Improving Your College Experience

From the professors who teach NYU's most popular elective class, "Science of Happiness," a fun, comprehensive guide to surviving and thriving in college and beyond. Every year, almost 4,000,000 students begin their freshman year at colleges and universities nationwide. Most of them will sleep less and stress out a whole lot more. By the end of the year, 30% of those freshmen will have dropped out. For many, the unforeseen demands of college life are so overwhelming that "the best four years of your life" can start to feel like the worst. Enter Daniel Lerner and Dr. Alan Schlechter, ready to teach students how to not only survive college, but flourish in it. Filled with fascinating science, real-life stories, and tips for building positive lifelong habits, U Thrive addresses the opportunities and challenges every undergrad will face -- from finding a passion to dealing with nightmarish roommates and surviving finals week. Engaging and hilarious, U Thrive will help students grow into the happy, successful alums they all deserve to be.

Authored by three of the nation's leading experts on the first-year experience, this Concise Edition of Your College Experience continues a 20-year tradition of straightforward, realistic, and intelligent coverage of the skills students need to succeed in college. Each edition is revised based on information uncovered during exhaustive research, surveys on the First Year Experience, and course outcome measurements. Gardner, Jewler, and Barefoot outline the strategies students need to sharpen their skills in note taking, reading, memorizing, writing, and test-taking; enhance social relationships; get to know themselves better by exploring their values; learn vital information about staying healthy; connect to information on career planning; and more!

The strengths and failures of the American college, and why liberal education still matters As the commercialization of American higher education accelerates, more and more students are coming to college with the narrow aim of obtaining a preprofessional credential. The traditional four-year college experience—an exploratory time for students to discover their passions and test ideas and values with the help of teachers and peers—is in danger of becoming a thing of the past. In College, prominent cultural critic Andrew Delbanco offers a trenchant defense of such an education, and warns that it is becoming a privilege reserved for the relatively rich. In describing what a true college education should be, he demonstrates why making it available to as many young people as possible remains central to America's democratic promise. In a brisk and vivid historical narrative, Delbanco explains how the idea of college arose in the colonial period from the Puritan idea of the gathered church, how it struggled to survive in the nineteenth century in the shadow of the new research universities, and how, in the twentieth century, it slowly opened its doors to women, minorities, and students from low-income families. He describes the unique strengths of America’s colleges in our era of globalization and, while recognizing the growing centrality of science, technology, and vocational subjects in the curriculum, he mounts a vigorous defense of a broadly humanistic education for all. Acknowledging the serious financial, intellectual, and ethical challenges that all colleges face today, Delbanco considers what is at stake in the urgent effort to protect these venerable institutions for future generations.

The strategies for your academic and personal success in college are all at your fingertips in YOUR COLLEGE EXPERIENCE: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS, Concise Seventh Edition. You'll learn to take charge of your learning; sharpen your skills in note taking, reading, memory, writing, and test-taking; enhance your social relationships; get to know yourself better by exploring your values; learn vital information about staying healthy; connect to information on career planning; and more! "Achieve It" features in every chapter give you practice in setting goals. "Try It!" exercises give you hands-on practice. And, each new textbook comes with ThomsonNOW, an online learning tool that provides you with a personalized study plan that will save you time while you improve your understanding of the concepts of the course.

The strategies for your academic and personal success in college are all at your fingertips in YOUR COLLEGE EXPERIENCE: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS. You'll learn to take charge of your learning; sharpen your skills in note taking, reading, memory, writing, and test-taking; enhance your social relationships; get to know yourself better by exploring your values; learn vital information about staying healthy; connect to information on career planning; and more! "Achieve It" features in every chapter give you practice in setting goals. "Try It!" exercises give you hands-on practice. Each new textbook comes with access to ThomsonNOW, an exciting online learning tool that provides you with a personalized learning plan that will save you time while you improve your understanding of the concepts of the course.

A Step-by-Step Roadmap to College Success Whether you're a young undergrad, returning veteran, or non-traditional student, "Maximize Your College Experience" is the quintessential guide to getting the most out of your college investment. Through a brash and unapologetic account of his own experiences, author Tim Skjellerup offers himself up as living proof that your past doesn't have to define your future. A single father who once nearly flunked out of community college, he outlines powerful yet simple strategies he used to transform his collegiate career and graduate magna cum laude from Cornell University. Tim leaves no stone unturned as he explores the many challenges college brings, from organization and self-discipline to partying and relationships. He shows that contrary to popular myth, you don't have to study around the clock--or sacrifice your social life--to nail a top-tier GPA. This book will help you: - Avoid the biggest mistakes made by college students today - Develop the winning attitude needed to succeed in college--and beyond - Take control of your future and become master of your own destiny - Face down your fears and build your self-confidence - Get your work done more quickly--so you can spend more time having fun - Overcome procrastination and stay motivated - Develop smart habits that help you maintain a solid GPA - Study more efficiently (and stop wasting countless hours in the library) - Cope with stress and stay healthy, in body and mind ...and more! The book even includes action steps at the end of each chapter to help you put what you've learned into motion. At times both unsettling and inspirational, "Maximize Your College Experience" empowers you to dig deep, conquer your fears, and uncover your very best self as you start your venture into postsecondary education. Through practical advice and been-there-done-that insight, Tim Skjellerup gives you all the tools you need to excel--both inside the classroom and out.

Cut through the noise and make better college and career choices This book is about addressing the college-choosing problem. The rankings, metrics, analytics, college visits, and advice that we use today to help us make these decisions are out of step with the progress individual students are trying to make. They don't give students and families the information and context they need to make such a high-stakes decision about whether and where to get an education. Choosing College strips away the noise to help you understand why you’re going to school. What's driving you? What are you trying to accomplish? Once you know why, the book will help you make better choices. The research in this book illustrates that choosing a school is complicated. By constructing more than 200 mini-documentaries of how students chose different postsecondary educational experiences, the authors explore the motivations for how and why people make the decisions that they do at a much deeper, causal level. By the end, you’ll know why you’re going and what you’re really chasing. The book: Identifies the five different Jobs for which students hire postsecondary education Allows you to see your true options for what’s next Offers guidance for how to successfully choose your pathway Illuminates how colleges and entrepreneurs can build better experiences for each Job The authors help readers understand not what job students want out of college, but what "Job" students are hiring college to do for them.