do, they expect you to be an active
participant, one who comes prepared with questions. |
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* Guiding principle: Mastery
is usually seen as the ability to reproduce what you were taught
in the form in which it was presented to you, or to solve the
kinds of problems you were shown how to solve. |
* Guiding principle: Mastery
is often seen as the ability to apply what you've learned to new
situations or to solve new kinds of problems. |
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GRADES IN
HIGH SCHOOL |
GRADES IN COLLEGE |
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* Grades are given for most
assigned work. |
* Grades may not be provided for
all assigned work. |
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* Consistently good homework
grades may raise your overall grade when test grades are low. |
* Grades on tests and major
papers usually provide most of the course grade. |
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* Extra credit projects are often
available to help you raise your grade. |
* Extra credit projects cannot,
generally speaking, be used to raise a grade in a college
course. |
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* Initial test grades, especially
when they are low, may not have an adverse effect on your final
grade. |
* Watch out for your first
tests. These are usually "wake-up calls" to let you
know what is expected--but they also may account for
a substantial part of your course grade. You may be
shocked when you get your grades. |
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* You may graduate as long as you
have passed all required courses with a grade of D or higher. |
* You may graduate only if your
average in classes meets the departmental standard--typically a
2.0 or C. |
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* Guiding principle: "Effort
counts." Courses are usually structured to reward a "good-faith
effort." |
* Guiding principle: "Results
count." Though "good-faith effort" is important in regard to the
professor's willingness to help you achieve good results,
it will not substitute for results in the end. |
The above
information is based on information from
Texas A&M University.
If you're looking
for a College Preparation Specialist, please feel free to call me at (206) 550-3596 or email
me
at
DrKyle@DrKyle.org. I'm here to help.
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