<p>I am currently a Junior in a college of nearly 30,000. I transferred here from a community college and have never lived away from home before. I have 3 roommates that I get along with and we all have a good time. The problem is that I am not used to getting up by myself, or kicking my own ass out the door to go to class, I missed all 3 of my classes today just because I forgot to set my alarm, I know I sound like im whiny but I dont know what to do to make sure I get to class every day. I am not doing very good in my classes and it is very overwhelming sometimes. I just need some advice on how to get out of a hole like this, I intend to go to Law School after I graduate but that wont happen if im not able to get up and go to class. I dont really know how to study either which doesnt help, my high school never really taught anyone how to study so it is making things difficult.</p>
<p>Another small problem is that my roommates are all cool yet I feel like the deadbeat of the group because I'm not an engineering/pre-med major like they are. They all are taking calculus and advanced chemistry while im taking political science and sociology classes. Sometimes they give me a hard time out of fun, but I cant help feeling like maybe I am a deadbeat and should just give up? Can anyone help me out here?</p>
<p>Hey you are not a deadbeat and you should NOT give up. In terms of habits, you obviously recognize that there is a problem that should be dealt with. For the alarm thing -your roommates are cool and pre-med/engineering students so they should study a lot right? So ask them to help you out a bit. i.e. make sure you are awake/wake you up if your alarm doesn’t go off. When your friends are studying for exams or working on a project, work with them as well. If you hang out with people who are studying, maybe some of their habits will rub off on you. Another thing - talk to kids in your classes. Yeah if it is in a big lecture hall it might be a bit awkward but sometimes if you get to know the people who sit beside you they might be a potential study buddy/friend who can help you out/keep you going to classes. In your poli-sci classes, make it a point to speak up in class. The more you speak up, the more your classmates respect you (and are more likely to approach you outside of class) - plus, if you make it a goal to speak up in class you will likely have to do the reading. If you want to change your habits of skipping class, you have to be serious about it - ie if you skip class or sleep in, punish yourself by studying the material you missed or going to your professors office hours. In terms of learning how to study, I’m learning that as well (I’m a terrible procrastinator). But get your butt to class and you will have to study less when push comes to shove. Good luck</p>
<p>First off, you need to remember to set your alarm. Hey, if it helps, set a phone alarm that will go off every night that flashes something like “set alarm!”</p>
<p>Then, you may want to set more than one alarm. I actually set 3 since I’m prone to turning them off and falling back asleep (without remembering doing this…). My actual alarm clock is far away from my bed so that I have to physically walk over to turn it off. That’s my backup.
My phone has 2 alarms set on it- the first is your standard wake up for me. The second reminds me that I can’t set the snooze if I want to make lunch (it flashes “make sandwich!” lol).</p>
<p>As for your academic problems, does your school have a tutoring center? I’d try going there and seeing if they can give you some note-taking/studying tips.</p>
<p>I also set multiple alarms, the last of which is across the room. I tend to make determinations of whether or not I have time to hit the snooze “one more time,” while really not actually awake which leads to oversleeping. </p>
<p>And there is nothing deadbeat about planning to go to law school. If that’s your plan, poli sci and soc type classes are a good thing to take to help you hone your reading and writing skills, which is important for law school and for the LSAT. Take some philosophy and/or logic classes if you can, too. You’re right on track. Not everyone can or should be a doctor. Don’t worry about what your roommates are doing. And if they are making you feel bad, it’s okay to say that the jokes are getting old. If you guys are all cool with each other I doubt they would want to continue if they knew they were actually getting to you.</p>
<p>I second the suggestion of tutoring, and I also recommend you go to office hours and see your professors. “What is the best way to study for this class?” is an extremely valid question which professors are usually happy to answer.</p>
<p>Based on my experiences, most high schools DON’T teach kids how to study. Thinking that you are at an automatic disadvantage because of the high school you went to is a bad attitude that is going to hold you back. People study differently, and as part of the college experience, learn study methods. You should have picked some up at the CC. And don’t let people get you down because you are a humanities major. Social sciences are extremely important- our lives are defined by politics and economics. Everything is political, and understanding how the world operates from a human perspective is. If you took the same classes as an engineer, you could solve the same math problems. Math is a set of rules with defined steps, social science is abstract in that there is no correct theory, and you are challenged to defend a position using logic and rational thought. Both hard science and social sciences are important, people like to put “easy” majors down to feel better about themselves and to feel more intelligent. </p>
<p>I am going to guess based on your post and major you are not well because you are doing poorly on writing assignments. Get “The Elements of Writing,” and meet with Professors about how to improve your writing. If you are doing poorly on tests, google study strategies and test them out, and try to study with classmates. Take good notes. </p>
<p>In terms of going to class: you have to push yourself. Going to class sucks, dealing with the scores of ignorant people in the poli sci field can be difficult, but it’s something you have to do. You were able to make it through CC.</p>