College Resources Students NEED to Take Advantage of

All college campuses provide a wide variety of resources for their students that will aid in their health and wellbeing to their personal and academic success. There is a fitness center, academic and career services, health and wellness, dining services, campus library, and the list goes on and on. Now, the resources listed above are what I refer to as the “poster resources.” What do I mean by this? To answer that let's do a short activity: 1. Open a new tap on your browser and search your university 2. Go to the images tab 3. What do you see? Maybe a few aerial views of the prime locations on campus. Now keep scrolling down the pictures. There are pictures of your fitness center, football stadium, library, and dining hall even. There are even pictures of students working with faculty on campus. You may be thinking what is your point? My point is, universities use “poster resources” such as the fitness center, career and academic services, library and dining services as marketing tools. Universities capitalize on these amenities and resources on campus to attract prospective students. It is genius from a university standpoint because those are things parents and students look at when touring a university. How about when you are enrolled in your university? You still see the same resources plastered on walls, buses, and social media around campus. It is like you are in a time warp and feel sucked into only seeking the resources you visibly can see. That is not the case at all. You see after you are enrolled, it seems that it is now your responsibility as a student to seek additional resources you may need. Universities offer SO many resources and we as students are only exposed to a select few. It is not practical for a university to market or publicize all resources available on campus. There is just too much information that needs to be marketed and it is overwhelming for students and universities themselves at times. Marketing every resource and piece of information on campus would take a lot of time and planning to get the information to students. However, there needs to be a user friendly platform that enables students to seek additional resources when necessary. For resources such as a Bloomberg Terminal, SHARP, PACS, and even online resources such as Box and Handshake. There is a gap between student resources promoted on campus and those that maybe seem undervalued in the university's eye. It the cost of picking and choosing for a university. They choose to market one resource and the opportunity cost is other resources or information they could promote as well. Why, as college students, do we only a select few seek out additional support and others don’t? First off, it is overwhelming. There is SO much information, resources, clubs, organizations, and amenities on campus. Sometimes you don't even know where to start looking because there is just too much information. Now, say you have to pick classes for next semester. Where do you look and what resources do you use to create your schedule? When creating your schedule, you are not using the typical “poster resources.” You use online course catalogs as well as a scheduling tool like YouScheduler for example. Students need to think outside the box and look beyond the “poster resources” to find the best help or guidance. There is no practical way for a university to distribute all resources and information to students. As students, we must meet our university halfway and go out and search for the most useful resource for you. Search online and take a look because your university is equipped with the right resource for you at any given day or time!

November 18th, 2019

Sources

www.fastweb.com

www.collegeparentcentral.com

Better Schedule: Better You. How to build your dream college schedule

Congratulations, all the hard work your highschool self poured into academics and extracurriculars has paid off. You’ve decided to further your education, your favorite schools decided to accept you into their academic programs, and your parents decided to use the room you’ll be leaving vacant to house their growing collection of Phil Collins memorabilia. Ok, maybe the last one is just me, but the point is universal. You are about to ease the transition into adulthood by buying the very expensive set of training wheels we call “Higher Education”. Like any good set of training wheels, you will be provided support to help you keep your balance, but you better be willing to provide the leg power. You’ll receive an email outlining the first steps: housing forms need to be completed, financial aid and scholarships need to be finalized, and dorm room essentials must be acquired (No mom, I don’t need one of your Phil Collins themed popcorn machines. And why do you have three of them?). One of the most daunting tasks is also one of the most important: building your course schedule. Here are some tips to help you assemble your dream schedule. 1. Discover yourself If you don’t completely understand yourself, the world around you, and the relation between them… Then congratulations, you’re just like most other college students! Luckily, college is also about finding yourself, a freedom-focused period where you are empowered to continue developing your personality. Even though you may not have everything figured out, try your best to make some basic assumptions about your preferences. Are you pursuing higher education for the diploma, or because you have a legitimate desire to learn? Are you a morning person, or a night person? If you can take Fridays off, will you use that time to study or to watch Netflix? Will you be working during the semester, and if so, when? All these questions will help you build a schedule that will enable your future success, in and out of the classroom. 2. Decide which classes you wish to take. Which classes should you take? Should you load up your schedule with major-specific classes, or get your gen-eds out of the way? This onslaught of decisions can be overwhelming at first, but you’re in luck: your school likely provides a whole suite of resources to help you answer these questions. The most important of these at your disposal is your advisor, who you can and should reach out to for assistance. Most schools have rich course catalogs that allow you to search for a specific class or all classes in your major. If your feeling especially diligent, you can outline which classes you will take for each semester until graduation. This is not necessary, but make sure to double check that the courses you take this semester will keep you on track with your major's requirements and prerequisites. If you don’t know which classes you’re required to take, check to see if your major has a spreadsheet or flowchart outlining its requirements. Do your best to make a final decision now. If you don't, the best case scenario is that you have to rebuild your schedule, which can be very time-consuming if you do it by hand. Worst case you could find yourself frantically searching for the right course before your schools add/drop period ends. A bit of extra research now can save you a load of time and frustration down the line. 3. Prioritize classes. Some courses you will be taking are prerequisites for future courses, meaning that you must take them at the right time unless you want to risk bungling your course schedule for the rest of your college career. Making sure you get into these classes should be your highest priority, not weedling your way into that course on the history of beer (yes yes, I know it’s tempting). 4. Build your schedule Option 1 (the old way): Grab a pencil, paper, and a good eraser Now for the fun part. Acquire a pencil, paper, or a calendar/planner if you have one. Alternatively, you can use one of many free course schedule organizers online. Pencils (or keyboards) in hand, It’s time to visualize your schedule. Begin at the top of your priority list and pick the sections that mesh with your time preferences. Remember to block out time for work, extracurriculars, and free time! Make sure to include any corequisites, lab sections, or seminars that a course requires. You don’t want to finish your plan just to find that one of your courses had a lab that conflicts with your most important class. Option 2 (the new way): Online schedule builders Many schools have purchased software that will do all this work for you. Automation, right? For instance, YouScheduler will build every possible schedule with your chosen classes, then display them to you for your leisurely perusal. It even allows you to input custom breaks, pick specific sections and teachers, and export your schedule to the calendar application of your choice. Does your school lack a schedule builder? Think it would be a good investment for your future alma mater? Send a request for them to acquire a schedule builder software by reaching out to us at support@youscheduler.com!

September 9th, 2019