Are you a college student and you are looking for how to be successful in college? Stay Informed Group(SIG), have taken time to carefully put together the simple rules and keys to success in college. All you need to do is read this article to the end to discover all you need to know about becoming the best amongst your fellow students in college.
Becoming a successful student in college is not rocket science. There are simple rules for success in college that when followed consistently would bring unbelievable results. Therefore as a domestic or international student who has the zeal to make yourself, your family, and your country proud do well to follow these keys to success in college and you will be on your way to becoming the successful college student you ever dreamed of.
Almost all students hate crowded sessions. Intense and stressful learning sessions can adversely affect your GPA and your health. And while there is no guaranteed road map to college success, changing your learning habits and adapting your teaching approach can make a big difference. The following tips and rules are a good place to start for success in college.
Also Read: Tips for students to be successful
When do we say a student is a successful college student?
In the conventional world, success means different things to different people. But every time we say that a student is successful and that these are good grades, I think of something.
Most people don’t care how these grades are obtained, so long as students are at the top of their class, they are considered successful students.
Are there rules for becoming successful in college?
I believe in my experience that there are rules for success in college, which someone can build upon. I am a degree holder. Believe me, while I was entering college I was given a ton of rules and keys that were supposed to make me successful in college. Most of those rules and keys did not work for me, not because they were not valid but because the environment, institution and country where some of those rules were applied varied with the location where I was studying. Therefore I had to listen to the environment and adjust to the environment’s happenings thereby understanding what really works, ranging from what the institution needs, what I need and how I can adjust to make sure I come up with that.
If you are a fresher it’s important that when reading these guidelines and rules for success in college, you read them with every bit of open-mindedness. This will provide a head start for you. It is also important that you sieve these points and keys and choose the ones that work best for you according to the country or institution where you are studying. If you are smart enough you will discover what works best for you, building on these guidelines.
Read Also: The New International Student Admission Process You Should Know in 2024
How can I be good at college?
Being good in college means many things and does not only mean achieving academic success. To be good in college means to be all-around successful. Including but not limited to maintaining academic success, maintaining a good relationship with your colleagues and professors, and allowing the academic environment to pass through you. Below are a few points and keys that will guide you to achieve all-round success in college.
Meet new people
It’s no surprise how meeting new people can help you become good or successful in college. It is normal to feel overwhelmed, especially if you are a new student at a large college or university. Don’t let that single feeling hinder you from making new friends. A university is a place where you can meet a variety of different and unique people. Embrace this newness. Remember: you are eventually not the only student who is nervous about making new friends and the person you make friends with might help you do well in college, as it happened to me while I was in college.
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Volunteer
Sometimes volunteering is required as part of your university curriculum, but even if it isn’t, it will help you meet lots of new people. As an added benefit, volunteering as one of your resume skills looks great and can teach you valuable skills that you can use to find a job after graduation. Volunteering can help you become successful in college and after graduation, as it will help boost your resume.
Finding something you’re passionate about is one of the keys to success in college.
University is a great place to try new things, and finding something you are passionate about is one of the keys to success in college. Discover the many options that are available to you! Have you always wanted to play? Audition for a piece or member of an improvisation group. Do you want to learn to dance flamenco secretly? Take a course. Maybe you always thought it would be great to be a writer. Join a literary magazine or school newspaper. This one of the keys to success in college
Build your portfolio in college
You may have no idea what you want to do for a career or how to become successful in your chosen career, and as a college student, it is fine. However, the sooner you can choose a path, the sooner you can focus your college experience on it. This doesn’t mean that everything in college has to do with your plans, but you have to take them into account when making decisions.
Choose a speciality that you like
It is much more difficult to do something well that you are not interested in. Choosing a speciality shouldn’t be limited to your parents’ money or expectations. You are now an adult, and this means in part that you have to make important decisions. Making a manly decision is one of the vital keys to success in college.
Find out that you have no rights.
Some students go to college, hoping to get good grades, good treatment, or be easily successful. They get angry if they do it wrong in an exam and blame the teacher for their failure, rather than checking what to do. Don’t be one of those students. You are not entitled to an “A” in one class or your choice of the first class or to a schedule that only works on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 noon to 3 pm.
Accept that the mistakes are OK.
To become a successful college student, you have to accept that things don’t always go the way you want them. You will not be good at anything you try. You will make mistakes, big ones too. You will experience experiences that bomb. Do not consider this as evidence that you are “a failure.” Think of them as growth opportunities.
How to be Successful in College and What will make you successful in college?
We’ve tried to list and explain what will make one literally good as a college student in the above section. They don’t only pertain to the things that will make you academically successful but also things that will help you become a round good student in college. The section will contain mostly things that will make you a successful college student academically. Below are points that you can build upon to become an academically successful student.
How to be Successful in College by going to class
To become a successful college student, you need always to go to the class. It can be tempting to skip lessons, especially at large classes your absence wouldn’t always be noticed and attendance wouldn’t always be taken.
Do not do it if you want to be successful. You lose valuable information. You also go to college to study: what good is it if you don’t learn after all? If you are in a smaller class, your instructor will notice your absence, even if he doesn’t count them against you.
If it turns out that you are not involved in the course, your instructor may not want to help you. If you need motivation, you should calculate how much the lesson costs. Suppose you are in Harvard, where tuition is $ 45,278 a year. If you take 5 classes per semester (a full-time fee), that equates to $ 4,527.80 per class.
For a standard 16-week semester, this equates to $ 282.98 per week, and $94.32 per lesson for a weekly course three times. Is that thing keeping you away from class worth nearly a hundred dollars? I do not believe it. Going to class will help you become academically successful in college.
To be Successful in College, Don’t Overload
For some students, it is a source of pride to take full advantage of credit hours every semester, thinking it is what it means to be successful in college. It is also a terrible idea, somehow. Did you hear the saying “All-rounder is always a master of nothing”? If you divide yourself between many classes, you have neither the energy nor the time to excel in one of them, which will not make you successful in college.
Take 4-5 classes per semester. If you want to take more, contact your adviser. You will often know what the course’s workload is and whether or not you can really handle another course. This rule is one of the most important rules for success in college.
How to be Successful in College by using two notebooks
It has been discovered that successful students in college use two notebooks. Please bring a notebook to class and use it to scratch and scribble as much as possible. It doesn’t have to be beautiful; it doesn’t even have to be legible.
Transfer your scratchy notes to your second notebook after class (in about an hour). Take the time to write these notes: highlight important points, highlight subject areas your teacher has focused on, find definitions, and save questions for the next class.
The two-book method helps you keep information that you would otherwise have forgotten in a few days. If you review new material immediately after the class, you are always up to date. Also, according to Scientific American, writing things down instead of typing them down leads to better storage.
Also Read: The New International Student Admission Process You Should Know in 2024
Successful Students in College have study partners.
When you enter college for the first time, make it a goal to make friends with someone in your class in the first week of the semester who has a successful ambition and plan a regular learning session. Review complicated information during your learning sessions and explain it to each other. Please think of the process as a story: turn your homework into stories and tell each other. In addition to making a new friend, you and your study partner are responsible for each other for the entire semester. Take this as one of the vital rules for success in college, and you will never regret it.
How to be Successful in College by finding out about research opportunities.
This is especially important if you are in science. As a college student who wants to be successful, it is never too early to start, especially if you plan to go to medical school or graduate school. Talk to your lecturers and professors about all options for students who want to participate in the research.
Sleeping enough is one of the keys to success in college.
The importance of hydration, nutrition and especially sleep cannot be overstated. Your memory may decrease by 40% if you haven’t slept enough. Wanting to be a successful college student should not make you forfeit sleep entirely because it will backfire. Try to sleep as many nights as possible and try to keep the same sleep schedule every night, even on weekends.
Reading the syllabus for each class is one of the rules for success in college.
The college class syllabus is the holy grail of information for each class, reading it before a. Here you can find out what tasks you have when they expire and how much they are worth your qualification. Read each syllabus carefully in the first week of class and transfer the important data to your calendar or planner. If you are not sure about something in the syllabus, ask immediately. It is better to clear up the confusion before spending a lot of time doing something wrong. This is one of the keys to success in college
Knowing when you work best is one of the rules for success in college
When talking about a sleep plan, it is important to note no one-size-fits-all study plan. Many research findings indicate benefits for both night study and early morning study, so you don’t have to feel compelled to keep an uncomfortable schedule. While you get enough sleep and fulfil your obligations, your schedule is yours. If you work late at night, give yourself space and time to sleep each morning (don’t register for a class at 8:00 am if you can avoid it). Not everyone is an early riser, and that’s perfectly fine.
Go to office hours
And not only when you’re struggling academically. At the beginning of the semester, open the communication channels with your teachers so that your lecturer would know that you have a personal interest in the class and the materials. They will always come to your aid when you need help with their course or materials. Building strong faculty relationships will also help you if you want to apply for a scholarship or need reference letters for a final degree.
Learn to take good notes
This is one of the rules for success in college. Your ability to take useful notes directly affects your ability to study for exams and pass courses. To take notes, you need to be an active participant in the class, listen to what has been said and decide what is important and what is not. You might be tempted to take notes on your shiny new laptop, but studies show that when you use a good pen and paper, you are more likely to remember things. Write everything your teacher writes on the board. It will likely appear later. Pay attention to everything your teacher insists on or spends a lot of time with.
Check if the slides are available online. If so, print them out beforehand and complete them with your notes instead of copying all the information onto the slide.
Don’t worry about the whole sentences. Use keywords and phrases to get a good idea. Just make sure you don’t use as many abbreviations or shortcuts as you can’t interpret your notes later.
Most colleges and universities have a kind of tutoring or counselling centre. These centres often offer brochures and courses to develop better writing and learning skills. Use these resources!
