Skip Navigation
Oklahoma City - An OSU Degree in OKC.

Pete's Top Tips

Pete's Top Tips

FIVE Fool-Proof Ways to Make the Most of Your College Experience

  1. Begin with the end in mind. Is your goal to complete an associate degree, or to get your basics under your belt and transfer? Or do you have a different goal? It’s important to share your goals with your academic counselor so he or she can help you create a plan to reach them.
     
  2. Get Involved. Get to know the people in your classes, and the people who aren’t. Forging your own college community is a great idea. Together, you can share resources, ideas and experiences. Join a campus club or get involved with the Student Government Association.
     
  3. Check your OSU-OKC email often. Duh.
     
  4. Put a premium on great grades. Map out your class and study times in a planner and stick to your plan. If you schedule a study hour, then study for that hour. Learning to stick with a big project and manage your time is a huge part of college life – a lesson that will serve you well wherever you go next.
     
  5. Set yourself up to succeed. Print out your schedule before classes start, come to campus and walk from class to class. Familiarize yourself with all of the campus amenities. Learn which parking lot makes the most sense for you to use. Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home. We’ve got a great Student Life, Wellness Center and snack bar in the Hub and more.

Five Things Every Adult Student Should Remember

  1. Age is just a number. Think you’re too old to start something new? Think again. Henry Ford was 45 when he invented the Model T. Laura Ingalls Wilder published her first book at age 65. And Momofuku Ando invented the college classic, instant Ramen noodles, at age 48. So in the words of Elsa, "Let it go!"
     
  2. The more education you have, the greater your income will be. Median incomes of people who hold an associate degree, versus those whose education stopped at high school, is about $30,000 more over a five-year period. Similarly, the general unemployment rate for people with associate degrees is 6.8 percent; for those who stopped at high school it’s 9.4 percent.
     
  3. You probably have better time-management skills than younger students because: life. Maybe you juggle a job, a spouse and children. Maybe you work two jobs and help care for an older relative. Maybe your job is full-time plus and you have an active social or volunteer life. Any way you slice it, you’ve got serious time-management skills. And skilled time management is crucial to academic success.
     
  4. You’ll model important lessons for your kids, grandkids or any kids! Children consistently pick parents and caregivers as their top role models, and nothing will reinforce telling them how important a good education is more than earning a degree yourself. It’s proven: parents with college degrees are more likely to have children who are better educated, regardless of race or ethnicity.
     
  5. OSU-OKC is designed with you in mind. We’ve got classes offered morning, noon and night…in addition to online and on the weekends, lots of financial aid opportunities, and our faculty and staff will delight in your success almost as much as you do.

Rock Your Online Course with These Four Tips

  1. Test your technology. Before class starts, make sure you can access, view, upload and stream everything the course requires. Sometimes these are technical issues, as in, "Do I have Dropbox?," and sometimes these are human issues, as in, "Do I know how to use Dropbox?" Remember, at OSU-OKC, help is just a call or email away, so don’t be shy.
     
  2. Get to know your classmates and instructor. Sure, it takes a little more effort to meet people whom you can’t actually see, but it’s worth it for at least two reasons. First, it will help you feel more connected and therefore, more accountable, if your new colleagues notice that you weren’t logged in. Second, you’ll create a network of similarly success-oriented peers, who share your goals and can help you feel connected.
     
  3. You’ve heard of a man-cave? Create your "study cave." Find your ideal study spot and make it your own. Whether it’s your breakfast room or a corner of the den, working in the same spot every time helps you get in the zone when it comes to learning. Make sure you have good lighting, a comfy chair and the textbooks or supplies you need to get your work done within arm’s reach. Don’t forget a healthy snack!
     
  4. Before you submit your work, no matter how small, look at it one more time. It’s easy to get in a rush, or to just be so darn glad you’ve finished an assignment, that you push send, only find a spelling or clarity error the moment your assignment whooshes away. It’s similar to the old "measure twice, cut once" axiom. Take an extra moment to get up and stretch, then sit down and read through your work one more time.

Three Important Things Every Single Parent Student Must Never Forget

  1. Your child will benefit from your education. Not surprisingly, there are positive relationships between parents’ levels of education and parents’ expectations for their children’s success. This tells us that more highly-educated parents actively encourage their children to develop high expectations of their own. Children who see that their parents value and pursue higher education are far more likely to value and pursue higher education themselves.
     
  2. OSU-OKC has many, MANY tools to help you succeed. Our Student Success and Opportunity Center is where you’ll find study skills workshops, class-specific tutoring, a computer lab and more. Nine of our degree programs are available entirely online, and many more can be completed partly online and partly in the classroom. We genuinely care and want to help you succeed.
     
  3. You can totally do this. Studies show that 25 percent of U.S. college students have dependent children. You may need to do it part-time, and your academic career may start and stop a few times but the minute you begin your higher education journey, you change your family for the better, for generations to come.

Transitioning from High School to College: How to Survive, and Even Thrive!

  1. Get organized. In high school, your teachers might have led you through your coursework, reminding you about homework assignments and tests. College professors often post the assignments for the whole semester and expect you to be prepared. So be prepared! Buy an organizer, use an app, or get a big wall calendar. Whatever it takes for you to know when assignments are due. You’ll thank yourself later.
     
  2. Go to class. Thank you Captain Obvious. It can be easier said than done. Sleeping in and skipping that 8 a.m. class will be tempting at times. Avoid the temptation!! You’ve heard the expression, "80 percent of anything is just showing up," right? So just show up.
     
  3. Don’t procrastinate, dominate. It may have been easy in high school to wait until the last minute to complete your schoolwork and still get good grades, but that kind of stuff will not fly in college. Give yourself deadlines, and stick to them. And enjoy how much easier it will make your life. You’re welcome.
     
  4. Keep track of your money. If you’ve never had to create a budget, now is the time to do so. Stretch your money, and try to avoid all those credit card solicitations you’ll soon be receiving. Don’t spend as a way to mitigate anxiety or as a reward. Those are dangerous habits to begin. The average credit card debt of college grads is staggering. Don’t become a statistic!
     
  5. Be OK with feeling a little overwhelmed at first. There’s a lot going in your life right now. Expect to have moments where it seems a bit too much. Rest assured that you are NOT the only person feeling this way, and if it goes on for more than a couple of weeks, stop by your advisor’s office. You wouldn’t let a cold drag on for weeks, would you?