Dear New College Student

[cab67]

Last edited Sun Aug 18, 2024, 06:00 PM - Edit history (1)

Dear New College Student: thoughts from a college instructor.

I’ve posted versions of this over the past couple of years, but some of you expressed some interest in having it updated and reposted before fall classes begin at colleges and universities in the US. So here it is.

If you think I missed a point, please speak up!

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I’ve been on the faculty at my current institution – a public research university – for the past 24 years. I was also an instructor while I was in grad school, also at a public university. Both were large research universities that served as the flagship campuses for their state's system. Most of my classmates and friends have gone on to faculty positions themselves at a wide range of institutions – large research universities like mine, but also private liberal-arts colleges, community colleges, regional satellite campuses, and so on.

The advice I provide comes largely through my own experience, along with knowing what my friends have been doing for the same amount of time.

This is primarily addressed toward two groups of readers – new college students and their parents or guardians.

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Being a first-year student is exhilarating! So many paths to choose! So many opportunities to make a real difference! So much freedom for self-assertion! You’re stepping forward not as adolescents, but as adults, and you’re taking more control over your personal time and direction.

But it can also be terrifying. You might be far from home for the first time. You might be the first member of your family to attend college. You might have been a stand-out in high school, but now you're surrounded by other stand-outs from other high schools. It's intimidating. You don't have Mom and/or Dad to keep your nose to the grindstone, and some aspects of being a college student - enrolling in classes, for example - are downright labyrinthine. And if you're a student of color, a member of the LGBTQ community, or from any other kind of minority, you'll be facing residual bigotry that lingers in spite of everything we're doing to combat it. Current events and protests can exacerbate this.

And there’s the cost. You may have already gone to buy your textbooks. It’s not like buying a few paperback novels. One can buy a functioning used car for the cost of a semester’s textbooks. Meals? Rent and utilities, if you’re not in a dorm? That’s all on you now – or on your family, at any rate.

You’ve probably been told that we professors don’t care about you. But you know what? We do. We really do! We wouldn’t be in this line of work if we didn’t. We can usually make more money doing something else. And we understand what you’re going through, because we’ve all been there, and times haven’t changed so much that we can’t help guide you through this massive transition.

In fact, seeing you through all of this is part of our job, and it’s a privilege to take it on. I take my mission as an instructor not only as a means to a paycheck, but as a moral obligation. It’s also a source of great joy for me. I really like being in the classroom with students.The vast majority of instructors you’ll encounter on campus will feel the same way.

Thus, I’ve compiled some advice over the past few years that might help you as you get ready to dive in:

1. Be careful with assumptions, and always ask before acting. Exceptions can't always be made.

During the pandemic, I would get emails from incoming students to confirm that the lectures for my large-enrollment fall class were being recorded. I always responded that although my lectures were online (which I hated), they weren’t pre-recorded. They were “synchronous,” meaning one had to watch the lecture at the scheduled time, just as if they were attending the lecture in an auditorium

This would be followed by a request for accommodation because the student had another commitment when lecture was scheduled to take place.

In other words, the student had enrolled in a course they couldn’t actually attend, and they wanted me to change my procedures to match their faulty assumption.

I've encountered all kinds of bad assumptions. That we’ll always accommodate requests for a makeup exam or quiz (see below)? That the exam will look exactly as you imagined? That what your roommate said about a specific professor or a specific course is accurate? That your parents’ experiences will mirror yours? Bad assumptions. And so it goes.

Not sure whether something will be allowed? Unsure if you’re facing a situation that calls for an exception to course policy? Please, for the love of whatever beneficent deities may or may not exist – ask! We’d rather work with you before something happens than after.

“It’s easier to get forgiveness than permission” is a nice quip, but it’s not always true.


2. Read the syllabus!

On the first day of any class, you’ll be given a syllabus that spells out course policies and procedures, contact information about the instructors, how course grades are assessed, and usually a list of lecture topics, reading assignments, or projects.It will also include important deadlines and dates, such as when midterm exams will be held or when term papers are due.

Other information is often included.At my institution, I’m encouraged to include contact information for various crisis centers and programs intended to help those who need it.During the pandemic, I included a paragraph about the wisdom of wearing a mask, even if my state’s legislature forbade me from requiring their use in class.Some of my friends include the URLs of useful websites related to the subject of the course.

The huge majority of questions students ask me are answered on the syllabus.When’s the next exam?It’s on the syllabus.How much is this homework assignment worth?Syllabus.How do I contact my T.A.?Her email address is on the syllabus.When are your office hours?Syllabus.What’s the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?Not on the syllabus, and the answer depends on whether one is referring to a European or African swallow, but a lot of other information is there.

If you lose your syllabus, we’re happy to send you a replacement.I keep a copy on my course’s internal web site, or I can email you a PDF.I can even print a copy for you.You need only ask.


3. Keep your life as simple as possible.

Extracurricular activities expand your horizons and can help you find a community far from home. They can be of tremendous benefit to your mental health. It is, however, easy to get roped in too deeply, especially when you’re just starting out. Overloading yourself with such things reduces the amount of time you have for your homework and studying.

This is why I encourage on-campus living when it's available for first-year students. It keeps life simple.

I'm not saying one should live a cloistered existence and ignore the rest of the world. But you'll still be getting your footing during your first year, so don't overdo it.


4. Learn some basic skills.

I mention these only because, as time has gone on, the number of first-year students arriving with these abilities has dwindled:

Learn how to take notes. Not all of us put our notes online. Some of us disallow recording of classes, and textbooks are not always the best fallback. (Indeed, I don't even use textbooks.) This means learning to write down the important points quickly. Use abbreviations, and don't worry about proper grammar - just get the points down.

Learn how to manage your time. You won't have people checking in on you in the morning or evening.

Also learn how to manage your stress. This follows from the previous point.

Learn the difference between memorizing something and understanding it. Not all of us expect students to just barf out details on exams - we want evidence that you've absorbed their meaning and can apply them to address broader issues.


5. Save everything.

I once had a student approach me after classes were over, wondering why she got a C in my class. She was sure she'd be in solid B range. I pointed out that her final exam and one of her midterms were indeed in the 80's, but her other midterm was a 38. That, I explained, dragged her grade down.

"But I didn't get a 38," she replied. "I got an 83!" She showed me her exam, and sure enough, she did. The moron who entered the grades into the spreadsheet (most likely me) typed them in backward. It happens, and mistakes like this are easily corrected - and this is made easier if you can show your professor what you actually got.

Seriously - treat your homework assignments, quizzes, exams, and whatnot like receipts.


6. Keep your family posted about your classroom commitments.

If someone's planning a family event, it wouldn't hurt if they knew when your exams are scheduled. As detailed below, we cannot always make scheduling accommodations.

My ex used to teach a lab that met on Fridays at 4:30. There were quizzes every week. During the first week of class, she had to tell her students that "My parents already paid for the plane ticket " would not be accepted as a reason to miss lab on the Friday before Thanksgiving break.


7. Always contact an instructor before missing something. Always get some sort of documentation for the reason. And bear in mind – we can’t accommodate everything.

Here are some things we can accommodate:

- illness (of any sort, mental or physical).
- family emergencies (funerals or sudden very severe medical incidents or accidents).
- religious observances (e.g. Yom Kippur).
- court date or jury duty.
- military service obligation.
- family event planned long in advance (e.g. wedding), provided we're notified well before the exam.
- job interview.
- transportation problems (e.g. missed bus, car broke down).
- conflicting institution-related event (e.g. sports, marching band, ROTC, or a required field trip for another class).
- computer problems (if the exam is online).
- work schedule conflict (though if it happens frequently, it might be good to take a different class or get a different job).

Here are some things we generally either can't or won't:

- oversleeping.
- routine as opposed to milestone family event (e.g. I'll accommodate you for your great-grandmother's 100th birthday party, but not your cousin's 8th).
- you missed a bunch of class, but haven't made an effort to speak to me or borrow someone's notes until minutes before or sometime after the exam.
- not feeling ready and wanting extra time.
- travel preference (e.g. wanting to take a test early because it's scheduled late in finals week or right before Thanksgiving/Spring break and you want to get out of town).

Bottom line - we accommodate need, not convenience.

In the past, getting a doctor’s note was a routine request. Some institutions (including mine) now see such requests as HIPAA violations. But it would still be worth getting some sort of documentation. It doesn’t have to specify the reason you sought treatment, nor need it say what the treatment itself actually was. The bracelet you may have been issued as a patient would be more than enough, for example.

It should be possible to document pretty much any good reason to miss class - including a funeral. I, for one, would never ask for documentation for a funeral, but I know professors who do - and generally, it's not all that hard to get. If you can't bring in an obituary, most funeral homes and houses of worship are willing to provide a letter acknowledging your presence at a funeral service at their facility. (These used to be necessary when airlines offered lower "bereavement" rates for last-minute air travel.)

And before I'm attacked for being hard-ass, please bear in mind - arranging a make-up exam really is an imposition. On our campus, instructors are responsible for scheduling exams for most students who need an accommodation for a learning disability, such as extended time or a low-distraction environment, and 5 or 10 percent of the class may fall in this category. For a class of 200, that's 10 or 20 students who need accommodation. And that's on top of those who were bridesmaids, got sick, or had a family emergency. Every request for a makeup is a request to find a 1- or 2-hour slot that works for your busy schedule and mine, and depending on circumstances, it might require finding a time that hasn’t already been taken by another student wanting an accommodation. If you actually need the accommodation, no problem – that’s my job and responsibility. But if it’s for a non-essential reason, you’ll have to make a strong case.

8. Get to know your instructors.

This is arguably more important later in your college career, but it doesn't hurt to stop by during office hours. That's what they're for.

(My institution now wants us to call them “drop-in hours” on the theory that it sounds more inviting.)

This is good not only because you'll understand the material better by asking questions early and often, but because it helps us get to know you. Believe me - it's a lot easier to write a letter of recommendation if I know something about the student beyond his or her exam scores.

Students who come to know their professors tend to be asked to participate in research or creative projects. That looks really good on your resume, and it makes you better at what you do anyway. It also reduces feelings of isolation. We professors are no longer the terrifying, impersonal authorities who look down on our students - we're people.

Also, always remember – you generally don’t have to ask permission to meet an instructor during office hours. That’s what office/drop-in hours are for. If you show up, and we’re not there, you’re allowed to file a complaint about it.


9. (Perhaps a corollary to 8.) If you’re at a larger university where some classes are covered by teaching assistants, don’t complain. Rejoice.

Something I often say to prospective freshman or transfer students: you don’t have to have TAs if you come here. You get to have them.

I’ve been criticized on DU in the past for saying this. And it’s true - not all of the TAs you encounter will be proficient instructors. But you know what? The same is true of instructors at all levels, including distinguished tenured professors. When I think back about the best instructors I had in college and grad school, half were TAs who made a difference.

TAs can be among your most treasured resources. They’re usually at least as good at presenting the material as a tenured professor. They may also be more tuned in to the latest developments in a field, especially if the primary instructor is close to retirement. But most importantly – they’ll be close to you in age. They’ll be of your generation. They’ll listen to the same music, watch the same programs, and use the same social media platforms. That makes them more relatable.

Seriously – when I stared my current job, I was in my early 30’s, though I could pass for mid-20’s. My end-of-term evaluations often praised me for being so approachable. I’m now in my mid-50’s, and my evals more frequently complain of just how unapproachable I am. I’ve gained some weight, and my hair isn’t quite as dark as it was, but my personality is basically the same. I’ve concluded that my age gives me the appearance of being a distant authority who doesn’t welcome dialogue with his students.

If you feel intimidated by older professors, work with your TA’s.

And if the TAs are in your major, spend time with them. They’ll be doing the cutting-edge work you’ll want to follow, and perhaps join. I probably learned more about how to do science from my undergrad advisor’s grad students than from my advisor herself.


10. Grades are goals to be achieved – not commodities to be negotiated.

About the only reason we’ll normally reconsider course grades or exam scores is if a scoring or data entry has been found.

We’re a lot less likely to consider the following arguments:
- A grade doesn’t reflect your own subjective assessment of the effort you put into the class.
- You’re applying for a highly competitive job or for some form of post-graduate education (grad school, med school, etc.), or you plan to join the military as an officer, and higher grades will improve those applications.
- Your parent(s) and/or guardian(s) will be so very disappointed if your grade isn’t improved.
- You had an exceptionally busy semester.
- You might lose your scholarship if your grade isn’t changed.
- You think I’m being unfair in assessing your grade based on what you actually turned in, and not on what you would have turned in if you’d done better.
- You're "just not a science person." (Do you know what my advisor would have said if I’d done poorly in a medieval lit class and tried “I’m just not a humanities person” as an excuse?)
- Can’t I be merciful in the spirit of the holidays?

You’re adults now. You work for what you earn, and you take your lumps if your effort didn’t earn what you’d hoped.

There is something of a gray area between “data error” and “weak excuse,” but it’s narrow, and you’re going to have to bring some sort of evidence to back you up. I’m actually willing to consider ongoing health issues or job conflicts to help you out, but I’m a lot more likely to do so if you don’t wait until grades are submitted.

I’ve also heard students complain that an instructor was somehow biased against them. I’ve even seen a very small handful of cases where I believed it. But such cases are very rare, and they’re way more easily alleged than demonstrated. That your instructors’ politics are somewhere to the right or left of yours doesn’t mean the instructor can’t grade you fairly. (In fact, your professor probably doesn’t know anything about your politics.) Rule out other explanations for your performance before blaming others.


11. Know when to pull back.

Life happens.

A lot of students encounter mental or emotional problems they may not have anticipated, or the problems they already have might be exacerbated. You might feel isolated on campus. You might be overwhelmed with difficult classes. You may be trying to balance your classes with a job or the needs of a small child. Your financial situation may change. You, or a loved one, may be facing a very serious physical illness that requires much of your attention.

Sometimes, the best solution is to cut back on your classes. Staying in for the sake of completing the semester might be counterproductive if you fail everything. Do you want to graduate on time, or with a respectable GPA? Sometimes, these are mutually incompatible.

I'm not saying you should just drop out of school when things get tough. It's always going to be difficult. Besides, dropping below a certain number of credit hours can jeopardize your financial aid, and if the class you drop is a prerequisite for other courses in your major, you might end up extending your time to degree even further. But in consultation with academic and financial aid advisors, and perhaps a mental health professional, dropping one or two courses might not always be a bad idea.

I should acknowledge the counterargument I’ve heard, especially from parents or working students: dropping classes and not finishing in 4 years can cost a lot of dough. If you drop late enough in the semester, you might not get your tuition back, and you’d have to pay it all over again when you try again during a later semester. All I can say is this: I get it. Really. But from my standpoint as an instructor, I think we all have to balance our priorities. Here’s a question only you can answer: Is it better to pay less for a less-competitive academic transcript and letters of recommendation that have to explain your qualities in spite of a mediocre GPA?


12. Know when to ask for help, and find out where it can be found.

We get it. All of us were students, and many of us needed help at times. That includes me.

There is no dishonor in asking for help, and there are places to find it. Most campuses have some sort of student counseling center - that, or they'll have resources to help you find a professional counselor. They're not there as window dressing - they're there because people need them.

Creating a sense of belonging can go a long way toward alleviating some of the pressure and stress of being a first-year college student. This is why I advise against overdoing it with extracurricular activities - not against avoiding them altogether.

This was especially true during the pandemic. Usually, out of a group of 200, I’ll get one or two reaching out to tell me they've missed some assignments because they're having a rough time. In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, the presidential election, and social unrest, it was more like 15 or 20 of them. Some were students of color who felt the pressure of racism like never before. Others were failing to thrive academically in the on-line system imposed on us by the pandemic. It was bad. And although the numbers have abated since 2022, they’re still high.

A couple of things to bear in mind:

First, we all understand that health is health. There is no functional difference, when it comes to missing an exam, between the flu and a panic attack. We don’t need the specifics of any medical crisis, but don’t worry that we’ll look on a severe depressive episode as an excuse for laziness.

And second, we’ve been there. However much you wail out “No one understands what I’m going through!”, be assured that some of us actually do.

Personally, as a white, cis-gender, heterosexual, native-born, nominally Christian male who’s never been the victim of a serious crime, there are some issues I can’t address with any real authority – but others on campus can. Some of us are sexual assault survivors, or have experienced racism or bigotry in some form. Others, myself included, know what it means to live with poverty or food insecurity, or with chronic mental health challenges. We’ve been through major relationship breakups. We’ve lived through serious illnesses and injuries. We’ve cared for chronically ill relatives and had loved ones die unexpectedly. We live in the same material universe as you. We’re as human as you are, and we can listen. Or we can tell you who can.

As I said previously – we do this because it’s who we are. We embrace the whole of the academic profession, and that includes mentorship of our students. We take our jobs as a matter of pride, and if one of our students is struggling, we want to know so we can help.

Seriously – ask us. We’ll tell you.

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And all the best for your new adventure. It’s intimidating, but having been through it, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Good Luck!

[3catwoman3]

1. I have read this in years past, and enjoyed it, and was happy to...

...read it again.

I've taught in 3 different bachelor's degree nursing programs over an almost 50 yr nursing career, and have a story you might enjoy. I'll guess that you've seen some interesting attempts at answering test questions from students who had absolutely no idea what the right answer was. One semester, I was one of the faculty who was assigned to the introductory nursing course, in which the students learn the very basics of patient care - taking vital signs, giving bed baths, transferring patients from bed to chair, and so forth. After the unit on skin care, I was grading tests. One of the questions was, "When bathing an uncircumcised male, why is it important to put the foreskin back in the unretracted position?"

One amusing answer was, "So the penis won't get cold." Creative, but wrong.

This other attempt had me laughing so hard I could barely breathe - "You should always put something back where you found it." A basic good idea, but no credit for this Hail Mary effort. Someone mom taught her some good basic housekeeping principles.

[cab67]

2. good anecdotes!

I've got a bunch of them. Many of them involve unfortunate mis-spellings (e.g. using "worm" instead of "warm" when asked whether dinosaurs were warm or cold blooded; "a long, gated" instead of "elongated&quot .

In the fall, I ask students to put some vertebrates on an evolutionary tree. I've generally included a celebrity who recently passed away as the token mammal. One year, that token mammal was George Harrison, who had just died. Two students asked me, "wasn't he in some band?"

[3catwoman3]

4. My best or worst one, if something can be both...

…simultaneously, involved a young lady, whom I’ll call Andrea, who never should have been admitted to the nursing program in the first place. She was a sweet little person, but not very bright.

We had taught the students about range of motion (ROM) exercises, and had to test them out on this before they could lay hands on any real patients. It was a big class, and the faculty decided that, in the interest of time, we would pair up the students and have one do ROM for one arm, and the other for one leg, reasoning that if the correct skills were exhibited for the upper extremities it was probably reasonable to surmise that the student also knew the correct techniques for the lower extremities and would be able to do all 4 in an actual clinical setting.

My student of limited abilities had the misfortune to be paired up with the only young man in the class, whom I’ll call Walter, who was quite bright, and very interested in anatomy. He was considering going on to become a physical therapist after getting his nursing degree. He got on the exam table first, and I asked Andrea to perform full ROM exercises for one of his legs. She picked up his leg and bent his knee back and forth a few times, and then put his leg back down. I waited for her to do the hip, ankle, and toe joints, which is what full ROM requires. She didn’t do anything else. We were not allowed to coach them at all. I waited just a bit longer and then asked her if she were finished. She nodded.

They changed places, and I asked Walter to do ROM for one of Andrea’s arms. He meticulously moved her shoulder, elbow, wrist and finger joints thru all the possible motions. I thought she would notice that he had done a lot more than she had, and kept waiting for what I would call that, “Oh, shit” facial expression that happens when you realize you’ve blown it. Nothing.

I excused Walter, and asked, “Andrea, how many joints are there in the leg.” Silence. I said, “ The hip, the knee, the ankle, and all the toes, and you have to do lol of them.”

In all seriousness, she looked at me and said, “I wasn’t sure what you meant when you said leg.” I couldn’t even think of a good reply. Not arm,” seemed to smart ass.

She ended up withdrawing from the program because her military husband got transferred.

[3catwoman3]

5. I'm a spelling nerd. Not a student story, but something I have seen here on DU...

…and elsewhere. When making a dramatic point, I’ve seen the not-a-word “Wala!”

It took me the longest damn time to figure out that people using this meant “Voila!”

[riverbendviewgal]

3. What you wrote could be published for all pre college

Students to be aware of your wise advise before they graduate high school. I actually had an English teacher in 12th grade tell us what is to be expected and he would not remind us through the year. He said he would treat us as we were in college.

I admired him. I still think of him after 60 years. Your advise was very extensive and helpful. It is advise for life.