Having been a student and an instructor at both small, private colleges and large, state-funded research institutions, I have found the following guidelines, while not guarantees, keys to succeeding in higher education:
1. Go to class. Sure, you’ll have some huge classes in which you’ll not be missed, but those actually constitute a minority of the classes you’re likely to take. And, contrary to popular belief, a lot of knowledge (and even some wisdom!) is imparted in the classroom itself. It’s also where changes in course policy and/or scheduling are announced. At any rate, somebody is paying a lot of money for you to be there, so you may as well show up.
2. Do your work. It seems simple, but keeping up on assignments, even if you do them poorly, is still a very important part of making it in college. If you’re dismally bad at your assignments, get help. Just about all colleges offer it , and there’s no shame in availing yourself of it. You paid for it with your tuition, after all, and therefore you have every right to use it.
3. If you’re getting bad grades, find out why, and fix the problem. Most instructors comment on written assignments. Read these comments and adjust accordingly. They’re not doing this to be tyrants (well, most of them aren’t); they’ve been studying their subjects for a long time and, for the most part, know what they’re talking about. Rarely are bad grades given out of spite. Most of your instructors are either indifferent to you personally or like you in the vague sort of way one likes all human beings. They honestly don’t have the time nor the energy for personal vendettas, especially at research institutions. In those cases, your instructors are far more worried about their next publications and satisfying their tenure committees than they are about you and your snotty attitude. This only holds unless you’re caught plagiarizing or cheating in some other way. Then they take it personally. Very personally.
4. Party, nap, stay up all night. As long as it does not interfere with guidelines 1 through 3, nobody really cares. But don’t nap in class or your instructors will think you’re a dolt. Having said that, it is generally true that students who party or stay up all night every night or sleep all day every day are unable to keep up on their work and/or make it to class and flunk out. Once in a while, some preternatural genius is able to get a 4.0 drunk, stoned, sleep-deprived and hung-over. If you’re not sure this person is you, it probably isn’t and you shouldn’t try it. If you’re absolutely sure this person is you, it probably isn’t and you shouldn’t try it. I’m not saying that you should never kick up your heels or should never try out that new beer bong; nearly all students party some. It’s just that the successful students party after they get their work done, not before.
This list doesn’t even try to get into the finer points of what it takes to be an educated person, doesn’t get into reading more than is required, doesn’t touch on being inquisitive and open to new ideas. This list deals with the bare minimum. But if you want to step into the great educational beyond, if you begin to learn wherever you are–in the movie theater seeing Slaw II, watching Grillmore Girls, playing World of Wartcraft, listening to Death Club for Cuntie, doing those wacky thing you college kids do–you’ve already graduated into being the sort of person your instructors want to help. You have become the kind of person who makes an instructor’s class time worthwhile. In that case, congratulations: you have discovered what education is really about.