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Strategies for Success

Welcome to the Strategies for Success workshop! Today we’re going to be

talking about your transition to Laurier and provide some information to help

you navigate the change.

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The Agenda:

• Learning in university is different from high school

• First year counts

• Time management is important

• Get help when you need it

This presentation will focus on four main points: That learning in university is

different from learning in high school, that your first year at university counts,

that time management is important, and finally, that it is important to get help

when you need it.

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LEARNING IN UNIVERSITY IS

DIFFERENT THAN HIGH SCHOOL

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• Professors in university will be unavailable to you,

unlike your teachers in high school.

• You can keep using the strategies you had in high

school to succeed in university.

These two myths are common amongst students entering university. Many

students believe that professors in university will be unavailable to you, unlike

your high school teachers. This is untrue. Professors and Teaching Assistants

(or TAs) hold office hours, where you can go discuss questions or thoughts

you have about the course. They also have a WLU email where you can

contact them if you need to. Professors are definitely available to you, but they

will not come to you – you have to go to them.

Another common myth is that students can continue to use the strategies they

had in high school to succeed in university. While some strategies from high

school may still be helpful, you will need to learn lots of new skills and

strategies in order to be successful in university.

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Accountability

• You are responsible for your own education

• Parents and professors won’t be monitoring you

• Take charge of your academic career

Now that you are in university, you are accountable and responsible for your

education. Parents and professors won’t be monitoring and supervising your

work, or checking up on you. Since no one else is going to be pushing you to

do homework, you have to motivate yourself and stay on task to keep up in

class. Deadlines are much stricter in university than in high school, and

professors are often not willing to give extensions on assignments unless

there are extenuating circumstances. This is a great opportunity for you to

take charge of your own academic choices and goals.

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Enjoy What You Do!

• Your program, major and electives are your choice

• Your core courses are necessary for your field of

study

• Study what you enjoy

In university, you have a greater opportunity for choosing what you want to

study. You choose your program, and you can choose your major and your

electives. If you study something you truly enjoy, you’ll be more likely to spend

the time and energy you’ll need to succeed academically. All programs have

core courses which are necessary to progress in the degree and which will

help you develop key skills. You’ll also have the opportunity to take elective

courses, which can challenge you to expand your realm of study, and provide

variety to your schedule.

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High School vs. University

Activity High School University

Reading - 50 pages weekly- Read in class- Group discussion

Lectures - No preparation required- Up to 35 students- Passive listening- Questions and answers

- Preparation needed before class- Up to 250 students- Active discussion and problem solving during class

Note Taking - Notes often provided by teachers

Studying - Study material provided- Shorter period of time- Rote Learning

- More time studying individually away from the class- No study material provided

This is an incomplete chart that shows some of the differences between high

school and university. What do you think will change with regard to reading

and note-taking in university?

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Activity High School University

Reading - 50 pages weekly- Read in class- Group discussion

- Up to 250 pages weekly- Individual reading- Active reading and analysis

Lectures - No preparation required- Up to 35 students- Passive listening- Questions and answers

- Preparation needed before class- Up to 250 students- Active discussion and problem solving during class

Note Taking - Notes often provided by teachers

- Responsible for determining the important points to record- Responsible for synthesizing reading and lecture notes

Studying - Study material provided- Shorter period of time- Rote Learning

- More time studying individually away from the class- No study material provided

Your university workload will be structured differently than what you probably

experienced in high school. There is about 5 times more reading in university

than in high school and there won’t be time to actually read the material in

class. You’ll need to get your course readings done on your own time.

Additionally, it’s up to you to critically analyze and apply your readings in a

meaningful way. In terms of lectures, you need to prepare beforehand so you

understand what is going on during the lecture. There will also be larger class

sizes – a lecture can easily have 250 students - and tutorial sessions where

you’ll receive more one-on-one support. In lectures, tutorials and labs you’ll be

encouraged to participate in discussion and problem solve with other students

and the professor instead of just listening. Notes in university are not provided

by the professor, and you will need to summarize lectures to make your own

notes so you have concise material to study from for exams and midterms.

Similarly, study materials will not be provided by professors and you will need

to spend more time studying outside of class, and develop study strategies to

support your learning.

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Strategies for Success

• Your work should be a challenge but not an

impossible obstacle

• To succeed, you need to learn new skills

• Unlike high school, you’ll need to “hit the ground

running”, academically

You may have been told that university will be a lot harder than high school,

and that you’ll automatically see a drop in your marks. A lot of students do see

their marks go down when they enter university, but it’s not because

succeeding here is impossible. You need to develop new skills and strategies

for success at university – many of the skills that were useful in high school

might not be enough now, and it’s normal to have an adjustment period while

you become accustomed to the new academic expectations. Adjusting to the

university workload will be a challenge, but it’s not impossible. You will have to

pursue these new strategies right from day one - while your first month of a

high school year may have been review, in university you need to be prepared

to learn new information immediately, and at a pace that you’ll have to keep

up all term. It may seem far away but only six weeks after your first day of

class, you’ll be writing exams.

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FIRST YEAR COUNTS

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• Only the last two years of my university career will

count

• If I do poorly, I can repeat my year

Here are two other common myths about university. Many students believe

that only the last two years of their university career will count, as they did with

high school. This is untrue. Because of the GPA system, every mark that you

get will count towards your overall GPA, which means that even poor first year

marks may affect your standing as a student, and therefore also your ability to

enter graduate school, your co-op or job prospects and even your ability to

graduate.

Similarly, you won’t be able to repeat entire years, or even a whole semester.

You can repeat a maximum of 2 credits (which is usually about 4 courses) in

your entire time at Laurier. Because of this, you can see why you can’t count

on your ability to repeat courses many times over.

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Marks and Grades

• GPA stands for Grade Point Average

• Laurier measures on a 12-point system (not 4-point!)

• Your first year marks matter!

• It’s hard to bring up a low GPA

• http://www.wlu.ca/gpacalculator

12 A+ (90-100) 6 C+ (67-69)

11 A (85-89) 5 C (63-66)

10 A- (80-84) 4 C- (60-62)

9 B+ (77-79) 3 D+ (57-59)

8 B (73-76) 2 D (53-56)

7 B- (70-72) 1 D- (50-52)

GPA stands for Grade Point Average. A lot of people are used to thinking in

the 4-point system, but at Laurier, we measure GPA on a 12-point scale. A 12

is an A+, an 11 is an A, a 10 is an A- and so on. Your GPA matters! Many

students think their first year won’t count for much, but even if you switch your

major (or even your program) the grades you get in your first term or year will

still affect your standing as a student overall. It’s a lot harder to bring up a

GPA than to have it drop down, so it’s important to invest time and energy in

your learning early on. Students who have low GPAs may have to leave their

program, graduate without an Honours designation, or may even have to

withdraw from the university entirely.

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The Story of Wilf

In this example, we’re going to talk about a student named Wilf, who is a first-

year Arts student with an undeclared major. Wilf plans his time wisely, makes

sure to be prepared for class and studies thoroughly. When he needs help, he

seeks it out early. This is an example of what his course marks might look like

at the end of first term, and what his GPA would be. As you can see, Wilf has

a GPA of 7.8, which is a B-. For a first-year student in his first semester, Wilf

is doing well. As he becomes more accustomed to the academic expectations

of Laurier, his grades (and GPA) should rise.

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The Story of Laurie

Even doing poorly in one course can affect your GPA and your academic

standing at university. This sample is of another first-year Arts student, Laurie,

who is a Religion and Culture major. Laurie is friends with the other women on

her residence floor, and sometimes finds it hard to balance between hanging

out with them, and doing her school work. She has a planner, but doesn’t

always use it, and sometimes does assignments at the last minute. Laurie

tries to go to all her classes, but sometimes skips, or sleeps through class.

She took Spanish 100 and didn’t like it, and so she skipped a lot of classes

and didn’t try very hard – and she got a bad mark at midterms. Spanish 100 is

a full-credit course that runs through both fall and winter semesters, she has

an F at midterms, and we can see through the GPA calculator how unless she

brings up this low mark, it will really affected her GPA. She’s finished her first

semester with a GPA of 4.3, which is a C-. Even doing poorly in just one

course has really brought down her academic standing. If her GPA stays

below 5, Laurie won’t be considered an honours student, and she won’t be

able to have a major – and this’ll affect her ability to select courses for next

year.

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The Story of Hawk

Hawk is our last example of a first-year arts student – he is majoring in

Philosophy. Hawk often skips class, and didn’t hand in a bunch of

assignments. He goes out partying several nights a week, and isn’t interested

in any of the subjects he is studying. Hawk isn’t good at staying organized, so

he often misses deadlines and misplaces stuff for school. He didn’t write the

final exam for his French class, and got a failing grade in NO101 (North

American Studies). Because of this, and his overall low marks, Hawk has a

GPA of 1.8. If he stays on this path he will have to withdraw from the

university after his first year.

As you can see from our three examples, doing poorly in even a few classes

can really affect your academic standing. Poor marks in first year will follow

you through the rest of your time at Laurier and may affect some of your

options for second year. It may not be possible for someone like Hawk to get

his grades up in time to stay in school. Laurie still has a chance though, if she

can change her habits and improves her marks.

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Laurie’s Academic Career

If we look at Laurie’s academic career through her four years at Laurier, we’ll

notice several things. First, it is difficult to bring up low marks that happen

early on in your education – but it’s not impossible. We can see every year

that Laurie’s marks get progressively better, as she develops new skills, and

seeks out new resources.

Laurie starts going to the Writing Centre during the second semester of her 1st

year, to learn how to write academic papers, and visits the Study Skills Centre

to start managing her time better. In her time as a student here, she uses

many different resources to help her with planning, writing, studying and

balancing her commitments. As you can see, by the end of her first year,

Laurie is able to raise her marks up and keep her GPA over 5.0. This means

she is still considered an honours student, that she’ll be able to stay in her

major, and that she’ll be able to register for her Year 2 courses with her peers.

As she progresses, new issues emerge for Laurie – although she does better

than in her first year, she tends to be a fairly consistent C student, and this

means that she is now developing a substantial chunk of credits that she’ll

have to offset in order to continue to raise her GPA. As she completes more

and more credits, the weight of each new mark in contrast to her existing

marks decreases, meaning a specific grade will not have as strong an impact

on her GPA. Furthermore, even with an overall GPA of 5.0, she might not yet

be in the clear - in the courses associated with her major, she must keep a

GPA of over 7.0 (and a 5.0 overall). She needs to keep track of both these

numbers, because she might be doing all right overall, but needs to still bring

up her specific marks in Religion and Culture.

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Laurie… Graduating!

As Laurie finishes her final year at Laurier, we can see how much her hard

work paid off. She has gone from a C student in first year, to a student who

gets Bs and As, and is going to graduate with honours. Although her early

marks affected her GPA, she was able to develop the skills she needed, and

intervene early enough that she could graduate with the marks she’d hoped

for. However, her situation illustrates one of the common problems for

students who struggle in first year. While it is important to remember that one

or two poor marks won’t doom you to failure, all your marks do count, and so

you should take charge of your academic career early on.

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TIME MANAGEMENT IS IMPORTANT

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Time Management – It’s Important!

• Use a calendar or agenda

• You’re responsible for how you use your time

• Remember that you’re here to learn

One of the biggest things you can do to help yourself succeed is to manage

your time wisely! Hawk wasn’t able to do this, and now he has to leave the

university. Someone like Laurie still had the ability to use the tools and

resources available to her to bring up her grades. No one at university is going

to nag you to get your work done and handed in. Part of being an adult is

taking responsibility for your education, and you’re in charge of your work.

Remember that you’re here to learn – one of the simplest things that Laurie

neglected was just doing her work. Go to class, do your readings, and get

your assignments done on time.

That’s easier said than done though, because it’s hard to balance everything

you have to do when you come to university. There are a lot of demands on

your time, so a really helpful tool is a calendar. It’s important to know what

you’re doing with your time, and to schedule out what you have to do – not

only so you can get your work done, but also so you can have time to hang

out and have fun. Successful students use an agenda, or month-at-a-glance

calendars (or both!). Whatever method you use, make sure you’ve got

important dates on it, and that you plan out time for academic stuff like writing

papers and also fun stuff, like friends’ birthdays.

If we use Laurie as an example, we can see how planning out your time

makes it easier to know what commitments you have and to make sure you

have the time to take care of them all. How long do you think Laurie will spend

every week in class?

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A Week of Work

Laurie has 20 hours of class each week, including lectures, labs, and tutorials.

On top of this, she has to study, do readings for classes and prepare

assignments. Her Fridays are pretty free, and so is her weekend, so it’d be

easy for Laurie to just spend that time hanging out with her friends. But there

is a lot of work she’ll have to get done outside of class.

How much time do you think Laurie should spend doing work outside of

class?

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On average, a student is expected to do 2 hours of work outside of class for

every hour in class. That means up to 40 hours of work outside of class per

week. This could vary depending on the week and the amount of stuff the

student has due.

In this week, Laurie only has 30 hours of work outside of class scheduled.

Where before she may not have done much work on Friday and the weekend,

she is now using that time to study, prepare assignments and review for class.

This is going to help her grades, because there’s a lot to get done, and without

planning it out, some stuff would probably get neglected.

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Only doing school work isn’t good for you any more than just partying is. By

planning out her school time, Laurie can make more time for herself and for

her friends. It’s important to consider things like when you’re going to have

meals (especially between classes), and when you’re going to spend time with

your friends.

By scheduling in time with her friends, Laurie can know that she won’t have to

suddenly bail on them because of an assignment she didn’t plan for. She’s

also got times planned out for meals, where she can catch up with her friends,

and make sure she’s eating healthy so she can keep going through the day.

There are also blank spots left in her schedule, in case she needs to add in

some studying, or if she wants some down-time, or if something comes up

and she needs to go somewhere between classes. As you can see, Laurie's

schedule is very full – imagine trying to incorporate a part-time job into her

day.

By managing her time wisely, and using a schedule, Laurie can put the tools

she needs in place to become a student like Wilf, and bring up her grades.

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SEEK HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT

(EARLY!)

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Seek Help When You Need It

• You are not on your own

• But you will have to go find help (it won’t just come

to you)

• Be resourceful

• Don’t wait to get help

Don’t be afraid to get help! Seek it as soon as you need it! (Really, even

before you think you’ll need it.) Don’t think of it as a sign of weakness.

This is probably the most important thing we could encourage you to do. Get

help. Never think that you are on your own when you come to university. You

aren’t. At Laurier, there are so many free services that can be used to help

you succeed. You may have been told that because you’re an adult here,

you’re on your own. But being an adult is all about being responsible, and that

includes being responsible for getting help when you need it. Don’t wait until

after you receive your first poor mark to talk to someone.

Getting help will ease the transition between high school, help improve your

GPA, and helps you to develop your time management skills.

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Where can you go?

Peers

ProfessorTeaching Assistants

Program AdvisorSI Sessions

Counselling ServicesMath Assistance

Central Academic AdvisingWriting Centre

There are many places that you can go to get help.

When you need help in a course, you can begin by asking your peers and

creating a study group, you can go to your teaching assistant and ask him/her

to go over course material with you, or you could visit your professor during

his/her office hours for help. If you are unsure of your degree requirements,

you can visit your academic advisor.

There are even more services outside of your department that you can seek

help from.

For example, Central Academic Advising is the place to go for general

questions about university, the Writing Centre is available to help you with

your academic writing (university writing is not the same as writing essays in

high school), and the Math Assistance Centre is available to help you with any

math courses you are taking. Counselling Services can help you if you want to

conquer your procrastination, and Supplemental Instruction sessions provide

extra support for different courses.

But that’s not all...

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Where can you go?

Financial Aid

Student Development

Peer Help Line

Office for

Student

Diversity

Study Skills

Career Development Centre

Health Services

Accessible Learning Centre

The Accessible Learning Centre can help you if you have a documented

learning or physical disability that affects your ability to study or learn, or if you

need short-term help because you’ve broken your leg or arm. Career Services

can help you with your resumes or finding a job. The Study Skills Centre will

help you develop note taking skills, manage your time better, and provide you

with test taking strategies, and Peer Help Line is a listening, information and

referral service.

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Summing Up

• Make it count.

• Keep track.

• Help is here.

Today we have talked about four major strategies that can help you succeed

academically at Laurier.

If you can take anything with when you leave here today, we hope you

remember to make it count here at Laurier. Work hard during your first year,

because the grades that you get will affect your future at university.

Remember to manage your time effectively and keep track of what you need

to do. Finally, help is always available at Laurier. Take advantage of it.

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Any Questions?

www.wlu.ca/headstart

headstart@wlu.ca

If you have any questions, please check out our website at

www.wlu.ca/headstart. Or, you can email us at headstart@wlu.ca.