Declassified Student Survival Guide to College

Pulling the trigger to enroll in school, students find themselves faced with difficult challenges. Whether the student is enrolling 20 years or 2 years after high school, being ready to attend school again can be challenging. Our choices in life determine what things compete for our finances, priorities, time, and attention. Having the tools necessary to survive through college are essential. Conducting successful library and internet searches, upholding academic honesty, developing effective study skills, managing time wisely, setting and achieving goals are tools that mitigate success.

Being able to conduct successful library and internet searches are crucial for the completion of assignments at school. Knowing where to find academic resources online, in the school library, and evaluating the sources we find in our searches is important. This is step one in our ability to survive college.

Conducting research online is different from conducting research in a traditional library. In a traditional library there are rigorous amounts of foot work to be done. Going through card catalogs, performing information searches on the library computer and tracking down the sources needed according to its decimal place is time-consuming. Online we can do everything that can be done at the library except replicating the environment. Searches, viewing, and printing are all easier online.

The key to successful library and internet searches is in how the search is done. Internet searches result in vast amounts of information on specific topics. Finding large search engines such as DogPile.com and Google.com are good places to start searching. Narrowing down what needs to be known about the topic is also important. For example, if the topic being searched is about the outsourcing of American jobs, narrow the topic to: Economical impacts of outsourcing American jobs or wage inequality caused by outsourcing American jobs. Get specific on what needs to be known, or the searches can result in thousands of results, some pertaining to the topic and some not. Learning how to use the search engine effectively is mandatory to successful searches. Placing (") around keywords will tell search engines that the enclosed quotation is the main topic of the search with the words surrounding it being the information related to it. Placing a (-) next to a word will eliminate all results containing the text marked. Rephrasing the search also helps in finding successful results. Online University library searches are done in the same way. When performing University library searches, understanding the databases and functionality of the site is important; there is usually a tutorial available.

The sources we find in our searches need to be evaluated thoroughly before using them in any paper. Before citing from any source, ask these questions about the source (Axia College of University of Phoenix, 2007): What type of site, article or journal is this? What organization or individual created the site or published the article or journal? Do they have affiliations that might cause bias toward the information? What references are cited within this information? What is the primary use of the site? What types of sites are linked to the site? Who is the author and is the author credible? How old is the material? If the answers are satisfactory the source can be used.

Be accountable to upholding academic honesty. Universities have no room for plagiarism and cheaters. Anyone caught plagiarizing materials could be expelled and face further ramifications. Avoiding plagiarism and correctly citing references are essential for upholding academic honesty.

Plagiarism, whether done intentionally or unintentionally, is a serious offense and should never be taken lightly. The best tip for guarding against unintentional plagiarism is to be educated on exact method of citation. Whether it is paraphrasing, quoting, or using research information, the correct way to cite references is clearly outlined in the APA guidelines. Studying the correct methods and applications for citing can help ensure academic honesty.

The shortcuts technology gives us can also provide paths to unintentional plagiarism. Students need to take their time when transposing information from different sources. Cutting and pasting electronically from the sources to the papers can cause the writer to forget to input the original author's credentials. Organizing sources before citing them can help ensure the correct author is cited. Careful planning and organization of essays is needed to uphold academic honesty.

Developing effective study skills is the next survival technique. Studying at the collegiate level, with different sets of responsibilities than students have in high school, means that new methods of learning will have to be used. Being in a distance learning environment has benefits to the traditional face-to-face learning environment. Students in distance learning have the freedom to attend class and study when they want to, and can do all this from the comfort of their homes. Distance learning students have to develop study skills to meet the requirements of an online student. Students need to be self-motivated, goal driven, able to prioritize, and manage time effectively. This is something to consider when choosing between attending a University physically and attending virtual classrooms in University online programs.

Reading and retention techniques are important study skills to have to survive college. A method of reading and retention that should be used is the SQ3R process (Carter, Bishop, & Kravits, 2002). SQ3R stands for: Survey, question, read, recite, and review. Surveying is the process of scanning titles of chapters, headings, and text. Question is the process of asking questions off of the surveying performed. Reading is the process of reading the text with the intention of answering the questions formed. Recite is the process of speaking the answers to the questions answered. The reviewing process is going over all the SQ3R process for retention. This process is an effective study skill that should be used.

To survive college, managing time wisely is important. Being able to juggle school, work, and family responsibilities can be difficult, but must be done to be successful. Prioritizing and avoiding time wasters will ensure adequate time distribution for all the student's needs.

Time management is crucial to the working college student. Using day planners or palm pilot devices are effective methods to organizing days, weeks, and years. Being able to coordinate events, appointments, and class times by using these tools are effective. Prioritizing and avoiding time wasters are also necessary in college survival. Listing the importance of events daily and keeping to a time management schedule will help keep the student effective in studies and avoiding tasks or events that do not fit in with the priorities. Students should be able to adjust events and re-prioritize daily as life events change.

Setting and achieving goals are important in the self-esteem and motivation of the college student. By setting short-term and long-term goals the student is able to see accomplishments that are made and how these short-term goals are bringing the long-term goals into perspective. The goals of the student need to be written down and evaluated from time to time to acknowledge progress and to add additional goals to the list. These goals should relate to education, employment, and family.

These are essential tools for any student to use in the pursuit of a college degree. Using these tools along with a support system outside of school will ensure the success of the college student.

References:

Axia College of University of Phoenix. (2007). Web Source Evaluation. Retrieved July 28, 2007, from Axia College, Week Two Supplement F, aXcess, IT 105-Skills For Learning In An Information Age Web site.

Carter, C., Bishop, J., & Kravits, S. L. (2002). Mastering Content. In Keys to College Studying: Becoming a Lifelong Learner (pp. 147-160). : Prentice Hall Inc.