Oh, it’s coming. Denying it won’t help you. Fall Term is starting up soon whether you’re ready or not. When the first week of classes have been attended and while you’re still focusing on first chapters, small quizzes, tolerable assignments, and the finer points on your professors’ syllabi, at the very least please skim this: How to Study: A Brief Guide. Learning how to learn is, how do you say, crucial, of the essence, invaluable, indispensable and totally effing necessary.
Researchers analyzed 30,000 teens and the relationship between screen time (tv, video games, surfing the net, etc.) and the teens’ tendency toward experiencing routine backache and headaches. The study was just released, and the findings boil down to this: cumulative screen time, even in young, healthy bodies, causes headaches and back pain.
I’m pretty sure this can easily be applied to college students and full-fledged adults as well. Ergonomics, massage therapy, and a reduction in screen time: Know it. Live it. Love it.
Campus-dwellers are safely past the Winter Bleak, the March Doldrums, and are now in that half-in, half-out, two-month moment between Spring Has Sprung and Summer Freedom that exists in its own slow-drip cubicle in the space-time continuum. The world is beautiful and there is no end of coursework in sight. It is excruciating. How long is this going to take?!
This may help to put it all in perspective for any higher-education seekers and providers who may be having a difficult time embracing Spring and letting go ever so slightly:
“If I were able to live my life anew, in the next I would try to commit more errors. I would not try to be so perfect, I would relax more. I would be more foolish than I’ve been, in fact, I would take few things seriously.
I would be less hygienic. I would run more risks, take more vacations, contemplate more sunsets, climb more mountains, swim more rivers. I would go to more places where I’ve never been, I would eat more ice cream and fewer beans, I would have more real problems and less imaginary ones.
I was one of those people that lived sensibly and prolifically each minute of his life; Of course I had moments of happiness. If I could go back I would try to have only good moments. Because if you didn’t know, of that is life made: only of moments; Don’t lose the now.
I was one of those that never went anywhere without a thermometer, a hot-water bottle, an umbrella, and a parachute; If I could leave again, I would travel lighter. If I could live again, I would begin to walk barefoot until autumn ends. I would take more cart rides, contemplate more dawns, and play with more children, If I had another life ahead of me.
But already you see, I am 85, and I know that I am dying.”
Variously attributed to Jorge Luis Borges and Don Herold (via Ben Casnocha)
Let go a little, people. I promise you it will all work out.
Prior to reading the article below, I had my own theory as to why it takes more than four years for students to earn a bachelor’s degree. It all comes down to money. I included a few more factors in my theory, but I was mostly right in line with the study. Basically, higher tuition, decreased school budgets, a depressed economy, an increased population of young adults hell bent on pursuing a college education (because they’ve been told since birth that only educated humans will ever make enough money) mean more time spent earning a degree.
I was scared like a little girl to look up tuition rates for 1972 and present day, so I don’t have that information for you. My cojones are a force to be reckoned with, but I do have my limits. Eviscerating tuition hikes are one of them. But I think it’s common knowledge that tuition rates have increased since 1972, the economy is less than healthy, more kids head for college these days, and school budgets have been cut many, many times.
The crappier the economy is, the more the school budgets are cut, which leads to increased tuition and fewer faculty and staff. Higher tuition means more working for students and a decreased course load, leading to a longer stay in college. Less budget money means fewer instructors, fewer courses offered, and a more difficult time for the students to get into the classes they need in order to graduate, leading again to more time spent earning that bachelor’s degree.
According to the study, the fact that bachelor’s degree acquisition takes longer than four years is due to the type of institution a student attends; higher tier state schools and private schools vs. community colleges and lower tier state schools. Institution type and how a given school is affected by, and subsequently deals with, decreased funding is what it all comes down to.
Top-level schools with better faculty-to-student ratios offer an improved learning experience for the students. This gets them in and out in a more four-year manner. Public schools, like community colleges and state schools, cram a few more kids into every classroom, which decreases the learning experience and mucks up the four-year works. Hence, four years to complete an undergraduate degree at a top-tier school and closer to six years at a lower-tier school.
Interesting. And I don’t totally buy it. I mean, I understand what the study is saying and how a decrease in funding can affect the learning experience. But I think there are more factors involved. A students-per-faculty ratio of 25.5 to 1 vs. 29.8 to 1 is enough to cause the learning experience to suffer so much that two more years are tacked onto the end of the original four-year bachelor’s degree plan? Really? Or, you know, maybe, the less-than top tier schools are more selective when choosing faculty, staff, and students, and have a lot more private financial backing than do the community colleges and state schools. Less crowding, supah-focused students, publish-or-perish faculty, and enough cash to be able to keep both the crowding and the lay-offs down to a minimum.
Any institution relying on public funding has historically been screwed when the economy hits the crapper. And may I remind everyone that in 1972, the helicopter parent insanity hadn’t quite begun. Although parents were starting to push the importance of a college education, it was nowhere near the life-or-death situation that it is today: College or sweatshop-work, kiddo. You pick!
These days, there are more college students in the system and no one has money to pay for all that education, not the parents, not the kids, and certainly not the schools. Loans and financial aid are harder to nail down as well. I really don’t think it has only to do with a few more students per classroom and whether or not a student hits the higher education jackpot and manages to attend a top-tier school.
Time to completion of the baccalaureate degree has increased markedly in the United States over the last three decades, even as the wage premium for college graduates has continued to rise. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of the High School Class of 1972 and the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988, we show that the increase in time to degree is localized among those who begin their postsecondary education at public colleges outside the most selective universities. In addition, we find evidence that the increases in time to degree were more marked amongst low income students. We consider several potential explanations for these trends. First, we find no evidence that changes in the college preparedness or the demographic composition of degree recipients can account for the observed increases. Instead, our results suggest that declines in collegiate resources in the less-selective public sector increased time to degree. Furthermore, we present evidence of increased hours of employment among students, which is consistent with students working more to meet rising college costs and likely increases time to degree by crowding out time spent on academic pursuits.
Rejected by a school that you know, in your heart of hearts, you’re destined to attend? Allen Grove has superb advice on appealing a rejection letter. Does the school ever take heed of appeals? If so, what are the criteria they require in order to consider reversing your current rejected status? What does a sample appeal letter look like? Mr. Grove has you covered.
For Grad Student Hopefuls:
If you’ve asked one too many departments to spend their time and energy on smoothing your entry into their graduate program and are now faced with one too many acceptance letters, Female Science Professor has advice for gracefully declining. And apologizing, thanking those who helped you, etc.
Academia can be a dark and hopeless place should you ever find yourself without allies. Take my advice: Don’t screw over anyone who has ever been kind to you. You’ll only end up screwing your future self over several times over. Be a person, not an inhuman ass#@$%.
Be aware enough to realize how small academia really is: there are not enough spots for everyone. This means anyone who helps you to move up and forward in your academic education/career is potentially assisting someone who may become their direct competition someday. Do not take for granted their willingness to put themselves on the line for you.
“A website + desktop app for people who want to learn, but lack motivation.” So say the Popling folks. It’s free, so trying it out won’t cost you anything. Go ahead, give it a whirl.
Lifelong fan of index-card learning that I am, I support the basic idea. I threw out (recycled, sorry) at least three full grocery bags of standard, white, lined, 3 ½ by 5, index cards when I finally felt I was done with school for a while. It took me longer to ditch the cards than it did for me to cleanse my bookcase of superfluous science and math reference texts. (I really like school and have a hard time letting go. It’s sad, in a pathetic, non-poignant way.)
However, a pop-up index card showing up on my screen would never work for me. I’m such a focused little sucker, and except for my very first semester of college, have never had a problem motivating myself to study. There were several Saturday-night interventions involving the housemates and/or the whole dorm hall peer-pressuring me into going to a party and laying off the books for a few hours.
Because I am such a badass focus-er, I dislike being interrupted. Seriously. I will rip your throat out. I allow only three interruptions without annihilating the messenger: fire, choking, spurting flesh wound. If it’s a slow bleed, you should probably wait because I’m only interested if it’s arterial.
But that’s me. I’m nowhere near normal. Most people would appreciate the Popling technology. Especially unmotivated humans with short attention spans.
All right, all right. Sorries all around (especially to my clearly neglected progeny). Popling’s good points: They have over 10,000 flash card sets covering 150 topics. And should you want to create your own set, you can do that, too.
For a tragedy-less college student, there is nothing worse than utterly failing an exam. Having to hear some know-it-all’s advice on how not to do that again sucks as well. One always hopes to learn deep lessons from one’s mistakes. Oddly, the more mature a brain is, the quicker it learns not to ever do that again.
Which is all to say I know from experience (read: I’m a pain-in-the-ass, know-it-all b**ch) that undergrads have to see their exam-failing lives pass before their eyes a few times before they figure out how to never have a day like that again.
WorldWideLearn’s blog has an advice-filled post up about how not to torpedo yourself with one badly executed exam moment. Taking advice, learning one’s Social Security Number, and mastering the art of acquiring free beer, food, and furniture are some of the key bits of priceless information college students are expected to take away from their higher educations.
Studying for the California Bar exam? Have an extra $1000 burning a hole in your freshly-law-degreed butt-pocket? Then by all means check out BarMax: California Edition. One of the only iPhone apps to cost that much money, its creator, Mike Ghaffary, a JD/MBA ‘06 Harvard grad, says it has everything one might require to study up for the bar.
Ghaffary has an MBA and as of December 2009, is a member of the California Bar; so he’s got that whole I’m business savvy and I studied for and conquered the bar exam thing going for him.
As with all things iPhone, it’s portable and weighs a lot less than the fifty pounds of books you’d be buying and dragging around town if you were to go the dead-tree route. So handy! Also, if you contact BarMax, they’ll send you a free trial version so you can evaluate the materials before forking over a decade’s worth of ramen money.
BarMax: California Edition, available now in the iPhone’s App Store for $999.99, is a study guide for the California Bar Exam. Harvard lawyers oversaw development of the app, which weighs in at 1 GB and includes outlines, lectures, a study calendar, and real questions and essays from previous exams. The only comparable app available now is from BarBri, but you must be enrolled in the company’s $3000 to $4000 classes to use most of the features.
TechCrunch reports that Mike Ghaffary, a former law student and current director of business development at TrialPay, envisioned BarMax as an alternative to BarBri’s pricey classes and digital offerings. Ghaffary partnered with successful app developers in Los Angeles, and enlisted some fellow Harvard Law alumni to guide development. More…
In case you missed it the first time, CourseSmart’s eTextbooks App for the iPhone is working the tablet-device angle for the gadget-licking college students. Their backs will have fewer problems (less textbook carrying) but they’ll all have freakish thumb issues down the line (there is no need to punish the buttons! And slow down!).
Here’s a quick video showcasing the college student experience with eTextbooks on tablet devices. It’s cool. (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
