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Your first year of university will be a huge year of growth. You’ll be stepping outside of your comfort zone; becoming more independent; and balancing four or five classes and a social life while keeping your mental health in check.
From the moment you first walk into a UW or SJU lecture hall or classroom, you’ll notice that things are a lot different than what you’re used to in high school. You might be dreading some of these changes or you might be relishing them – either way, that’s totally fine. Here’s what you can expect when it comes to taking classes in university.
You’re not in school from 8:30-2:30 anymore. If you’re in the Faculty of Arts, you’ll probably only have about 15 hours of class a week, and you get to pick your own schedule. If you want to have all of your classes on Monday and Wednesday, you can do that. If you want to have a five-hour break in-between your classes every day, you can do that too. Most first-year courses will have multiple sections to choose from – so if you’re not a morning person, you’ll probably be able to avoid 8:30 classes. If you’re more alert in the morning, you’ll have the option to switch out of your night classes as well. Just remember to make sure you choose courses that are part of your program’s academic plan. If you’re ever unsure of which courses to take, you can book an appointment with your academic advisor.
Your course instructor probably won’t be taking attendance or passing around an attendance sheet unless it’s a component of your grade. This is more commonly seen in smaller, discussion-based classes and tutorials. Professors certainly will not be tracking you down if you miss a class – which leads me to the next big difference.
Your professors don’t care if you show up to class, do your readings, hand in your assignments on time, or study for their exams. It’s up to you to structure your time. This is something you’ll have to take seriously or you’re going to have a tough time staying caught up with all of your courses. At St. Jerome’s, we’re very lucky to have an extremely talented Residence Don team that will be around to assist you with your university transition and ensure that you always have someone to talk with. Our Peer Academic Leaders (PALs) run study skills workshops and have drop-in times in the Student Services Link for academic help. There are always opportunities to improve and seek help – it’s just up to you to take advantage of them.
This will be difficult to get used to. You will be doing a lot of reading when you’re not in class. In my first year, I would estimate that I usually spent two hours reading, writing, or studying outside of class for every hour I spent in class. Some people prefer to do readings before class so lectures are a confirmation that they understand the material – others prefer to do readings after class so they can get a better grasp of difficult concepts from lectures. Whatever works for you is fine. Your readings will supplement lecture content, and lectures will supplement your readings – try to stay caught up with both. Some professors draw heavily on readings content during midterms and finals, some briefly touch on the readings in lectures, while some don’t discuss the readings at all.
Instead of taking a class for five months and then having a final exam, you’ll be going to lectures for three months. You’ll then either write a final test on your last day of class or write a final exam in the fourth month of your term. Because of this, it’s not uncommon for your grade to only be comprised of three or four assessments. In my first term of first year, my final exams were worth 25%, 30%, 35%, 38%, and 50% of my grade for each course. You’ll need to make sure you give yourself enough time to study.
Each of your course instructors reserve time each week where you can drop in to their office and ask questions. If these hours are a conflict for you, most professors will make appointments for you outside of their regular hours via email – as long as you ask politely.
On the first day of classes each term, your professor will give you a syllabus. Think of a syllabus as a course outline on steroids. It contains everything you’ll need to know about the class: your professor’s contact information, important dates, a reading schedule, and outlines for assignments. When in doubt, it’s probably in the syllabus. It will help you plan ahead for the term, which is great because…
Last term, I had a co-op interview, midterm, and a paper due on the same day. Unlike high school, where teachers usually work together to ensure that your tests are spread out, your university professors will plan out their term and then deadlines are set. These may or may not interfere with other classes – that’s up to you to identify and figure out.
Yep, you’ll have to buy your textbooks. Well, there is always the option of borrowing your class copy of the textbook on course reserves for an afternoon or a couple of hours, but if you like drawing in the margins or reading anywhere other than the library then it’s best to buy your books. For the frugal types: Waterloo has 3 or 4 used textbook buy/sell groups on Facebook, and Feds Used Books in the Student Life Centre sells books at 80% of the new price on consignment.
Waterloo’s campus is a lot bigger than your high school but once you’re oriented it’s an easy campus to navigate. Your classes will more than likely take place in the building that houses its program or faculty – however, larger classes will just take place where room is available. You’ll learn pretty quickly how long it takes you to get from building to building and class to class. You’ll also learn how to take advantage of Waterloo’s bridges and tunnels when the weather is nasty.
There’s a chance that there will be more first years in your program than there are students at your high school. Naturally, when the student population is so large, the first year class sizes are large as well. One of the advantages to co-registering at SJU as an Arts student is that you’ll have options for your Arts courses. If you like the feeling of anonymity, then you can take courses on main campus. If you like the feel of smaller classes and interaction with your professor, then you can take courses at SJU. It’s completely your choice and each option has its advantages and disadvantages.
Keep these differences in mind and you'll have a much easier time in your first term at university!■
-Jon
Adapted from https://blogs.dal.ca/dalstudentlife/2016/07/12/11-differences-between-high-school-and-university/