Centre for Student Development and Counselling

TIp Sheet: Making a Successful Academic Transition to Ryerson

• Start into work immediately. Don’t wait to be told what to do.
• Develop your term calendar - a large piece of bristol board with the 4 months for each term drawn out in large squares. Fall term on one side, winter on the other.
• If it is necessary to work, try to keep part-time hours to a minimum or look for an on-campus job.
• Use the course outline as your principal study guide.
• Be sure you obtain your copy of the University’s STUDENT GUIDE on Policies and Procedures. It describes many policies which may affect you, as well as all the campus support services.
• Lead a balanced lifestyle with appropriate nutrition, sleep and exercise. Get involved in something on campus beyond your studies.
• Don’t drop courses until you have spoken to someone about it, or are sure you understand the implications of dropping the course(s).
• Choose essay and project topics as soon as possible, even if you only do the preliminary work.
• Identify and use appropriate campus resources:Learning Success Centre
• Writing Centre
• Micro Computer Centre in the Library
• Math Centre
• Library Tours & Instruction Sessions
• Develop an appropriate sense of time: start by attending a Learning Success Centre seminar on Time Management. Be sure to access information about the Learning Success workshop offerings.

Very important! understand and apply the preview - learning activity - review principle

This principle applies to how you approach the reading and use of your textbooks; how you read an individual chapter from a text; how you read an article; how you prepare for lectures before attending them; when and how to do preliminary research on essays; how and when to review your work and why it is important to do so.
This principle is just about the single most important study principle there is.

Even more important!

If you think things are not going the way you anticipated, SEEK SOME ASSISTANCE. There are many campus resources available to help you meet the challenges you face.