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Draws on years of research and interviews with undergraduates to explore the choices students make to obtain an enriching college experience.
What choices can students in America make and what can teachers and university leaders do to improve more students' experiences and help them make the most of their time and monetary investment? Two Harvard University presidents invited Richard Light and his colleagues to explore these and other questions, resulting in ten years of interviews with 1,600 Harvard students. Filled with practical advice, Making the Most of College presents strategies for academic success.
Undergraduates do not experience college as having a clear beginning and end. Their engagement with higher education is at best episodic. But as Practice for Life shows, the disruptions provide opportunities for reflection and course-correction as students learn to navigate the future uncertainties of adulthood.
Making College Count is a comprehensive resource that will help students excel in college and create great career opportunities after graduation. Much more than a college survival guide, it offers students (and parents) a proven framework to achieve at a high level in the classroom, in extracurricular activities, and in their work experiences. The book also positions students for success in their future job searches. Making College Count features an eye-catching, two-color design with 78 illustrations, and is written in an approachable, student-friendly voice.
Contains advice from students on how to make the most of the college years, discussing money, roommates, orientation, grade point averages, how to choose courses, note-taking, partying, and other topics.
Practical solutions for improving higher education opportunities for disadvantaged students Too many disadvantaged college students in America do not complete their coursework or receive any college credential, while others earn degrees or certificates with little labor market value. Large numbers of these students also struggle to pay for college, and some incur debts that they have difficulty repaying. The authors provide a new review of the causes of these problems and offer promising policy solutions. The circumstances affecting disadvantaged students stem both from issues on the individual side, such as weak academic preparation and financial pressures, and from institutional failures. Low-income students disproportionately attend schools that are underfunded and have weak performance incentives, contributing to unsatisfactory outcomes for many students. Some solutions, including better financial aid or academic supports, target individual students. Other solutions, such as stronger linkages between coursework and the labor market and more structured paths through the curriculum, are aimed at institutional reforms. All students, and particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, also need better and varied pathways both to college and directly to the job market, beginning in high school. We can improve college outcomes, but must also acknowledge that we must make hard choices and face difficult tradeoffs in the process. While no single policy is guaranteed to greatly improve college and career outcomes, implementing a number of evidence-based policies and programs together has the potential to improve these outcomes substantially.
Don't face college unprepared. Be ready. College Ready. You've waited your whole life and you've finally made it. Freedom. Good times. No parents. This is what life is all about, right? But maybe college isn't just parties and 2 a.m. fast-food runs. If no one has told you yet, Mom's not tagging along to do your laundry. During your college years everything changes. You'll need to know how to stay grounded with good friends but have fun at the same time. From choosing a major and learning time management to dating and spiritual growth, it's an entirely different world. And that's why we developed this study so you can be ready to make the most of your college experience and your life.
The author of the best-selling What the Best College Teachers Do is back with more humane, doable, and inspiring help, this time for students who want to get the most out of college—and every other educational enterprise, too. The first thing they should do? Think beyond the transcript. The creative, successful people profiled in this book—college graduates who went on to change the world we live in—aimed higher than straight A’s. They used their four years to cultivate habits of thought that would enable them to grow and adapt throughout their lives. Combining academic research on learning and motivation with insights drawn from interviews with people who have won Nobel Prizes, Emmys, fame, or the admiration of people in their field, Ken Bain identifies the key attitudes that distinguished the best college students from their peers. These individuals started out with the belief that intelligence and ability are expandable, not fixed. This led them to make connections across disciplines, to develop a “meta-cognitive” understanding of their own ways of thinking, and to find ways to negotiate ill-structured problems rather than simply looking for right answers. Intrinsically motivated by their own sense of purpose, they were not demoralized by failure nor overly impressed with conventional notions of success. These movers and shakers didn’t achieve success by making success their goal. For them, it was a byproduct of following their intellectual curiosity, solving useful problems, and taking risks in order to learn and grow.
