Follow up on College Admissions: College Attendance

One of the largest problems for students is when they get to college they are not aware how a college operates.

Some things students can go through an entire college program without knowing about:

1. The College/University Catalog. It explains everything you need to know about the college and how it operates, what classes you need to take, how many credits you need to graduate, and every rule related to what you can and cannot do while studying.

2. Should I depend on my general college advisor? (The short answer is no).

3. Should I depend on my department college advisor? (The short answer is yes).

4. When/how do I drop a class?

5. What is academic suspension?

6. How do colleges transfer policies stack up?

7. What is a course prerequisite?

8. Can I take a course without having the prerequisites? (Yes you can and sometimes it is a good idea).

Many of these are college specific, but there are general rules of thumb for students to follow (they should know for example...that almost all colleges have class withdrawal deadlines). Being aware that such policies exist is half the battle in getting students ready for college and helping them avoid losing financial aid. I help students every semester at that college I attend with these issues.

I think it would behoove all the students of Khan Academy to have an section identical to College Admission called College Attendance that shares the general rules, regulations, and tips for attending college. As I usually tell people, getting into college is actually not that hard, staying in college and finishing a degree is much harder.