Boxing fans sometimes talk about an important, if unquantifiable, characteristic of the combatants: the "X" factor. Heart. When a hurt fighter gets knocked down and gets up off the canvass to fight again, he is, according to some, courageous. He is showing heart.
Mercifully, a successful transition from high school to college requires no bloodlust, savagery, or risk of personal injury. The "X" factor for students is "academic heart." It may also be labeled motivation, tenacity, and enthusiasm. It is commitment. It may be the central nervous system of learning how to learn. Beyond "academic heart," if you will, there are many formal and informal rules that are different than high school.
This brief module is written for high school seniors and college freshmen. Many high school graduates believe that college is the 13th grade. True, college follows high school, but in many key areas they are as different as chalk and cheese. They have very different norms, values, and expectations. What's different? The differences will be discussed throughout this manuscript. Basically, professors assign more reading, ask for a great deal more writing, and expect a higher level of performance than high school teachers. Surely, many high school teachers are rigorous in their standards. Yet college instructors are generally much more demanding.
Success in college is pretty much the same at different colleges and universities. There are no secrets of success, infallible rules, or magic bullets. There are, however, useful -- even essential -- guidelines. Following these guidelines may mean that some students will have to change radically. There is, for example, an awesome amount of personal freedom. Professors do not replace parents. Students must learn how to manage their "free" time carefully.
Many guidelines in the college game are obvious, yet important to note explicitly. For example, students should attend class religiously. Professors may not take attendance or care whether you attend class, and many college freshmen may quickly conclude that the school prison of their past is over. No more hall passes. No more explaining why you missed "home room." No more bells, signaling a move to still another class. But a heavy price will be paid by those who interpret this freedom as an invitation to skip class.
Students' schedules in college are also very different than high school. Frequently classes are not back-to-back. Students may have a two or three hour break between classes. Indeed, some students who work part-time schedule all their classes on alternate days. (Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday, Thursday). The point is that "free" time is a student's most precious commodity. Studying in between classes can make a tremendous difference in earning excellent grades.
Beyond wasting an enormous amount of time, many first year students fall into another trap: looking for shortcuts. Some of these shortcuts were successful in high school (e.g., doing homework before class in homeroom). Both inside and outside of colleges, seductive advertising attempts to lure people into believing in "quick fixes." Three common scams are "an easy way to lose weight in 10 days," "No pain training for a perfect body," and "Invest thousands and earn millions in months." Students, in turn, when under pressure, "pull all-nighters" - studying (or trying to) all night to prepare for a test. Mistake. These, and other shortcuts, are a blueprint for failure. Academic success is not a lucky break. It takes a large commitment in both time and effort.
Many guidelines for success in college will be discussed, in detail, in the following pages. College is serious business. It is not easy. It may be helpful to view college as a full-time job. About 25% of college students never finish the job; they drop out. Another 25% "stop-out," many returning years later to complete their degree.
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