Tag: College hacks

Why You Should Take Advantage of Office Hours

Does anyone even care about their lecturer’s office hours? I know I certainly didn’t..until I started my third year of college and my classes clashed. If it wasn’t for office hours, I probably would not have graduated. This is why you should take advantage of them (preferably before you realise that you’re failing your classes)

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1) Your lecturer gets to know you- personally I don’t like the idea of my lecturer getting to know me. But if you want a letter of recommendation or help on an assignment, it’s helpful to have a lecturer in your corner. Knowing your lecturer outside of the classroom also allows you to expand your professional circle which can help when it comes to job hunting. (*Sends LinkedIn request*)

2) You gain a greater understanding of the work- most of my meetings with my lecturers were to discuss assignments or concepts that I didn’t understand. One meeting that was especially valuable was when my lecturer ran through concepts quickly with me. It amazed me how easily he explained everything and how easily I was able to understand. The fifteen minutes in his office did more for my education than the entire semester of classses.

3) You can find out exactly what your lecturer expects of you- The day of my driver’s test, I missed my last Criminology lecture as well as the scope for my exam. My lecturer was more than willing to meet with me to give me the scope and tell me what she was looking for. Since it was my first year at college and I had no idea how to write an essay, that was a really productive session.

4) It’s the lecturer’s job- okay this is a stupid reason to attend office hours but hey lecturers are around to help you! If you can’t ask a question in class, pop in to visit your lecturer and ask them in private.

Some of my best and most effective learning has been done during office hours. Whether it’s learning to write an essay, revising assignments or going through concepts to make certain you understand it, office hours are a great tool for college students.
Do you make use of office hours? Let me know below.

5 Tips For Improving Your Productivity in College

My words to live by are “Work hard, party harder”. This is excellent advice especially if you’re in college. But how do you manage to be productive when you’re just not feeling it? Here are a few tried and tested tips to help you be as productive as possible,

1) Keep a constant routine- have a set time for sleeping and waking up. Try as much as possible to stick to this because it reduces the possibility of you falling asleep in class. Yes, we all want to sleep in class because it’s boring but that’s not very productive.

2) Pay attention in class. Always record the lecture- when I first started sleeping in class, it was totally accidental. First my mind would wander off, then I’d try to rest my eyes and then I would jerk awake. If you know you’re tired/lazy, record the lecture to listen to later. This works especially well for assignments since you can go back and play the recording to find out precisely what is expected of you. Also when you’re actually listening to the lecturer it’s easier to remember what’s being covered in class.

3) Write things down as soon as possible- use your school calender plus your syllabi (is that the plural of syllabus? I’m not entirely sure…) and note down important dates such as tests, projects, when campus closes and reopens as well as the last day for changing your courses. This will a) help you to see important dates and b) you’ll know when you’re busy with a pile of essays or tests.

4) Set your own deadlines- if you have your own deadlines preferably a day or two earlier than the actual due date you’ll get work done faster. You may also have enough time to get a tutor to edit your essay or cover last-minute concepts with your lecturer.

5) Start work as soon as you get it- I don’t mean write the essay or read 3 chapters for that test. Do something small just to make a tiny dent in your workload. List points for your essay or skim a chapter in the textbook. It makes things easier if you start off small. You’ll eventually be able to tackle the entire essay/textbook.

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