How Do I Maximize My Chances For Success?

Tips for Success

  1. Make good use of your advisors (even if you think you don’t need to). Your Academic Advising Director and Pre-Major Advisor are there for you. It’s always better to ask a question too early rather than too late, or even just say that you don’t know what questions to ask.
  2. Pay attention to email. Official University notices come to you via email, and your Academic Advising Director will send you regular emails with information on deadlines, events, etc.
  3. Manage your time and energy well. The pace of the quarter system is very fast, and for most students it’s a big adjustment. You may have to learn how to manage all the “free” time you have, because you will probably be spending much less time in class than you did in high school. (See also “How many courses should I take?”) There’s a strong correlation between enough sleep and better grades, and amazingly enough, between substantial, focused study time and better grades. Academic Skills Coaching has resources on time management if that’s a challenge for you.
  4. Embrace the Honor Code. It was created at the request of students to keep cheaters from ruining the value of a Stanford degree. Poor time management (the previous point) sometimes leads to the temptation to cut corners. The usual advice applies: make sure to quote and cite correctly in your papers, write your own code in CS classes (they use automated methods to flag potential instances of copying), and in general do your own work. The standard penalty for first-time offenders is a one-quarter suspension.
  5. Get to know at least one professor each quarter. Go to office hours, invite them to Faculty Night, ask questions, find out more about what your professors do via their departmental websites, etc.
  6. Explore! There’s much more to a Stanford education than just courses. For example: Overseas Studies, Stanford in Washington, Hopkins Marine Station, undergraduate research, music and the arts, honors programs, etc.
  7. Take advantage of Stanford’s amazing resources for assistance and advising.

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