Classes

Guide to Surviving Midterm Week.

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Man working at homework on desk

It may seem hard to believe, but Midterm Week here on campus is quickly approaching!

Over the next few days, you may find yourself wondering how you may ever survive all the projects, and studying that needs to be completed within such a specific span of time!

To survive what may seem like “Midterm Madness” we have put together some of our top tips that can help you get ahead of the game and dominate anything that comes your way!  

Attend Study Sessions.

Attending study sessions is a great way to get a professional and in-depth look at what the upcoming midterm topics. Professors are likely to let similar questions to those on your exams slip during these sessions, and that is an excellent opportunity for you to get a full study experience!

Meet With Your Professors.

Taking advantage of your professors’ office hours as the mid-term looms closer may allow for you get a full analysis on what areas you need to work on, and you may also be able to gauge what topics will be focused on by listening closely to what topics your professor focuses on during your meeting. You can find your professors schedules on their syllabuses, or posted on their office doors.

Stay Healthy.

You may be tempted to pull an all-nighter and spend little to no time preparing healthy food options for yourself. As you increase your brain activity even further this time more than ever your body requires sleep, and nutritious food to keep a clear mind!

Manage Your Time.

As previously stated in our blog post “How to Fight Procrastination this Semester” creating a customized study plan may be an essential part of your success during midterm week. A HUGE part of this is time management- the recommended study session from University of Guelph Learning Commons is studying for 1 hours with a 5-10 break in between.

Fun Facts About Summer Sessions

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Student drawing tree outside

Even though it’s still chilly outside, it’s already time to start thinking about the summer! That’s right, registration is now open for Summer Sessions here at SUNY Ulster, so here’s some interesting facts about these mini-semesters that can help you decide if they might be a good fit for you.

It’s Not Like Summer School in 10th Grade

Let’s dispel this common misconception right away, because you might be thinking, “Summer classes? But I passed all my courses!” The truth is, taking summer classes in college often has very little to do with how well you did in past semesters. Granted, it’s a great way to catch up if you didn’t do well in a past class and want to improve your grade, but most people taking summer courses do it for other reasons. In fact, many students (myself included) have had difficulties with scheduling at one point or another and will need a few extra credits to graduate on time. A summer class or two can make all the difference when it comes to your graduation date, whether that means graduating on time or a semester or two early, and thus affects getting into a 4-year school or joining the workforce. Of course, there are many other great reasons to take summer classes too, such as…

You Can Get a Head Start on College

If you’ve just finished high school and can’t wait to start your college career, summer sessions can be a fantastic way to begin. You have a variety of prerequisites to choose from, and you can try online or in class to see what styles work well for you. By starting early, you’ll have an advantage over all the other freshmen who show up that fall and have yet to adjust to new types of classes, the heavier workload, and meeting new friends and professors.

There’s Lots of Class Options

Not only do you have a number of core classes to choose from, there’s also prerequisites and major courses for many fields being offered. This summer, there’s over 80 different options for classes and times available, so there’s a decent chance you will find something you need at a time that works for you. Not only that, there’s an almost equal number of online and on-campus classes, one of the few times this happens. Take advantage of it!

Not An Ulster Student? No Problem!

Many colleges (particularly other SUNY schools) recommend taking summer classes at a community college to accumulate credits at a good price for when you return to your own school in the fall. So if you’re back in the area for summer, or even halfway across the country with access to the internet, you can take advantage of Ulster’s Summer Sessions. Just be in contact with your school to make sure all requirements will be fulfilled first!

Weather (Shouldn’t) Be An Issue

If you prefer in-class courses but often have travel difficulties, summer classes can be a relaxing change. Just like the rest of the year, there are classes in Stone Ridge and at the KCSU, but you really shouldn’t have to worry about driving in snowstorms or waiting for the bus in sub-zero weather to get to them. Additionally, many students say they enjoy the energy in summer classes, since the weather is brighter and classes tend to be smaller, and classmates and professors tend to spend more time together and get to know each other better.

It Keeps You in the Studying Mindset

Okay, this could be either good or bad, but if you’re like most people, that break from homework in the summer makes it all the harder to go back to school in the fall. Summer sessions minimize that and keep you in the class-attending, homework-accomplishing mood we all have to be in to finally graduate. Summer sessions can be difficult, due to the condensed time frame they often work in, as they typically run for 8 weeks instead of 15. This can be a benefit, however, since it keeps you in the mindset needed to get work done and can help you get through a dull course or prerequisite quickly, so that next fall you can start taking more fun classes!

Look at the full list of classes offered this summer, with their session dates and online/in-class options, here. If you find a good fit, register today!

 

Fun Electives Offered This Spring

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People observing the night sky

Are you looking for an intriguing and fun elective to fill up your schedule or fulfill a requirement? Though it sometimes takes a bit of searching to find, Ulster offers a number of unique and innovative courses to bring some excitement into your semester. Here’s just a few you can sign up for this spring!

History of Rock Music – MUS 175

Personally, I’ve seen enough students with band-related apparel to safely say that many of you love rock music. Why not learn more about it in this informative class that covers every aspect of the genre? You get to learn about the history of rock music from its pre-50s roots to today, including its social causes and effects, style trends, and the backgrounds of many performers and songwriters who worked within it. Every other aspect of the business is covered too, as the course description says other topics are “language geared towards the non-musician musical features of rock: instrumentation, melodic/harmonic/rhythmic details, performance styles, lyrics, visual aspects (personal appearances, album covers, etc.), and production/recording techniques.” Of course, you get to listen to a great deal of music, both in and out of the classroom. What could beat receiving college credit for listening to music you already love? Professor Gregory Dinger, who teaches the class, says “The students are assigned a lot of listening outside of class, and we do some playful things in class like “create” appropriate song titles or group names.  Some of the written assignments include “Your Favorite and a Least Favorite Song,” reactions to a reading on the “Negative Reactions to early Rock & Roll,” and interviewing someone (of the right age) as to who they preferred in the 1960s:  The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.”

Feature Journalism – COM 201

If you like writing, this is the course for you. Although it’s a 200-level Communications course, this class can be taken by anyone who has taken ENG 102. Students get to learn about many aspects of the journalism industry, including the development and research, writing, and editing processes used to create feature stories for newspapers and magazines. Best of all, students in the class staff the campus newspaper and contribute articles for credit. Anyone interested in writing or journalism can benefit from this experience and exposure! Professor Robert Pucci, who teaches this class, offers, “The feature journalism class gives the student an opportunity to experience the working environment of a freelance article writer. Students research markets, target publications, write query letters and complete three magazine articles geared to their interests. In the past feature articles written for the class have appeared in local publications.”

Solar System Astronomy – AST 102

Who doesn’t love looking at the stars? The astronomy course here at Ulster offers not only the opportunity to attend a night sky observation (with a telescope and professional input!), but also the chance to learn more about the fascinating world outside our planet of moons, asteroids, meteors, and comets. Professor Steven Schimmrich, who teaches the class, says, “Students learn to use a freeware program called Stellarium which allows you to view the night sky from any location on Earth at any date or time which allows them to predict when and where to observe planets and other celestial objects. Students are introduced to the latest data being returned from NASA missions to various planets, moons, asteroids, and comets in our solar system.” The history of the solar system up through the current search for extraterrestrial life and new planets is also covered. This course is designed for all majors, and actually fulfills a Natural Science elective you might need for graduation.

Register Today!

If you can fit one in, it’s always good to have a class to take purely for the joy of learning! Read more about the courses and find out what requirements they fulfill by clicking on the names above. Be sure to register for these and your other classes before they fill up!

Get Ahead with Winternet Classes

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Girl Working at Laptop in Library Smiling at Camera While Doing Homework

As the days grow shorter and the last leaves fall, college students have two important issues to deal with: surviving the upcoming finals and planning spring schedules. Nick gave us some final exam tips a few months ago, but we haven’t talked much about class planning until now. If you think you might be behind on some credits, or if you’d like to get ahead, Winternet courses can be a great option!

Winternet classes, for those not familiar with them, are online, full-credit classes that you can take for a three-week span between Christmas and the start of the spring semester. You’re probably asking yourself, “Why would anyone want to use up their winter break by taking more classes?” Well, there’s a few great reasons to do so. If you’re like many students, you have at least a couple of grades on your transcript that aren’t that great. Perhaps you’ve switched majors and ended up with a few classes that didn’t transfer into your new program. Maybe you have a cap on how many classes you want to deal with in a semester. No matter your situation, you know the extra classes are going to affect graduating on time. So, what can be done?

Online Winternet Courses for 2018-19Winternet offers a solution: take a class or two to get back on track. Most classes offered for Winternet can be applied toward at least one general education requirement. Look at the list on the left. Almost everyone at Ulster ends up taking Western Civilization, so getting that out of the way over winter break frees up more space in future semesters for classes which may be offered infrequently. Also, if any of these classes are not enjoyable to you, there is the added benefit of powering through them and getting done in a short amount of time. Would you rather sit in a class you find boring for 15 weeks, or work through it online in 3? This is also true if you have taken one of these courses in the past and not gotten a passing grade; if you already know the information, but didn’t have enough time to devote to the class while dealing with your other courses, a Winternet class can be a good way to quickly review and get through with a better grade.

I personally recommend that anyone needing to take Information Literacy do so through a Winternet course. Info Lit is a one credit class that’s required for almost everyone, and it’s a lot easier to take online rather than taking it on campus while also working on five other classes. I took mine over my freshman winter break, and not only was it enjoyable, it also gave me a head start when I took English 102 in the spring, the class for which it is a pre- or co-requisite. It doesn’t just benefit you; professors will appreciate that you already know good research and citation strategies!

Worrying about extra semesters and late graduation isn’t fun, and Winternet offers a potential solution. Registration has already begun for this year’s Winternet courses, so if these classes fit your requirements, register online today!