Tips to Succeed in College Courses: In- Class & Online (Part 4)

Published on Monday, July 26th, 2010 by Ken Category: Community Colleges

In the previous articles of the Tips to Succeed in College Series, we provided a general outline of specific techniques college students can apply in order to create a successful educational experience. We discussed topics such as class registration and tips for both in and out of class.

In Part 4, we will go over a specific and necessary step to take in one’s college education experience, the SEP or Student Educational Plan.

Making the Most of Your SEP (Student Educational Plan)

For many college students, the main goal is to sign up for classes, earn a high grade, and graduate. And for the majority of students, completing this goal in the shortest amount of time possible is highly preferred. So if one was to give themselves the best chance possible of completing all these goals in the shortest amount of time possible, creating, maintaining, and staying on track of a personalized SEP (Student Educational Plan) is key. A very useful resource in creating an SEP for your college experience can be found through the college counselor. In order to create a successful and efficient SEP, it is important to take a few things into consideration. Below is a list of essential aspects to think about when creating an SEP:

Class Units
Class Load Difficulty
Prerequisites
Time Management

Class Units

Units are a very important aspect to consider when forming an SEP for a couple of different reasons. First, depending on whether or not a student desired to go to school full-time or part-time, an SEP would have more than, less than, or equal to 12 total units. Another reason to consider the amount of units in an SEP is due to the fact that there are many work unions and companies that offer insurance benefits (health, dental, etc.) to full-time students. If one desired to obtain or retain such insurance benefits, it is vital to make sure your SEP provides enough units to label you as a full-time student.

Class Load

Another aspect in creating an SEP is the size of your class load and its overall difficulty. For the general academic student, high GPAs and grades are a main goal. In order to make sure that both of these goals are attainable and within reach, creating an SEP with a balanced class load and difficulty is important. Specific details to consider when aiming for an even and manageable class load are course subjects as well as the difficulty of the professor (this is usually done through the use of Rate My Professor)

Prerequisites

Prerequisites are specific classes that are required in order to advance on to higher and more difficult classes. It is very important that a student create an SEP that schedules classes in a logical and functional order. In other words, make sure to never schedule classes that require prerequisites before the prerequisites themselves.

Time Management

Time management is a very valuable skill, whether a student is in college, work, or any other situation in life. When creating an SEP, the time of each individual class, as well as how they coincide with each other are both key details to note. For some students, it is important to schedule particularly difficult classes earlier or later in the day, and keeping time management in mind is a very helpful thing to do when creating an SEP.

To read Parts 1, 2. & 3 of Tips to Succeed in College: In-Class & Online, follow the links below:

Tips to Succeed in College: In-Class & Online (Part 1)

Tips to Succeed in College: In-Class & Online (Part 2)

Tips to Succeed in College: In-Class & Online (Part 3)