A presentation I gave to my Academic Writing Seminar students to help them prepare for their future university life.

1. Tips and Tricks for Surviving Your
University Studies
Pavol Hardoš
2014
Academic Writing seminar
C.S. Lewis Bilingual High School

2. First Rule
• Read the syllabus
• Read the syllabus
• Read the syllabus
• Read the syllabus

3. Read the syllabus
• I am super-serious
• Professors usually see their syllabi either as a
roadmap or as a contract
– Roadmap – more usual for advanced classes
(professors already expect you know what’s what)
– Contract – common for undergraduate courses
• When you hear university faculty moan about
students, this is the most common complaint:
– Why don’t they read the syllabus!?

4. There will be reading
• Read. Re-read.
• Then read some more.
• Suck it up and read even more.

5. • Read the assigned reading – no exceptions
• Explore the recommended literature
– There is a reason why it’s recommended

6. Is it a challenge?
– Good
• Do you find you have loads of spare time?
• Not good – it should feel like a fulltime job
with loads of overtime
– Either challenge yourself with some further
projects of your own that help you grow (take up a
language, pick extra classes from outside your
track)
– or change schools

7. • Does the University have a writing center?
– Yes? Count your blessings and use it
– Writing center: get for free what everyone has to
pay for
• What is the walk-in policy professors have?
– Some profs have open door policies and will be
eager to help
• In any case, when in doubt about something,
do use their office hours
– professors are there to help you

8. Read your school email
• Always check for interesting conferences or
lectures in the vicinity
– Coz: knowledge + (usually) free snacks!
• Read the bureaucratic stuff too
– Coz: bureacracies can make your life miserable
• Pay special attention to any grants or offers
made by your school/department
– Coz: Money & opportunities!
– Internships, Scholarships, Erasmus

9. Lectures & seminars
• Come prepared or don’t come at all
– Your deer-in-the-headlights look will be pretty
frustrating
– Prepare rather than skip, it will only get more
difficult later
• Make copious amounts of notes: hand-
written on paper
– Studies suggest hand-notes aid memory retention
and better conceptual understanding

10. Ask questions
• You aid your own and others’ understanding –
not everything has to be clear
– Sometime asking the right question can help others
who might not even realize something was unclear
• Looking puzzled and not asking anything is
frustrating to look at
• Speak up – participate!
– Learning is a conversation
– Asking questions after it’s too late is pointless

11. Forbidden questions I.
• Is this going to be on the test?
– Translation: I cannot be bothered to figure what is
important, I did not read the syllabus & I only care
about my grades.
– A: It’s knowledge, shut up!
• Can you send us your notes?
– Translation: I am too lazy to do my own.
– A: If I wanted to make them available, I would
have.

12. Forbidden questions II.
• Will this course be hard?
– Translation: Please don’t make me work or
challenge me!
– A: Yes, especially for you, since you asked.
• Can I have extra credit?
– Translation: I did not do the work I was supposed
to, now you make extra effort so I do not suffer.
– A: Go away.

13. Forbidden questions III.
• Why did I get an [insert grade here]?
– Translation: How come you did not appreciate my
genius?
– A: Maybe because you did not do your work
properly – did not do what was expected – it
simply was not up to the standards?
• Note: It’s ok to question the grading, but
double-check and be specific with any
objections or complaints

14. Assignments
• Read the assignments (seriously)
– read them more than once to make sure you
understood what is expected
• Honour the word limit
• Honour the deadline
– Valar morghulis
– Or “All men must follow deadlines” in High
Valyrian

15. Sending assignments
• File specifications – check the syllabus
• If not specified, make it as simple as possible
– No weird formats, no PDFs
– No cutesy colors or special fonts
• Absolutely No Comic Sans
– Don’t toy with fonts, sizes or margins
• It’s obvious

16. Assignments
• Remember: name, title, date!
• Put your name in the file and on the file name
– Oh gee, another homework.docx
• Also, specify which class this is for
– They might teach more than one class
– Put it in the header along with your name and
date

17. Which email address will I use?
• suddenmayhemmaniac@youhoooo.com
• sexydeamon@liberianprincess.com
Or
• name.surname@school.edu
• name.surname@respectableemail.com
• Hint: There is a correct answer

18. Emailing professors
• Don’t
– Is my question answered in the syllabus?
– Is my question relevant? Does the professor need
to know, weigh in?
– Absolutely no rants or whining, no life stories

19. Why am I writing the email?
• Do they have an open-door policy?
– Use it, talk to them personally
• Should the question/issue be discussed?
– Ask for a consultation during their office hours
(yes, also by email)
• E-mail is necessary? OK, proceed...

20. Emailing DOs & DON’Ts
• Subject line – ALWAYS
• Preferably something meaningful
– Terrible subject lines include
– “Last Class” - “[CourseName]” - “Help” - “Question”
• Greetings
– Dear professor X.,
• No slang, no emoticons, no acronyms
– You’re IRL, yo!

21. Emailing DOs & DON’Ts
• Use paragraph breaks
– Blocks of text are off-putting
– Anything longer than what fits on the screen
should probably be an attachment and not an
email.
• Proofread, double-check
• Sign
• Remember: The shorter the email, the more
likely an answer.

22. Be pro-active
• IF I must write – can I also offer a solution or
suggestion?
– Anything to minimize the exchange and their
mental effort is welcome
• Keep it short, concise and polite – aim for bare
minimum
– But give proper context; they’re not mind-readers
• DO let them know about your absence –
especially if it is a small class

23. • If you need something from them – be
persistent
– Do not leave requests for the last minute – do not
put your professors against the wall
• Don’t think one email will do it – they might
forget (busy busy busy)
– Polite reminders are OK
• BUT – do not expect an instant response, give
them a day or two

24. Manners
• Be polite
– Obvious, I know, but still
– Just like anywhere else
• Do not be offended if the professor does not
remember your name/face
– Do not expect s/he will
– There are hundreds of you every year

25. Part(y)ing advice from my old
professor
• “Study hard, party hard!”
• I would say – you can have either:
– Good Grades
– Social Life
– Enough Sleep
Pick two