KentuckyPrivateColleges.org

As we get this site set up as a source of information about Kentucky’s private colleges and universities. For now, please visit http://aikcu.org, the official site of the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities (AIKCU).

The Professor’s Guide blog from U.S.News & World Reports recently posted a list of the “Top 10 Things You’ll Discover at College.” The list is aimed squarely at this year’s high school graduates who are moving on to college in the fall.

The list has some great pointers for all college students, like:

10. No one tells you what to do. Gone are teachers who will remind you umpteen times to do your homework and be ready for the Civil War test next Friday. Now you’re on your own. Day 1 of college is your educational Independence Day.

9. Many students are smarter than you. Used to be you were on the class honor roll and earned your parents the right to display bumper stickers proclaiming your brilliance. Now you’re in a school where only the top 12 percent of students in the state (or nation) got in. Upshot? You’ll have to work harder, and it’ll be more competitive. But at least you’ll have lots of brainy friends.

6. Two thirds of the work is done outside the class room. In high school, you sat in class for 35 hours a week; in college, it’ll be 12 to 15….

5. You set your own schedule….

4. There are new subjects to be learned….

A couple of their points are not applicable to students attending Kentucky’s private colleges:

8. Classes can be huge. Classes can have 100, 200, 300, or—at some schools in Arizona—700 students. Not to worry. You can find motivation among the huddled masses of humanity if you keep focused on why you came in the first place—and what you hope to achieve.

7. … And easy to blow off. Much as professors tell you to come to class, they usually don’t take attendance, and even when they do, attendance counts for only a small fraction of the class grade (usually 10 to 15 percent). But while it’s easy to skip out, it’s not so easy to ace the course if the one midterm essay asks about something explained the class you missed. Suggestion? Set out to cut no more than two classes (per course) a semester.

Think for a minute about a 700 student class. Some of our campuses don’t have 700 students! At a Kentucky private college, your largest introductory classes are likely to only have 30 students, with many of your classes having only 15-20 (the average class size is typically around 17-18 students). And because classes are small and professors get to know you as an individual, it’s hard to go unnoticed and blow off classes.

You can read their list to see the rest of their advice to entering college freshmen. Have tips you want to share? Sound off in the comments.