Advising Matters December 2015 Podcast Transcript
In this edition the EAC discusses Major Exploration, Finals preparation, Deleting AP Credit
Major Exploration
Already decided on a major? Unsure? Debating between a couple options?
Now is the time to take initiative and take charge of your Michigan Education!
No matter where you are in the major decision making process the end of the first term is a great time to reflect and consider your options.
What set of skills are you seeking to develop?
What courses inspire your intellectual curiosity?
Which clubs or organizations are you enjoying?
Taking feedback from your overall Michigan experience can help to evaluate your major decision making process. There are also lots of individuals in Michigan Engineering you can connect with that want to help you succeed.
Consider this two-step process:
First, get as much information as you can. Second, make sense of this information. Use the resources below for one or both of these steps!
EAC Academic Advisors, The Engineering Career Resource Center, Professors, Graduate Student Instructors, upper-class students, departmental websites, ENGenius job postings, company websites, Master’s program websites, friends, and family members.
The goal of conducting research on potential majors is to make an informed decision based on your passions and your values. Remember, you’re not deciding on the rest of your life, you’re simply deciding which skills you’d like to acquire and refine over the next couple years!
A reminder that faculty advisors from various Engineering departments are available by appointment in the EAC in December. To view availability and make an appointment visit advising.engin.umich.edu !
Finals Preparation
Asst. Director Mark Collyer has a few tips for all Engineers to consider based on what we know about learning that will help students prepare for exams--and retain the information beyond the final.
Start Early: Learning happens best when spread out. This means that for finals, the further ahead you can start preparing, the better.
Small Bursts! (30-90 minutes): When is the last time you felt energized and ready to learn during hour-four of studying? Keep it fresh--study something different every 30-90 minutes!
Study several days per week for each final: Learning is an iterative process. Break your study plan down into smaller pieces (see previous tip) that take place several days of the week.
Eliminate Distractions: Focus is an important component of learning. Each time your brain leaves the content to think about a text message, or why that guy down the hall is playing his music so loud, it takes several minutes to regain your focus--some call this “deep processing”.
Vary Content (don’t suffer from sample problem exhaustion!): Your 200th example problem is not as valuable as your 10th. Try to change up your approach; make a map of course content using only your brain, create flow charts rather than solving the problems, etcetera. Example problems from previous exams are good, but shouldn’t be your only strategy!
Deleting AP/IB/ Transfer/ Placement Exam Credit
If you wish to delete any AP/IB/ Transfer credit you will need to send an email to the Engineering Registrar, at by 5pm on December 14th.
In the email you will need to state the specific course/(s) you wish to delete, and acknowledge that you will never be able to add the courses back to your transcript, and CC your EAC advisor on that email.
You can look at the Upper Division tuition & fees here: http://www.ro.umich.edu/tuition/tuition-fees.php . 55 CTP and up is considered upper division.