The Thinking Student's Guide to College

by Roberts, Andrew Lawrence

• ISBN13: 9780226721156
• ISBN10: 0226721159
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Each fall, thousands of eager freshmen descend on college and university campuses expecting the best education imaginable: inspiring classes taught by top-ranked professors, academic advisors who will guide them to a prestigious job or graduate school, and an environment where learning flourishes outside the classroom as much as it does in lecture halls.

Unfortunately, most of these freshmen soon learn that academic life is not what they imagined. Classes are taught by overworked graduate students and adjuncts rather than seasoned faculty members, undergrads receive minimal attention from advisors or administrators, and potentially valuable campus resources remain outside their grasp.

Andrew Roberts’ Thinking Student’s Guide to College helps students take charge of their university experience by providing a blueprint they can follow to achieve their educational goals—whether at public or private schools, large research universities or small liberal arts colleges. An inside look penned by a professor at Northwestern University, this book offers concrete tips on choosing a college, selecting classes, deciding on a major, interacting with faculty, and applying to graduate school. Here, Roberts exposes the secrets of the ivory tower to reveal what motivates professors, where to find loopholes in university bureaucracy, and most importantly, how to get a personalized education.

Based on interviews with faculty and cutting-edge educational research, The Thinking Student’s Guide to College is a necessary handbook for students striving to excel academically, creatively, and personally during their undergraduate years.

"Every selective college offers a high quality academic experience to the student who knows how to get it, but none give you a map, let alone instructions. Andrew Roberts has written the perfect travel guide to the best things on offer: an undergraduate who took just a third of his advice would double the value of her time in college. Every prospective freshman should read this book, and every parent of a prospective freshman has to read it. Easy and fun to read, with pages of advice." -Harry Brighouse, University of Wisconsin

“In fact I don’t currently have a copy of the book, because each copy I get goes to the next high school senior who walks through the door (which an alarming number of them seem to be doing these days). As suggested by this, 75 Tips would be a great Christmas present for the college-bound high school seniors and college freshmen of your acquaintance.”-Crooked Timber

Author Biography

Andrew Roberts is assistant professor of political science at Northwestern University and fellow at the Institute for Policy Research. He is the author of The Quality of Democracy in Eastern Europe.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Text Box: The Purposes of a College Education	p. 6
How Universities Work	p. 8
Text Box: The History of the University	p. 12
Text Box: A Student's Guide to College Administration	p. 17
Choosing a College	p. 22
You Can Get an Equivalent Classroom Education at Most Reasonably Selective Colleges and Universities	p. 23
Text Box: Nobel Prize Winners	p. 25
The Key Distinction is between Small Colleges and Large Universities	p. 26
Text Box: Where do Professors send their Children to College?	p. 30
Reputation Doesn't Matter as Much as you Think	p. 31
The Main Importance of Reputation is the Student Body it Attracts	p. 33
Text Box: U.S. News Ratings	p. 34
Text Box: Minorities and College Choice	p. 36
Look for Signs of a Personalized Education	p. 36
Consider the Cost	p. 37
Differences in the Strength of Particular Departments are Not Usually a Good Basis for Choosing among Colleges	p. 39
Text Box: Choosing a Foreign University	p. 41
Consider the Different Varieties of General Education Programs	p. 41
Don't Worry; Most Students are Happy with Their Choice	p. 43
Choosing Classes	p. 45
Consider Visiting Multiple Classes during the First Week of the Semester	p. 46
Usually Trust Your First Impressions	p. 47
Text Box: Priorities in Choosing Classes	p. 48
Go for Variety, Especially Early On	p. 49
At Least Once a Year Pick a Class That Doesn't Seem to Fit Your Interests	p. 50
Take Classes with Heavy Writing Requirements	p. 51
Take as Many Small Seminars and as Few Large Lecture Courses as Possible	p. 53
Text Box: What does a Good Lecture Look Like?	p. 56
Take Mostly Upper-Division Courses	p. 57
Focus More on Methods than Topics	p. 58
Seek out Classes that Provide you with Continuous Feedback and Take the Feedback Seriously	p. 59
Know the Status of your Professors	p. 60
Learn to be a Critical Reader of Student Evaluations of Faculty	p. 63
Ask Professors you Know What Courses they would Recommend	p. 65
Take Courses that Relate to Each Other	p. 66
Study Abroad for at Least One Semester if Not an Entire Year	p. 67
Don't Succumb to the "Two Cultures"	p. 68
Don't Try to Get All of Your General Education Requirements out of the Way in Freshman and Sophomore Year	p. 70
Audit Classes that you Don't Have Time to Take	p. 71
Consider Independent Study Classes	p. 72
Don't Take Too Many Classes with One Professor	p. 73
Don't be Afraid to Exceed Requirements	p. 73
Unless you Plan to Major in Chemistry or Biology, Leave Medical School Requirements until Later	p. 74
Either Take Foreign Language Classes Seriously or Try to Place Out of Them	p. 75
Be Discerning in Choosing Internships for Credit	p. 76
Take Prerequisites with a Grain of Salt	p. 77
Consider Graduate Courses	p. 77
Choosing a Major	p. 78
Sample a Lot of Different Departments	p. 79
Choose a Major That you Love	p. 80
Text Box: Some Neglected Majors	p. 81
Find out what you are Good at	p. 83
Don't Worry too Much about the Job Prospects of the Major	p. 85
Choose Smaller Majors	p. 86
Choose More Structured Majors	p. 87
Text Box: Women and the Sciences	p. 88
Go to an Academic Lecture Given in the Department	p. 89
Be Skeptical about Double or Triple Majoring	p. 90
Write a Senior Thesis	p. 91
Don't Get Too Stressed out over your Choice	p. 93
Being Successful	p. 95
Manage your Time	p. 95
Show Professors that you are Working Hard	p. 96
Join a Small Study Group	p. 97
Text Box: What Grades Mean	p. 97
Ask for Help	p. 99
Don't Let your Instructors Suspect that you are Taking Advantage of Them	p. 99
Text Box: Grade Inflation	p. 100
Learn the Rules of Critical Thinking and Apply them Constantly	p. 102
Professorial Shortcuts for Writing	p. 106
Professorial Shortcuts for Doing Research	p. 108
Text Box: Self-Care	p. 110
Interacting with Professors	p. 112
Be Respectful	p. 112
Be Curious about the Subject	p. 113
Text Box: Interacting with Female Professors	p. 114
Visit all your Professors during Office Hours at Least Once	p. 115
Get to Know at Least One Professor Well	p. 116
Find out what your Professors Research	p. 117
Text Box: "Tenured Radicals"	p. 118
Send E-mails Judiciously, Answer E-mails Promptly	p. 119
Text Box: Writing an Effective E-Mail	p. 120
Avoid Complaints about Grades	p. 121
Become a Research Assistant	p. 123
Ask for Recommendation Letters from Professors who know you well	p. 124
Learning Outside the Classroom	p. 127
Get Involved in Extracurricular Activities	p. 127
Subscribe to an Intellectual Magazine	p. 128
Read Academic Blogs	p. 129
Text Box: Academic Blogs	p. 131
Attend a Public Lecture Every Week	p. 132
Spend Your Free Time in Coffeehouses	p. 133
Make Friends with People who have Different Beliefs and Experiences	p. 134
Get to Know Foreign Students	p. 136
Going to Graduate School	p. 138
There Seldom are Strong Reasons to Go to Graduate School Immediately after College	p. 138
Learn More about the Career Graduate School is Leading to	p. 140
Graduate School is not Just Advanced Undergrad	p. 141
Text Box: Getting Fellowships	p. 142
Ask your Professors' Advice about PhD Programs in Their Field	p. 143
PhD Programs are not for Training Teachers	p. 144
Text Box: Types of Graduate Programs	p. 145
Prestige Does Matter for PhD Programs	p. 146
Talk to Current Grad Students	p. 147
Secrets of the Guild: Rules Professors Live by	p. 149
Reduce Thy Teaching Load	p. 149
Text Box: The Campus Novel	p. 151
Publish or Perish	p. 153
Pamper Grad Students	p. 155
Limit the Effort you Devote to Undergraduates	p. 156
Text Box: How to Improve your Professors	p. 159
Play the Market	p. 160
Acknowledgments	p. 163
Recommended Reading	p. 165
Index	p. 167
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.