Make a Plan

Prioritize your commitments and create a plan-you will need to have at least 6 hours per week devoted to your early college class. Between your regular school work, sports, and after school jobs…early college students have to be very intentional about setting aside time for coursework.

• Penny’s tip: I quickly learned that my studies had to be put on the calendar just like all other activities
• Rachel’s tip: figure out the average time it takes to read a page in a textbook, then figure out how many hours you need to attribute to reading based on the assigned pages.

Prepare Your Space

Prepare your learning environment-a designated quiet space with a computer and reliable internet helps eliminate distractions.

• Peggy’s tip: Have a dedicated space for your studies, even it’s a small corner of a room, and only do your work there

Set Up Your Account

Use the email link that came in your registration confirmation and be sure to read the student orientation guide as well.

Order Books

Purchase your textbooks and class materials, don’t wait until class begins. Order books as soon as 24 hours after registration when your classes appear in the portal.

Get to Know Moodle

You can access the Early College tutorial right away, please click through this mini support course to get familiar with Moodle and learn additional tips for success. Your enrolled courses will appear in Moodle about 1 week before they begin. Use that additional time to log in and see the syllabus and familiarize yourself with how the course is organized. Reach out to the professor or your early college support specialist if you have any questions.

Login to the Course

Do this several times per week-your professor can see that you are keeping up this way.

Always Check Announcements and Course Mail

Participate

Participate in class discussions-this is how the class community is created and many professors grade discussion posts for participation points. Early responses facilitate better conversations.

Start Assignments Early

Don’t procrastinate, college level work can be overwhelming when it is saved for the due date.

• Michelle’s tip: Use the syllabus and take things week by week. When you read over all that you will be covering in 8 weeks it can be overwhelming. Refer to the syllabus and know what is expected of you for each week so that you can manage your time wisely.
• Sarah’s tip: I found that some of the online texts were “read-aloud” compatible, so I would use that feature to listen to the text while I did household chores or while driving to and from work.

Ask Questions

When you need clarification-your professor is there for you.

• Brandon’s tip: When you don’t understand something, reach out to your Prof and ask! Especially at the beginning of each class. After reading a syllabus I would make a list of questions for the Prof. I would then reach out and schedule a video call with them and send them my questions. During the call we would discuss the questions and I would feel much more confident in moving forward.

Check Your Grades

Frequently check your grades and use feedback received to improve future performance.