Going into the Next Level...

[SkywalkerRules]

Next year... I'm on my way to College. Don't know if I'll still be here. I hope I do though. But to tell you guys the truth... I'm really nervous.

 

I wanted to ask you guys... what should I do to have a great College year? What should or shouldn't I do? Need some advice. Gracias.

[mur'phon]

College is your opportunity to do crazy things you never even considered doing, life after college is about regrett not doing those crazy things. However remember to (insert standard work-hard tip) to enable you to do those things. Also keep in mind that no-one will ever use your college escapades against you in a serious way (unless you plan on entering politics). Finaly, get as many friends/contacts you can, it can be increadibly usefull when it commes to everything from gaining acces to great parties to landing that dream job after you graduate.

[Mono_Giganto]

Go to your classes. Seems pretty self explanatory, but I've knew many people in my first year of college who failed out for just that reason.

[jonathan7]

Need some advice. Gracias.

 

a) Don't get advice on Internet Forums?

 

b) J7's saw on advice; "Good advice is a statement of fact or question which causes the person to answer their own problem; bad advice is giving your opinion which is irrelevant as we are all different and have our own paths to take"

 

In escence what maybe one persons idea of a great time at college could be another mans idea of hell. You would be best just talking to a few close friends you know well and respect; opposed to asking random Joe's you don't really know on the internet.

 

You will have a great time at college

[SkywalkerRules]

Sorry, jonathan7. Just wanted to ask about College. Thank you.

[Mav]

Networking, sure you learn stuff in college, but the true benefit of going to college is meeting new friends and contacts. Getting smashed, waking up without your clothes and walking to the nearest fast food joint for breakfast are merely pleasant side effects of the networking process.

[adamqd]

I didn't go to College Because I'm Stupid (Read Cool) but I did However go to College Cities, and... erm, get amongst it... For lack of a better phrase. Have fun Is the only Advice I can give you.

[jawathehutt]

Know how much alcohol you can take before you black out, pass out and puke out. Its much better to find that out when your with friends who will keep you alive rather than finding out amoungst strangers or people you barely know who will draw a massive male organ all over you after you pass out. Also, find out how the cops are at your university, some are pretty lenient about parties as long as they dont get out of hand while others like the ones at the college I'm at are so bad they hold frequent student meetings where they tell us what the police can and cant demand from you. Because to quote one of my professors, "the police here have one mission, and its not to stop actual crime"

[stingerhs]

most of the good stuff has already been mentioned, but as a side note, there are some upsides and downsides to drinking. yeah, its fun, and it loosens you up socially. the biggest problems come with what happens when you overdo it. enjoy in moderation, but always remember that how much fun you have while you're out depends almost exclusively on who you're with. with the right people, its easy to have fun w/o any hard drinks at all.

 

and another quick tip: it helps to know what you want to do before you even enroll for any college. set a career goal, and then set your priorities accordingly. *the* biggest mistake you can make in college is to go in without a clear cut plan. the people that don't are the ones that spend the next ten years changing majors while trying to get their BS. and don't forget your priorities!! going to a party on Friday when you have three tests on Monday is a bad idea.

[Hallucination]

-Buy your books used if at all possible

-Be careful keeping track of online courses, those things are sneaky

 

That's all I have, it's my first semester.

[El Sitherino]

Don't commit carnal acts with anyone from the same school as you.

 

DON'T.

[Laura Muffin]

A female's perspective might not be helpful for a boy..but...here it is anyways XD

 

1) HALF.COM!!! Buy your books there..As many as you can at least. You'll find it a lot cheaper than your school's bookstore

 

2) Don't get too nervous about college! You'll fit into the swing of things your 2nd semester at least, if not sooner. HOWEVER, do NOT think that just because you're spending less time in class a day than you were in highschool that you have less work. 90% of the time you'll have a lot more outside-the-classroom work to do that will really sneak up on you if you don't keep up with it.

 

3) Yeah, partying is fun..but I guess I'll speak for myself when I say I got bored with that scene really quickly. Mostly because every single party/club has the same people there all the time. Same types, same skanky girls, same drunk guys drooling on you and being idiots, same troublemaker/REBELS (oh yeah rebels) who are rebellious and throw up in the bushes (WOOO GOOD TIME I LOVE THROWING UP YAY)...Uh..well, anyways. I may or may not think partying is immature >.>...but hey, life experience is important so do whatever you want, but my roomate 1st semester pretty much flunked 'cause she was too busy getting her muff stuffed by guys at parties all the time (w/e I'm not gonna make her look good she was a bitch XD).

 

4) This brings me to another point: SHOULD YOU HAVE A ROOMATE! Roomates are a pain in the ass, IMO. My roomate was horrible and did a lot of disrespectful things (like me coming back to school one weekend and finding a naked dude lying on top of my bed? Gross). BUT! I know people who had really great roomates...So I guess my advice would be: don't try to be friends with your roomate unless you are sure you guys are good friend-types. Otherwise, just be civil and nice and the less you see of them is prolly the better.

 

5) Cliche: DON'T PROCRASTINATE. Hell, I still do sometimes, but I learned big lessons my 1st year in college and have pretty much gotten to the point where I do most of my assignments ahead of time. Especially for tests. I'm pretty smart, so cramming all 3 chapters of Cognitive Psychology (esp. since I pretty much skipped most of the classes >.> <.<) managed to land me a 90 on the first exam...But I know I woulda prolly gotten a 96 or higher, if I had actually put more time into studying. Just something to think about.

 

6) Hard and Easy Classes: You will have a little of both. And that's okay! Actually, PLAN to have both in one semester. When I register for classes, I try to include at least ONE class I know will be a breeze for me no matter how little I study (for me, it's Chinese class, for others it might be University Studies or even biochemistry..smart ppl). This way, if you're loaded up by, say, 5 papers due in the next couple weeks, you can ignore your easy class a little to make up for the work for other classes. Don't ignore it completely though..Going to class is still important.

 

7) Registering for Classes! Your first semester, I suggest you take at least one of each of these: A morning class, an afternoon class, and a late afternoon/night class. This way, you'll figure out which time of day you are more attentive or work better, or which time of day better fits your work schedule (if you work). Once you figure out a time of day you like best (for me it's late morning/afternoon) and then in future semesters, pick classes at those times. REGISTER EARLY in order to get the times you want, otherwise you'll be stuck with the pickin's.

 

8)Professors: They might seem a bit weird or scary or they might be super nice and cool. No matter what personality they are though, they like to see kids being proactive with the class. If you have a test and get questions wrong, a professor loves to see the kid schedule a time to meet to discuss why they got the questions wrong. I know that a few of my professors in the past even would give extra credit if a kid came in to talk about a test. It shows you care about your grades and you care about their class. And when you think of how hard that professor works for the 1 or even 4 classes they teach that might have as many as 300 people in each class, it really isn't much to work just as hard for them, y'know?

 

I can't think of anything else right now, but I think I covered most of the basics. Don't get scared of college, it's a lot better than highschool and, imo, a lot easier once you get into the swing of things. 1st semester of freshman year is your experiment time. Experiment with study habits/class times/time management/parties/what have you. Once you figure out how you can succeed in school, apply it to your second semester and you'll be just fine. People can tell you college advice all day long, but you really have to apply it for it to make any difference whatsoever.

[Pavlos]

Also, find out how the cops are at your university, some are pretty lenient about parties as long as they dont get out of hand while others like the ones at the college I'm at are so bad they hold frequent student meetings where they tell us what the police can and cant demand from you. Because to quote one of my professors, "the police here have one mission, and its not to stop actual crime"

The porters at my college in university (clicky for Americans) last year would only chase after you if you decided to climb on the art work and statues around the college. I hear the porters at Jesus, Cambridge are much the same about undergraduates walking on the lawn where the nuns are buried (don't ask).

 

5) Cliche: DON'T PROCRASTINATE. Hell, I still do sometimes, but I learned big lessons my 1st year in college and have pretty much gotten to the point where I do most of my assignments ahead of time. Especially for tests. I'm pretty smart, so cramming all 3 chapters of Cognitive Psychology (esp. since I pretty much skipped most of the classes >.> <.<) managed to land me a 90 on the first exam...But I know I woulda prolly gotten a 96 or higher, if I had actually put more time into studying. Just something to think about.

Awww... come on, sitting around doing nothing is one of the highlights of the university experience.

[Jeff]

I'll second the roommate advice. My freshman year, my good friend and I didn't get paired up, so I was with some random douche. It was awful, he stayed up till 3am+ every night, slept till at least 3pm every day, very rarely went to class (he is no longer at the university), and he was just overall inconsiderate with noise levels when I was trying to study or something. Which sucked, because take away all that and he would have been a cool guy just to hang out with and stuff, but I am glad I don't have to deal with him anymore. Not to mention our room was basically a walk in closet.

 

My roommate last year wasn't as bad, there were 4 of us in 2 bedrooms and the only problem was dishes. He'd make like mac n cheese or something, and just leave the pot sitting there. Somebody put a sticky note on it once to clean it up, and he did, but didn't continue to do that. So after we were so fed up with it, I put the pot in his bed and put the covers over it. also fyi that was Det. Bart Lasiter's suggestion.

 

This year I am in a 4 person place but the only other person here is my good friend mentioned earlier, so it's an ideal situation. There's some other guy moving in later this week which kind of sucks but I guess no one moving in the whole year would be too good to be true.

 

So basically I think it's just the luck of the draw when it comes to good roommates, but if you don't think you really will turn out to be good friends then I would just make sure you clean up after yourself and are civil but don't really talk to them.

6) Hard and Easy Classes: You will have a little of both. And that's okay! Actually, PLAN to have both in one semester. When I register for classes, I try to include at least ONE class I know will be a breeze for me no matter how little I study (for me, it's Chinese class, for others it might be University Studies or even biochemistry..smart ppl). This way, if you're loaded up by, say, 5 papers due in the next couple weeks, you can ignore your easy class a little to make up for the work for other classes. Don't ignore it completely though..Going to class is still important.

Haha, I am taking University Studies this semester. It's actually "Diversity" but the class number is US 201. It's super easy but actually somewhat interesting.

[Darth Avlectus]

Go all out or go home. Audacity and intestinal fortitude. Also standing up to yourself is not as easy as it sounds. Once you choose to lose your train of focus and challenging yourself, you have made a life altering choice you cannot just switch back on like a machine.

 

it helps to know what you want to do before you even enroll for any college. set a career goal, and then set your priorities accordingly. *the* biggest mistake you can make in college is to go in without a clear cut plan. the people that don't are the ones that spend the next ten years changing majors while trying to get their BS. and don't forget your priorities!! going to a party on Friday when you have three tests on Monday is a bad idea.

 

Seconded. While I was not a partier, and in fact quite the hard worker, I got too caught up in one class and messed another up one too many times. It stopped being challenging and fun and it got just plain frustrating.

 

(Part of it for me is that I'm classified as being "disabled" though I don't consider the disorder as such, and got *sick* of being patronized for it, but that's another story, and not entirely relevant to you.) It's okay to change your mind; it's *not* okay to never make up your mind.

 

That pocket calendar and that alarm clock are your friends. Just b/c another thinks keeping yourself on your own schedule is ridiculous doesn't mean they are right. Consider the source.

 

And I guess, learning how to roll with punches: you will inevitably have setbacks. These cannot be avoided but they can be averted. Don't let them defeat you when they first hit. These cases it's how to cut your losses and do damage control. As Earnest P. Worrel would say: One monkey don't stop no show. (hidden point: not if you don't let it.)

[Te Je'karta Mand'alor]

Advise from my sister: DO NOT PARTY TOO HARD!!!!!!!!!!!!! other than that she tells everybody to study

[adamqd]

Make sure what you Study equals to a Job when you leave... Most of My Friends who went to University now do a completley unrelated Job, Are Unemployed, or Work for me doing manual Labor... Nothing good about a Homeless person with an ecclectic Knowledge of random Info...

Forward Thinking.

[Darth Avlectus]

^^^This.

[purifier]

My advice SR is that you may want to consider a community college first for your Associate's degree of whatever career your considering. Community colleges are somewhat flexiable to your needs, plus they are a lot cheaper than starting out at a University.

 

 

After you have obtained your Associate's, then of course you can transfer those community college credits to a Universty that has your career choice in mind for a Bachelors degree; if you decide to go further in your education.

 

Also you may qualify for the Pell Grant, and it is free if you get it, which gives you the money to pay for the courses, parking fees (oh yeah, they got those), lab fees, etc. Not to mention getting some money back after the college takes it's share. So you might want to look into that when you first register for the semester.

 

 

And as Laura Muffin and Hallucination said about the books, do try to buy your books used online from E-bay half.com or Amazon. Although colleges do sell you the books required for the course, they can be outrageously expensive. I had one book required for a class that was almost $200 dollars brand new from the college bookstore of the college that I was attending. But I bought that sucker on Amazon used for $42.00, still expensive but better than paying $192 dollars for something that I probably wasn't ever going to use again after I had finished the course.

 

TAKE NOTES! And I do mean TAKE NOTES. I can not express that enough, many times what the instructers/teachers write on the board and lecture about in class will be on the test that they will give you.

 

Take advantage of study groups, they help. And don't forget about the college tutors either.

 

 

And one more thing, forget the partying young one - you will not have time for that, because some of those instructors/teachers (not all of them) will load you down with projects, 5-10 page essays, and a whole bunch of other crap (that I can't think of right now) almost taking up whatever free time you have left outside of the college. Trust me, self experiance has taught me that lesson. you'll see what I mean. I had to repeat some of my courses because I was doing the partying crap a little to much. Just get through it, study, and obtain your degree. In which case, you can party after your sucess.

 

P.S. "Face your fear, erase your fear." Just keep on, keep on...never give up.

 

That is all...............................

[jawathehutt]

And one more thing, forget the partying young one - you will not have time for that, because some of those instructors/teachers (not all of them) will load you down with projects, 5-10 page essays, and a whole bunch of other crap (that I can't think of right now) almost taking up whatever free time you have left outside of the college. Trust me, self experiance has taught me that lesson. you'll see what I mean. I had to repeat some of my courses because I was doing the partying crap a little to much. Just get through it, study, and obtain your degree. In which case, you can party after your sucess.

Unless your doing homework at 11 pm on friday and/or saturday nights, how do you not have time for partying?

[Bimmerman]

My perspective. FWIW, I'm a senior starting to look at grad schools. I agree with Laura a lot, but thought I'd give you my thoughts as well.

 

A female's perspective might not be helpful for a boy..but...here it is anyways XD

 

1) HALF.COM!!! Buy your books there..As many as you can at least. You'll find it a lot cheaper than your school's bookstore

 

Used books are win. If you are studying a subject that will undoubtedly be useful to your career, buy as nice a book as you can and plan on keeping it. Many people I know sell their books back, which is fine if you need the cash, but I've run into many projects later in junior/senior year that benefit from having old textbooks that you know where to find stuff in. Definitely make sure though that if you get a used book (often your campus bookstore carries them) that you get the most current edition. Problem sets change, solutions, etc.

 

Also, if you can, buy the solution guides for your book. This requires you to have a large amount of actual integrity to NOT cheat. The reason you want the study guide is to figure out how to solve that particularly nasty PDE or study for tests. I'm going to be honest and say your books will be terrible, so having as many written out solutions as you can get your hands on is WIN. Just realize that copying the solution will not only get you in trouble but just is screwing yourself.

 

2) Don't get too nervous about college! You'll fit into the swing of things your 2nd semester at least, if not sooner. HOWEVER, do NOT think that just because you're spending less time in class a day than you were in highschool that you have less work. 90% of the time you'll have a lot more outside-the-classroom work to do that will really sneak up on you if you don't keep up with it.

 

Definitely don't worry about college. It's just like high school, just actually important, and with a lot more work. I work to fund my racing addiction and my schooling, so I don't really party much at all (priorities), but what I do is do as much homework as I can as early as I can. This means in between classes, on weekends, hell even at the racetrack; any free moment I get, I do homework. I'm an engineering major, so I routinely am up until 3-4am doing schoolwork after I get home from actual work (pretty much the reason I don't party). I get on average 4-5 hours of sleep a night. I function like this, you may not. If I wasn't somewhat skilled at time management I would have failed by now; instead I'm near the top of my class.

 

If you don't have to work, that's good. Don't fall into the belief though that four classes a week means you have lots of time. Get your homework done on time, keep up with your reading (or have a damn good memory), pay attention in class, and overall just organize your time. If you can do that you will be able to manage social, school, and work needs. Time management is the single best skill you will learn.

 

I work my ass off so I won't be in debt when I graduate, can play with cars, and so that I can be somewhat comfortable. I work my ass off in school to make sure I get ahead in life. Figure out your priorities and don't compromise them. College is four years, you then graduate and live in the real world. Don't compromise 30 for a fun four years.

 

3) Yeah, partying is fun..but I guess I'll speak for myself when I say I got bored with that scene really quickly. Mostly because every single party/club has the same people there all the time. Same types, same skanky girls, same drunk guys drooling on you and being idiots, same troublemaker/REBELS (oh yeah rebels) who are rebellious and throw up in the bushes (WOOO GOOD TIME I LOVE THROWING UP YAY)...Uh..well, anyways. I may or may not think partying is immature >.>...but hey, life experience is important so do whatever you want, but my roomate 1st semester pretty much flunked 'cause she was too busy getting her muff stuffed by guys at parties all the time (w/e I'm not gonna make her look good she was a bitch XD).

 

a BIG +1 on this. Even when I had time to party I found it obscenely overrated. Enjoy it, but don't get too carried away. You'll be a freshman, which means it's illegal for you to drink, but you're in college, so you will. DON'T BE STUPID. RAs, more often than not, love exercising their authoritah. If you are going to party in the dorms, make sure you can get out quick or are the least drunk person there. The simple option is to not drink, but......just don't be stupid.

 

Don't let the partying take over your studies. There is one reason why you are going into serious amount of debt or spending your parents' money: to get ahead in life. Skipping tests or studying or homework because you're too drunk/hungover/stoned is really just you being an idiot. Don't be.

 

4) This brings me to another point: SHOULD YOU HAVE A ROOMATE! Roomates are a pain in the ass, IMO. My roomate was horrible and did a lot of disrespectful things (like me coming back to school one weekend and finding a naked dude lying on top of my bed? Gross). BUT! I know people who had really great roomates...So I guess my advice would be: don't try to be friends with your roomate unless you are sure you guys are good friend-types. Otherwise, just be civil and nice and the less you see of them is prolly the better.

 

I lucked out with my roommate, but had no choice in the matter; we only had double rooms or more. Right now I'm interning in Munich and living with a roommate I don't get along with. My advice if you don't get along is to not put up with passive/agressive BS. Be open, honest, and spend as little time with each other as possible.

 

5) Cliche: DON'T PROCRASTINATE. Hell, I still do sometimes, but I learned big lessons my 1st year in college and have pretty much gotten to the point where I do most of my assignments ahead of time. Especially for tests. I'm pretty smart, so cramming all 3 chapters of Cognitive Psychology (esp. since I pretty much skipped most of the classes >.> <.<) managed to land me a 90 on the first exam...But I know I woulda prolly gotten a 96 or higher, if I had actually put more time into studying. Just something to think about.

 

Like I said earlier: TIME MANAGEMENT. The best test preparation I have found, and I've learned this the hard way, is going through old tests, sample tests, and old homeworks side by side with the solutions and redo every single problem as if you haven't seen them before. This takes FOREVER but is invaluable prep. I've gotten nearly a 4.0 every semester since I figured this one out, so free advice to you. This obviously is dependent on subject, as German tests really don't work the same as Fluid Mechanics and Calculus. High school study patterns, i.e. walking into the test without studying or an hour of study DOES NOT WORK.

 

Also, the numeric value of your test is irrelevant. What matters is where you are in relation to the average and standard deviation. A 40% can be an A+ grade if the average was a 20.

 

6) Hard and Easy Classes: You will have a little of both. And that's okay! Actually, PLAN to have both in one semester. When I register for classes, I try to include at least ONE class I know will be a breeze for me no matter how little I study (for me, it's Chinese class, for others it might be University Studies or even biochemistry..smart ppl). This way, if you're loaded up by, say, 5 papers due in the next couple weeks, you can ignore your easy class a little to make up for the work for other classes. Don't ignore it completely though..Going to class is still important.

 

This. German's always been my "breeze" class, and it's nice to have one class I can slack off (comparatively, I still pull As) in to pump up the classes that actually matter for my degree. Also, just because you can take 18 credits doesn't mean you have to. 12 is perfectly acceptable, and take some over summer. You want to optimize your workload to your abilities.

 

7) Registering for Classes! Your first semester, I suggest you take at least one of each of these: A morning class, an afternoon class, and a late afternoon/night class. This way, you'll figure out which time of day you are more attentive or work better, or which time of day better fits your work schedule (if you work). Once you figure out a time of day you like best (for me it's late morning/afternoon) and then in future semesters, pick classes at those times. REGISTER EARLY in order to get the times you want, otherwise you'll be stuck with the pickin's.

 

This. I'm a bit more limited in my options due to my major, but find out when you're most attentive or how well you run on Monster and Coffee. Make sure that whenever your registration time is you already have the class call numbers written down. Remember that there are 5,000 people competing for your classes, so early bird gets the worm. If you figure half of them are stoned or drunk, then you're only competing with 2500....which is still a good reason to be as proactive and early as you can be.

 

8)Professors: They might seem a bit weird or scary or they might be super nice and cool. No matter what personality they are though, they like to see kids being proactive with the class. If you have a test and get questions wrong, a professor loves to see the kid schedule a time to meet to discuss why they got the questions wrong. I know that a few of my professors in the past even would give extra credit if a kid came in to talk about a test. It shows you care about your grades and you care about their class. And when you think of how hard that professor works for the 1 or even 4 classes they teach that might have as many as 300 people in each class, it really isn't much to work just as hard for them, y'know?

 

THIS. Definitely get to know your professors. Some hate you already, just accept it and move on. Some love students; these profs you want to get to know. Whether it is simply additional help for the WTF moments you will have, or future grooming for recommendation letters for jobs, scholarships, fellowships, or grad school, it is important to cultivate a good relationship with your professors. If you express interest in their subject, nothing but good can come of it.

 

I can't think of anything else right now, but I think I covered most of the basics. Don't get scared of college, it's a lot better than highschool and, imo, a lot easier once you get into the swing of things. 1st semester of freshman year is your experiment time. Experiment with study habits/class times/time management/parties/what have you. Once you figure out how you can succeed in school, apply it to your second semester and you'll be just fine. People can tell you college advice all day long, but you really have to apply it for it to make any difference whatsoever.

 

Exactly. Do be aware that even though many people say that freshman year is a throwaway for jobs, grad school, scholarships, etc...they're extremely wrong. It all matters, so do your best to get the best grades you can. If that means don't rush a frat/sorority, don't. If that means play beer pong once a week instead of on Thirsty Thursday, do that. School is the most important reason you are there. Don't fawk it up.

 

Feel free to ask more questions, we're here to help. What school are you going to anyway, and what major?

[Miltiades]

Find a balance between having fun and studying. But make sure you do have fun sometimes. I'll be honest, I haven't found that balance for myself yet, I'm an advanced Procrastinator, but it's going to be vital.

 

On studying, pick something you like, otherwise, you won't make it. And don't be afraid to ask for help. Go to the classes, even if it's not obligatory. That's half the work to make it through. And make plans. And don't use any medication to study better.

 

Oh, and partying is fun. Oh hell, yeah, it can be very immature, but there's time to be mature later.

[Pavlos]

THIS. Definitely get to know your professors. Some hate you already, just accept it and move on. Some love students; these profs you want to get to know. Whether it is simply additional help for the WTF moments you will have, or future grooming for recommendation letters for jobs, scholarships, fellowships, or grad school, it is important to cultivate a good relationship with your professors. If you express interest in their subject, nothing but good can come of it.

If a fellow, tutor, lecturer, reader, or professor has no time for students then he has no right to be associated with that institution; I have no respect for academics who fail to realise that universities are centres for conserving knowledge as well as generating research.

 

More likely than not you will find that members of your department(s) will find the time for you if you approach them within office-hours and do not take to stalking them around the university; this will not go down well with them.

 

Oh, and partying is fun. Oh hell, yeah, it can be very immature, but there's time to be mature later.

This is true.

[Darth InSidious]

Read the preparatory material. No, really. This vastly reduces the amount of note-taking required in lectures, and simultaneously increases your ability to listen in them.

 

Write up your notes the same day. Do not leave them as you made them. They will make little sense to you and contain only a fraction of the information you will need to seriously address the subject.

 

The Library contains these papery things with funny squiggles in them called 'words'. These are your friends. Use them. Ditto journals.

 

Which brings me on to reading. You should treat reading like a lecture: take notes! You won't remember all the information in any book unaided, so annotate (preferably in a notebook, not on the book itself - the librarians will not be impressed, and it makes repeat readings difficult).

 

Don't just read what's on the reading-list. Read those, then move onto the literature listed in the bibliographies and/or footnotes. And then do the same for those works. You want to read as widely on your particular subject as possible.

 

If you aren't turning up to lectures as a bare minimum, you should leave before you embarrass yourself.

 

Beware of essay deadlines, and be sure to start work - reading or otherwise - well in advance. Those books will disappear closer to the deadline, and last-minute essays are almost universally rubbish.

 

Don't just pick things which look easy; you may breeze through them but everyone will know why. Instead, pick what interests you.

 

And if you aren't struggling to translate something no-one speaks and you scarcely understand at 3 am on a combination of desperation and coffee, you really aren't doing it right.

[Bimmerman]

If a fellow, tutor, lecturer, reader, or professor has no time for students then he has no right to be associated with that institution; I have no respect for academics who fail to realise that universities are centres for conserving knowledge as well as generating research.

 

Agreed, I hate those profs.

 

This is true.

 

I didn't say that, but w/e. It is fun.