Section 3 Success in this Course

Students often ask me how to do well in various aspects of the course, and so this section features my suggestions for a successful semester. These observations are provided with no warranty - following them does not guarantee any particular outcome. You could do everything in here and still do poorly in the course, and conversely you could ignore much of what is in discussed in the links below and still do well. However, most of the students who are successful in this course will follow most of these ideas consistently.

These tips are an effort to illuminate what sociologists refer to as the “hidden curriculum” of higher education - there are things you need to do to be successful, but they are often unstated or not clearly communicated.

Since I give this advice out in multiple classes, the documents themselves are stored on my personal website:

1. Doing the Little Things Right
2. Letters of Recommendation

If there are other topics you have questions about, please let me know. These documents are a work in progress.