First steps toward success in college

I have been reading a lot of online posts recently about choosing a college, about going to a specific university, and about the relative ease or difficulty or prestige (or lack of same) between different schools. And mixed among those stories are the comments made by students saying “I got good grades in high school and I got a really high test score, so how hard can college classes really be?” Well, I’m here to tell you right now that they’re hard enough.

A couple of months ago I looked at the first semester business school grades (after one year of LS&A classes) of 120 BBAs here in light of their high school grades. The main finding might shock some people (but only served to confirm what I had believed): Students who do really well in high school (i.e., GPA of 3.9+ and an A in AP Calculus) can do really well at Ross but also can struggle to maintain a 2.0 GPA, and sometimes even fail to maintain that.

The first steps that any student can take toward success in college are the following:

• Forget how impressive your high school academic record was,
• Respect your peers (because they probably had a record as good as or better than yours),
• Respect your professors (because they were the smart kid in some high school and then some college class 5 to 15 or more years ago), and
• Respect the material (even if it looks something like what you studied in high school, you’re going to be tested on it differently in college).

The sooner that you realize that what you did in high school doesn’t count for much when you’re in college the better off you’ll be. We are all glad that you were an excellent student in high school. We are thrilled that you participated in so many extracurricular activities and contributed so much to your community. These are all wonderful things. All of them have gone into making you what you are today. Let’s sit back and enjoy thinking about them for a minute.

Okay, that was quite enjoyable.

Now let’s get back to the current situation. Those accomplishments don’t count for anything tomorrow when you’re sitting in a college classroom (or later when you have a job) — it will all be about what you do at that time, how you contribute to that community, how you compete and cooperate with those students. This isn’t really anything special to the college admissions process. This is how it will be for the rest of your life so you might as well get used to it. What you have accomplished is what has gotten you to where you are today, but what you accomplish today determines where you will be tomorrow.

Taking charge of your classwork

I’m teaching juniors this year in my BBA introductory course, BIT200. We have had a busy semester already, with a couple of assignments already turned in and several other assignments in progress. I have thrown a lot at them with varying degrees of success.

The primary difference that I have noticed that distinguish the better students from the pack is that he or she takes charge of his or her classwork. She knows what to do on an assignment and, if she doesn’t, she uses her resources (friends, online) to try to determine the answer but if she can’t find the answer, she asks. She understands what’s going on in class and, if she doesn’t, she uses her resources (friends, online) to try to determine the answer but if she can’t, she asks. She doesn’t wait until the last minute to do her homework so that, if she has a question, — guess what? — she can ask.

This is not to say that this person becomes a pest and asks a question every time doubt creeps into her mind, but it is to say that she doesn’t let uncertainty dominate her thoughts. She takes charge so that she knows what to do, she’s on top of her schedule, and she doesn’t rush to finish her assignments just before they’re due.

We can’t always reach this ideal. But this is what distinguishes the strongest students and is a sign of their maturity. It’s not a sign that they are overly compulsive about their work — it’s a sign that they understand how to give themselves the best chance of succeeding.

‘Any college will do’

An article in today’s Wall Street Journal by Carol Humowitz titled ‘Any college will do’ makes the following point:

Getting to the corner office has more to do with leadership talent and a drive for success than it does with having an undergraduatea degree from a prestigious university...Most CEOs of the biggest corporations didn’t attend Ivy League or other highly selective colleges. They went to state universities, big and small, or to less-known private colleges.

I consider this the best possible news for us, because I consider Ross to be a state university that is also in the position of also being able to be selective. This way you get the benefits of a larger school (resources, range of options, diversity in every possible dimension) combined with the high quality student body that selectivity brings.

The article goes on to say:

What counts most, CEOs say, is a person’s capacity to seize opportunities. As students, they recall immersing themselves in their interests, becoming campus leaders and forging strong relationships with teachers. And at state and lesser-known schools, where many were the first in their families to attend college, they sought challenges and mixed with students from diverse backgrounds — an experience that helped them later in their corporate climbs.

This sounds like it comes directly out of the playbook of our BBA advisors. What we want you to do is to do well in class, but also be sure that you have a well-rounded extracurricular experience that allows you to lead teams, manage projects, and get things done. It’s all in a day’s work for Ross BBAs.

Giving of yourself

I was just watching a show on The Food Network (while I’m waiting to watch the UM/ND football game) that had a great lesson for BBAs. It told the story of a working mom who quit her job and wanted to become a chef. She did not have any background in cooking (other than cooking for family and friends) — just like BBAs have little background in business when looking for their first jobs (other than the education they receive here and any experience they might have from internships). After a bunch of looking, she found a cooking school where she donated her time to help out the chefs in the kitchen. She wasn’t looking for anything other than a way to learn about the business. She quickly attracted a mentor. Her mentor was excited to work with her because she came with the attitude that she was looking for ways in which she could help, doing whatever was necessary, instead of looking for ways in which she could shine.

She donated her time and learned from professionals for four years. When a position opened at the restaurant next door (owned by the owner of the cooking school), they offered her the job. Why? Because they had observed her for four years. They knew her work. They knew her working ethic and her attitude. It was a natural fit.

BBAs should think about this approach. Go into a job with a humble attitude. Look for ways that you can help. Know that you are competent and able to contribute but that you are a beginner. Realize how much that you have to learn from people who have been doing their jobs for years. Think about and work on giving of yourself, and you might be surprised by the gifts you receive.

Don’t do your best

Nicholas J. Cotsonika wrote an article in the September 8 Detroit Free Press about the Head Coach Rod Marinelli and the Detroit Lions titled “Your best isn’t enough”. While this was about one of the beliefs of a pro football head coach, I believe it also applies quite directly to BBAs, especially incoming BBAs. Here’s what he had to say:

It’s not about doing your best; it's about doing what is required.

It’s not about doing your best? I have always been taught to do my best, and I have always tried to do my best. I have always assumed I would teach my children to do their best. Why wouldn’t I?

Because when you set out to do your best, you have good intentions, but you limit yourself to whatever you feel — deep down — your best is. ...

How do you know what you’re capable of?

If you set out to do what is required to win, your only limit is being the best. You might achieve things you would not have otherwise.

“A little extra effort, a little extra energy, a little extra study, it may be bigger,” Marinelli said. “It may be more.” ...

Some players have made peace with doing their jobs amid the losing. Others don’t understand the level of work expected of them — like Charles Rogers before he was cut, like Mike Williams.

Rank work on a scale of one to 10. Maybe you’re so talented that you’ve always gotten by working at a two. Then a coach pushes you, and you work at a four. You say, “Hey, I’m working twice as hard as I ever have before! I’m doing my best!” But you’re still not working hard enough. You’re still not doing what is required.

This is what life is going to be like for you at Ross. Our professors, and other students, will push you to perform and work at a level you may never have had to reach before. Before you push back or withdraw emotionally or reduce your commitment to the program because you feel that you’re being asked to do things or perform at a level that you are not capable of, ask yourself if you are giving your full effort. You shouldn’t be focusing on the fact that you think you’re doing your best and still coming up short, You should focus on figuring out what you can do, how you can change, to ensure that you will be able to do what is required of you.

You don’t know what you’re capable of until you give yourself an honest chance to complete a task with full commitment, attention, energy, and attitude. It’s my guess that, given this honest effort, everyone at Ross is fully capable of succeeding at a high level. It’s up to each student (with the help of the vast support staff and advisors here at Ross) to determine how to draw out the level of work that is expected of them.