Attendance

 Here is the best and most important piece of advice I can give you: Attend every class. It bears repeating: Attend every class.

 One of the comparisons that many of my first-year students make between high school and college is that, in college, students do not have to attend class. Wrong. You do have to attend class, especially if you want to succeed. Some of your professors will not have attendance policies, but that does not mean you do not have to attend. Most exams and other assignments are based on all course material—lectures, discussions, and texts. Many of your professors will have attendance policies, and you should understand them. If you do not, ask questions. Most of those policies will allow for a certain number of absences (we often don’t distinguish between “excused” and “unexcused” like your high school teachers did) after which a penalty will be applied. Save your absences for illness. I frequently have students who use their absences for long weekend trips, family obligations, sleeping in, or finishing up assignments for other classes and then, at the end of the semester, find themselves sick. Feeling miserable, they have two choices: miss more class or attend class with the illness and put the rest of the students at risk. (Most colleges and universities are like giant Petrie dishes of bacteria and viruses; you will catch something from someone at some time, so save your absences.)

 Attendance will affect your grade. Even in classes where attendance and participation are not assessed, you will benefit from attending every class. Students who attend class make connections both within the course and across their coursework. Students who attend class engage more readily and deeply with the course material and are thus more likely to succeed on assignments. Coupled with completing assignments, attending all of your classes is one of the easiest way to succeed in your first year of college.