Your First Advising Appointment

IN HIGH SCHOOL

IN COLLEGE

Students can count on teachers to remind them of responsibilities and to guide them in setting priorities.

Daily classes follow one after the other with a few minutes in between.

Students often have large time gaps between classes; class time varies from day to day.

Students arrange their own schedule in consultation with their academic counselor or advisor.

Graduation requirements are complex, differ from program to program and, sometimes, from year to year. Each student is expected to know those that apply to him/her.

Bottom Line: School personnel watch out for students – guiding and correcting them if necessary.

Bottom Line: Students are expected to take responsibility for what they do and don’t do as well as for the consequences of their decisions.

HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES

COLLEGE CLASSES

Students can normally get by with studying outside of class as little as 0 to 2 hours a week and, perhaps, cramming before tests.

Students need to study at least 2 to 3 hours outside of class for each hour in class. A course load of 12 credits requires anywhere between 24 to 36 hours of independent study/homework time.

Reading is often re-taught in class; listening in class is sometimes enough.

Students are assigned substantial amounts of reading and writing which may not be directly addressed in class, but still show up in tests.

Students can remain in school despite poor academic performance.

Students can be dropped from college because of poor academic performance.

Bottom Line: It’s up to the students to read and understand the assigned material; lectures and assignments proceed from the assumption the students have already done so.

HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS

COLLEGE PROFESSORS

Professors may not always check completed homework, but they will assume the students can perform the same tasks on tests.

Professors expect and want the student to attend their scheduled office hours.

Teachers provide students with information in case of an absence.

Professors expect students to get, from classmates, any notes from missed classes.

Professors may not follow the textbook. Instead, they may use other materials to supplement the text, or they may expect the students to relate the classes to the textbook readings.

Teachers often write information on the board as a summary of notes.

Professors may lecture nonstop, expecting students to identify the important points in their notes. Good notes are a must.

Teachers impart knowledge and facts sometimes drawing direct connections to lead students through the thinking process.

Professors expect students to read, save, and consult the course syllabus (outline); the syllabus spells out exactly what is expected of the student, when assignments are due, and how they will be graded.

Bottom Line: In high school, students mostly acquire facts and skills.

Bottom Line: In college, students are responsible for thinking through and applying what they have learned.

TESTS IN HIGH SCHOOL

TESTS IN COLLEGE

Testing is usually infrequent and may be cumulative, covering large amounts of material. The student, not the professor, needs to organize the material to prepare for the test. A particular course may have only two or three tests in a semester.

Makeup tests are seldom an option; if they are, the student needs to request them.

Teachers are open to rearranging test dates to avoid conflict with school events.

Professors in different courses usually schedule tests without regard to the demands of other courses or outside activities.

Review sessions pointing out the most important concepts are common.

Professors rarely offer review sessions, and, when they do, they expect the students to come prepared with questions.

Bottom Line: Mastery can be seen as the ability to reproduce what students are taught.

Bottom Line: Mastery is often seen as the ability to apply what the student has learned to new situations or to solve new kinds of problems.

GRADES IN HIGH SCHOOL

GRADES IN COLLEGE

Extra credit projects are often available to help raise your grade.

Extra credit projects cannot, generally speaking, be used to raise a grade in a college course.

Students may graduate as long as they pass all required courses with a grade of D or higher.

Students graduate only if their average in classes meets the departmental standard specified in the catalog.

Bottom Line: “Results count.” Though “good-faith effort” is important in regard to the professor’s willingness to help students achieve good results, it will not substitute for results in the grading process.

IN HIGH SCHOOL

AT GREAT BAY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Although student absences are recorded, students are not subject to penalty for missing too many classes.

Each faculty member has an attendance policy. Students may be dropped from class due to violation of the attendance policy.

Students may add or drop classes within a specific period of time. This timeframe includes a small window in which to receive a full refund.

After that, the student is responsible for the cost of the course.

Bottom Line: Students have no financial responsibility for the changes made to course schedules.

Bottom Line: Not paying attention to attendance policies or add/drop dates can be an expensive lesson.