David M. Callahan, Ph.D.
Providing Psychological Services to 
Cape Cod and Southeastern Massachusetts

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MAKING COLLEGE WORK FOR YOU


        Many students who have been comfortably successful in high school struggle a bit when they first attend college. There are many differences between high school and college life that can present new challenges and demands. Below, I have listed a number of those changes with tips to help that transition into a whole new world.

1.It’s a shorter day.
The main difference between college and high school is the reduction in the amount of time you spend in classrooms. The typical course load for a freshman is 15 hours of class time, essentially 3 hours per day across a 5-day period. This leaves quite a bit of time for other activities, along with ample time to complete the work required. However, many people have difficulty learning how to manage that time and find themselves hopelessly behind in their work due to the lack of structure.

2.No one is keeping score.
Developing an effective strategy for work completion in the absence of daily structure and supervision is a very important element to managing college successfully. There are many ways to do this, but ultimately, it will be important for students to create structure for themselves to keep pace with a large amount of independent work that does not involve handing in homework. One approach to that is to construct a study schedule in which a certain amount of time per day is dedicated to doing reading for the upcoming week and/or completing written assignments. Students who spend two hours per day in that type of activity typically have virtually no difficulty keeping pace with the work required of them. This requires discipline, but with the creation of a schedule and structure for that, many of the pitfalls that fall on freshmen will be avoided.

3.Your professor may not know who you are.
One major difference between high school and college is the extent to which there are often very limited personal relationships with teachers. Particularly during the freshman year, students are often placed in large lecture hall classes with dozens or even hundreds of students. These classes are often survey courses that present a large amount information at a somewhat superficial level, requiring students to integrate a large amount of material that is unfamiliar to them. There is also virtually no supervision over whether or not students complete work, with only performance on examinations as a way to assess their effectiveness. Many students who do well when they know they are being watched and supervised struggle when there is no oversight over their activities. Creating a schedule and structure can go a long way in reducing the extent to which procrastination proves to be problematic.

4.Play is more fun than work.
With parents far away, college is a new opportunity to make largely unsupervised connections with peers. That can be both a blessing and a curse. At its best, college is an opportunity to make close lifelong friendships in which many important and intimate experiences will be shared. It is also an opportunity to make poor decisions that undermine one’s ability to pursue an education and complete required work. Balancing work and play is likely to be a challenge, but with the creation of structures such as those discussed in step 2 above, there can be balance between those competing needs.

5.Party hardy is not very smarty.
It is not at all unusual for individuals in college to find themselves involved in a significant amount of substance abuse. Managing that portion of one’s life is a very important part of being able to be successful. The main problems with substances in college is not so much the behaviors that they create, but instead, the behaviors they prevent. Many students smoke marijuana heavily and/or daily. Amotivational syndrome, in which marijuana essentially sabotages the ability to complete work, is a significant problem, particularly among freshman. This is often the primary reason for dropout from college, as using cannabis further exacerbates the tendency to procrastinate. Each individual must make their own decision, but the two elements that need to be closely considered are the frequency of use of cannabis and/or alcohol and the timing. “Waking and baking” is an excellent formula for assuring dropout from college, as individuals who spend much or all of their day stoned rarely do any productive work. Again, creating a schedule that lays out time for work and time for play can go a long way in reducing the risk for becoming consumed by involvement in alcohol and drugs.

6.Doers do more.
Engagement in extracurricular activities is an important element of college, providing opportunities for making close contacts with people who have similar interests and developing a sense of belonging. There are numerous opportunities for such involvement at every college. Finding something that creates a sense of engagement and joy that has no academic requirements can go a long way in increasing a sense of comfort and happiness at school.

7.Help is easy to get, but you have to ask.
Many students are not aware that there are multiple resources available if they are beginning to show academic struggles. All colleges have some type of learning center where tutorial assistance is available. For individuals with learning disabilities and/or attentional disorders, modifications can be arranged, such as extra time for completing testing, recording of lectures, or use of audio books and speech-to-text software as a way to produce material. If a student has had any type of Individualized Education Program in school, carrying that over into college can be quite helpful in reducing their risks for becoming overwhelmed or unable to demonstrate their capabilities as well in a very different setting. IEP’s can also be started at the college level.

8.If you want to get A’s, you best get your Z’s.
Sleep is a major issue for college students. Developing some type of sleep hygiene in which bedtimes are relatively stable and good sleeping habits are engendered can help individuals remain focused and productive. As much as possible, going to bed and waking at the same time helps to stabilize cognitive states. More variability tends to create more fatigue and distractibility.

9.Nutrition impacts cognition.
Food intake is an important element of college life that is often underemphasized. Too many college students eat poorly, with high carbohydrate diets that result in reduction of energy and poor metabolic functioning. Learning about healthy balanced diets and developing some discipline around those choices helps individuals access their capacities more comfortably. A common difficulty is the “freshman 15,” weight gain which particularly occurs with dormitory students who have access to buffet-like servings. Developing some discipline and structure around eating habits will be very important both for self-esteem around appearance and for the extent to which brains are able to be brought online as needed. They call it junk food for a reason.

10.You tend to get close to those who are closest.
For many people, leaving friends behind as you they go off to college shatters their social network. It takes time to make close friendships, and many students become homesick and isolated. Maintaining those old connections is important, but new bonds will sustain you more. We all reach out in our own way, but we tend to connect to those people who are in our same physical space. Do what you like to do and you will find who you like to be with.

     These basic ideas can go a long way in helping individuals integrate comfortably into college. There is a tremendous difference in the amount of support that is available, as students can often feel rather anonymous. Creating structures for work and a focus on finding opportunities for joy and play is a balance that can be easily struck if done so in a mindful fashion. The tips above can go a long way in making college much less effortful and far more enjoyable.

        Feel free to share this with anyone you wish.


David M. Callahan, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist
dcallahan@stvservices.org
www.capepsychology.homestead.com