A Special Message for Sophomore Families

The Offices of Parent Programs and Campus Life are partnering on a series of monthly messages designed specifically for sophomore families.  These messages discuss developmental milestones and campus events that might be noteworthy in sophomores’ experiences.  This month’s message is on academic success.

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Your student is a sophomore now.  Navigating the first year of college is not easy, but having worked through his or her first set of college level classes – and the associated papers, projects, midterms and finals – your student is poised to take another academic step forward.  Your student should have more academic confidence now, as well as the time to begin thinking about academic success.

The notion of “academic success” will vary from student to student.  For some sophomores, it’s about attaining a certain GPA; for others, it may be getting involved in academic research or forming a deeper relationship with a favorite professor; for others still, it could simply be discovering a subject he or she likes enough to declare as a major.

Here is some advice for sophomore parents and families about where your student might be on his or her college journey, and how you can provide the best support along the way.

GPA and Grades

If your student is concerned about his or her GPA – whether maintaining or improving it – one of the keys to success is being very aware of how much he or she understands the course materials and taking corrective action when needed.  If your student is in a class and is struggling in any way, he or she should get help early.

Academic help comes in many forms, and your student will need to determine the best course of action.  Resources include: going to the professor’s office hours to discuss course material; signing up for tutoring at the Learning Assistance Center or going to the Writing Center or Math Center.  For some students who are already on a good path but just want some extra help, they may want to talk to other students in the class to form a study group.

Finally, good academic results almost universally require good study and time management methods.  If your student is needs help, offer these suggestions:

• Schedule study time on his/her calendar.  During study time, the student should treat it like an academic class (in other words, he/she is expected to be studying every Monday-Weds-Friday from 10-11 a.m., just as if it were a class)
• Treat that study time as a ‘media free zone’ – no texting, phone calls, instant messaging or internet (unless it is part of class work).
• Examine whether his/her study habits are truly effective and make changes where appropriate.  Is the student studying in Starbucks and easily distracted by people coming and going?  If so, consider moving to a different part of the library.  Does he/she study on the bed in his/her room but ends up falling asleep?  Try working in the Benson Center or a different location on campus that is less comfortable.

Get to Know Professors

Professors enjoy it the most when students are actively engaged in learning.  The best way to make a good impression on faculty is for students to come to class prepared and ready to contribute – whether it is in a class discussion, project, or lab.  To be successful, students need to follow each class’ syllabus exactly, making notes of dates papers are due, daily reading or homework, and exam dates – and then delivering the goods.

Sophomore year is a time to go beyond just those basic expectations and try to form deeper relationships with faculty members.  Our professors like to see students during their office hours, and want to be involved with our students as mentors and trusted adults.  If your student has not already found a faculty member he or she trusts and enjoys interacting with, urge him or her to begin getting to know his/her professors better. Meaningful friendships and mentoring relationships can develop from the casual office hours visit, where student and faculty member discuss and share ideas and discover mutual interests.

Students also have a unique opportunity at Wake Forest to do research with their faculty members.  Unlike other, larger national research universities, Wake Forest undergraduates can participate in research projects – and can even be published in academic journals with their faculty member.  Sophomores who are just discovering academic passions might want to talk to the professors who most interest them about getting involved in research.  It’s a great way to expand their knowledge of the subject matter and also get a glimpse of what graduate school in that discipline might be like.

Discover an academic passion

If your student did not come to Wake Forest with a specific major in mind – most do not, and those who do often change their minds – sophomore year is when students need to narrow down their interests and choose a major.  For some students, simply finding an academic area that they like enough to major in equals academic success.

My own roommate was in this situation our sophomore year.  She had not figured out an area she felt passionate about until she was finishing the last of her Divisional requirements and took an Anthropology class – and fell in love with the subject.  Suddenly, all the “major anxiety” she had was gone, and she found a path she felt confident about following.

Parents, one of the tougher challenges you might have as your students choose their major is resisting the urge to debate the merits of that particular major.  My roommate’s mother was concerned that an Anthropology major would be unemployable, and urged her daughter to choose something more practical.  That parental criticism certainly did not help my roommate’s confidence in her choice.

Students who find an academic passion tend to do better GPAwise (vs. students who are majoring in a subject they don’t enjoy or feel pressured to pursue).  And thanks to our Office of Personal and Career Development and departmental faculty, there are lists of jobs that former majors in each department have gotten – showing there are jobs at the end of the road for every major (select an academic area, then on that department’s page, choose the “Where have Wake Forest graduates landed jobs with this major?”).