© 2026 Nathan Nobis. This work is
licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC
BY 4.0). You are free to share and adapt this material for any purpose,
including commercially, provided appropriate credit is given, a link to the
license is provided, and changes are indicated.
License:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Nathan Nobis, Professor of
Philosophy at Morehouse College, developed this booklet with suggestions,
observations, and feedback from Dan Peterson and other colleagues at Morehouse
College, including Natasha Howard, Nia Reed, Corey Stayton, and Keisha Edwards
Tassie. Feedback and suggestions for improvement are welcome!
nathan.nobis@morehouse.edu
Version: August 10, 2026.
Introduction
College gives you an unusual amount of freedom. Nobody is
likely to follow you around making sure you go to class, do the reading, start
your paper early, check your email, or study for an exam. That freedom is one
of the good things about college. It also means that much more of the
responsibility for your education now belongs to you.
This guide is written for college students, especially
students who are new to college and still figuring out what college expects of
them. Some of what follows may seem obvious to you. Other things may be things
nobody has ever explicitly told you. Professors often assume that students
already know how to be successful college students, even though many of these
expectations and habits have to be learned.
The advice here comes from years of working with college
students and seeing both what helps students succeed and what unnecessarily
gets in their way. The goal isn't to give you another collection of rules to
follow. It's to make some of the unwritten rules of college explicit—and help
you develop what can be called “habits of excellence.”
Eventually, these behaviors can become part of how you think
about yourself. Instead of “I have to study tonight,” the thought becomes
closer to “I am a serious student, so of course I prepare.” You are becoming a
budding scholar: someone capable of learning difficult things, thinking
independently, and taking responsibility for doing good work.
And some of this will be difficult. That’s normal.
Difficulty is not, by itself, evidence that you are bad at college, that you do
not belong here, or that a course is unfair. Often it means that you are doing
something you do not yet know how to do. College should involve hard work: you
are learning hard things and developing your skills at doing hard things. You
are earning a degree, not simply spending time in school.
The expectations below—these “rules”—are demanding because
college students are capable of meeting demanding expectations. They are also
practical: these habits make it easier to learn, earn good grades, become
someone professors and classmates can rely on, and prepare for whatever you
want to do after college. You will not do all of them perfectly. Nobody does.
The goal is to get better at them and, over time, make them yours.
1. Go to Class. Consistently.
This sounds obvious. And it is.
When you miss class, you miss explanations, examples,
announcements, discussion, practice, and opportunities to ask questions. You
also lose something harder to replace: the experience of working through ideas
with the professor and other students.
Make attendance the default rather than a decision you
reconsider every morning. “Do I feel like going today?” is not a useful
question. Serious students go to class because that is part of what they do.
If you must miss class, find out what you missed. A
classmate can often help. Do not assume that the professor is responsible for
recreating the class for you.
2. Arrive On Time and Stay the Whole Class.
Being on time is a small behavior that says something
larger: you planned ahead, you respect other people's time, and you can be
relied upon.
Use the restroom beforehand. Charge your devices. Get food
or coffee before class. Leave enough travel time. Emergencies happen, of
course, but routinely arriving late or leaving early should not.
Imagine getting an internship or an entry-level job you
really want. Regularly walking into important meetings late—or getting up and
leaving halfway through—would not help your reputation. College is a good place
to build habits that help you avoid that reputation.
3. Bring What You Need.
Come prepared: notebook, pen or pencil, assigned readings, a
charged laptop if it is needed and permitted, and whatever else the course
requires.
Preparation makes it easier to learn. If everything you need
is already there, you can spend your attention learning instead of solving
avoidable little problems.
4. Take Notes.
Listening can create the feeling that you understand
something. Having to put an idea into your own words is a better test.
Take notes actively. Record important claims, distinctions,
examples, arguments, questions, and things you do not understand. Your notes
are not supposed to be a transcript of everything said in class; they should
show your mind working on the material.
When practical, try taking notes by hand. It can encourage
active processing and removes many of the distractions that come with having a
screen in front of you.
There are many ways to take notes, so explore different
approaches and experiment to find one that works well for you. Almost any
thoughtful method is better than taking no notes at all.
Imagine again that dream internship or entry-level job. A
big meeting runs long, so everyone agrees to finish it tomorrow. The next day,
a supervisor asks you to review the details of the previous meeting in front of
everyone. Are you better off with good notes to speak from or with no notes?
Again, having notes is almost always better.
5. Focus During Class.
Your attention is valuable. Do not give it away for an hour
to notifications, social media, shopping, games, watching videos or whatever
else your phone would rather have you doing.
Being in the room while mentally somewhere else is not much
better than being absent. Some professors ban phones because they know how
difficult divided attention makes learning. Whether or not your professor
imposes that rule, you can impose a useful rule on yourself: when class starts,
be there in body and mind.
6. Do the Readings.
If a professor assigns something, assume there is a reason
for it. Read it. You are not merely trying to find out what the reading says.
You are training yourself to understand it.
AI summaries, TikToks, blogs, YouTube videos, and someone
else's explanation can sometimes help you understand a difficult text. But they
are supplements, not substitutes. If you routinely outsource the reading, you
may finish assignments without developing your own ability to read difficult
material—which is one of the abilities college is supposed to help you develop.
Always start by reading the assigned text. Then, if needed,
use other resources to fill gaps in your understanding before class. Better
yet, talk with classmates about the reading or bring your questions to the
instructor’s office hours.
7. Learn How to Read Actively.
Difficult reading often feels difficult because it is
difficult. Do not immediately interpret that feeling as “I'm bad at this” or “I
can't understand this.”
Read with questions in mind:
What is the author trying to establish? Why?
What reasons are offered?
What concepts matter?
What do you disagree with?
What don't you understand?
Mark up the text (underline, highlight, flag important
sections, etc.), take notes, and afterward summarize the central ideas without
looking at the text. Different academic disciplines often have their own
approaches to reading, so look for guides for particular classes—for example,
“How to read philosophy” or “How to read psychology.”
If you cannot explain the main idea or reconstruct the
argument from a reading, go back. Many readings need to be read more than once.
That's not failure; that's just what’s involved in reading challenging
material.
8. Follow Directions Carefully.
One frustrating way to lose points is to do substantial work
but not do the work that was actually assigned.
Before starting, read the prompt carefully. Turn it into a
checklist if that helps. Before submitting, reread the prompt and ask:
Did I answer the question(s)?
Did I do every required part?
Is the format correct?
Am I submitting the right file?
Feel free to reach out to your professor if you still have
questions after reading and reflecting on the assignment instructions. But
first check the instructions and syllabus carefully; the answer may already be
there.
Start early enough that you can ask a question if something
remains unclear. “I read the assignment and I'm unsure what this part means” is
a useful question to ask your instructor. Discovering the problem an hour
before the deadline leaves everyone fewer options.
9. Check the Syllabus Regularly.
The syllabus is the operating manual for the course. It
usually tells you what is due, when it is due, how grading works, what
materials you need, and what the course policies are.
Get in the habit of looking there before asking a routine
question. Also make sure you are using the most recent version if the schedule
has changed. Knowing how to find information for yourself is part of becoming
an independent student.
10. Check Email and the Learning Management System
(LMS) Every Day.
College gives you freedom, but freedom works much better
when you keep yourself informed.
Professors communicate schedule changes, assignments,
feedback, and other important information through email and the LMS (e.g.,
Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, etc.). Make checking them a daily habit—ideally at
roughly the same times each day—rather than something you remember to do when
you suspect there might be a problem.
11. Read Feedback on Your Work.
A grade tells you how the work turned out. Feedback can tell
you how to make the next piece of work better.
Read it. Then do something with it. If a professor tells you
that your thesis is unclear, your evidence is weak, or your explanation needs
development, look for that issue in the next assignment before you submit it.
Criticism of your work is not a judgment of your worth or
your intelligence. In a demanding course, serious feedback is often a sign that
your professor thinks you are capable of producing better work.
12. Ask Questions Early.
Confusion is normal, about many aspects of classes. But
don’t stay confused because you were afraid to ask about something: be bold and
ask!
Ask questions while there is still time for the answer to
help you. Do not wait until the night before the exam, after the deadline, or
the final week of the semester.
Asking a good question is not evidence that you are
unintelligent. Often it is evidence that you are paying attention closely
enough to notice what you do not yet understand.
13. Use Office Hours.
Office hours are one of the strange bargains of college: you
have regular access to people who have spent years becoming experts, and many
students barely use it.
Go with a question, an idea, a draft, or something you want
to understand better. You do not need to be failing. Office hours are for
learning.
They are also how professors get to know you. Someday you
may want a recommendation for an internship, graduate program, scholarship, or
job. A professor can say much more about a student who has actually talked with
them.
14. Manage Your Time.
Do not make your future self responsible for everything.
College work takes time, and students routinely
underestimate how much. Put deadlines in a calendar. Break large assignments
into smaller pieces. Decide in advance when you will do them. “I'll work on it
sometime this week” is not much of a plan; “Tuesday from 3:00 to 4:30 I will
draft the first two pages” is.
15. Submit Work On Time.
Deadlines are not unique to school. Applications close.
Taxes are due. Employers and coworkers depend on other people finishing things
when they said they would.
Professors also organize their work around deadlines,
including setting aside time to grade yours. Treat deadlines as real.
If something serious happens, communicate early. Explain the
situation clearly and ask respectfully what options are available. Silence
usually makes a manageable problem harder.
16. Use Technology—and AI—Wisely.
Technology is useful when it increases what you can do. It
is less useful when it replaces abilities you are supposed to be developing.
Given that, here’s a good rule:
anything you can’t do for yourself, AI shouldn’t do for you.
If you use AI for tasks that you cannot do yourself, you may
never learn how to do those tasks well. AI can therefore prevent you from
developing the abilities and understanding your classes are supposed to
cultivate: you may turn in assignments without developing yourself as much as
you could have.
The point of college is not merely to produce assignments.
Part of the product is you: a person who can read, write, reason, solve
problems, and learn independently. Don’t use AI in ways that make that person
less capable.
Furthermore, AI makes mistakes, but you will not be able to
realize that unless you are a person who really knows your stuff. Become that
person.
17. Learn Basic Academic Technology Skills.
You should be able to create and format a document, upload
and download files, find instructor comments, organize folders, name files
sensibly, convert common file formats, and navigate your school's LMS.
These are not glamorous skills. Neither is knowing how to
attach the correct document to an email. But being able to handle ordinary
technology without someone rescuing you is part of academic and professional
independence. Doing all of your coursework on a phone is usually not effective.
18. Improve Your Writing.
Writing is thinking that other people can inspect.
Clear writing usually requires rewriting. Organize your
paragraphs. Make your main point clear. Explain what you mean. Give the reader
the reasons or evidence they need. Then revise.
Very few people consistently produce excellent first drafts.
Starting early is therefore not merely a time-management trick; it gives you
the opportunity to turn an adequate first attempt into genuinely good work.
Take advantage of campus resources, such as the writing center and writing
tutors, if you need additional help with your writing.
Different academic disciplines often have their own
conventions for writing, so look for guides for particular classes—for example,
“How to write in history classes” or “How to write in business classes.”
19. Study Smarter, Not Just Longer.
Hours spent “studying” are not all equal. A familiar page
can make you feel as though you know the material when what you really know is
that you have seen the page before.
Make yourself retrieve information. Close the book and
explain the idea. Quiz yourself or a classmate who quizzes you in return. Work
practice problems. Use flashcards appropriately. Return to material over
multiple days rather than trying to force everything into your head the night
before the exam.
Study somewhere you can actually concentrate. And make
studying routine. Two focused hours spread across several days will often teach
you more than a panicked late-night marathon.
20. Use Campus Resources.
Independent does not mean alone.
Colleges provide tutoring, writing centers, librarians,
research help, accessibility services, counseling, advising, and other academic
support because capable people sometimes need information, coaching, feedback,
or assistance.
Using a resource is not an admission that you do not belong
in college. Knowing when to seek useful help is itself a form of competence.
21. Communicate Professionally.
People form judgments about whether they can rely on you
partly from how you communicate.
Write clear and respectful emails. Use a respectful
greeting. Say who you are and what course you are in when that is relevant.
Explain what you need. Respond when a response is expected. If you will miss
something important or have a serious problem, communicate promptly rather than
disappearing. Look up guidance on “How to email a professor”; while you are at
it, compare it with advice on “How to email an employer.”
You are practicing habits here that future supervisors,
coworkers, clients, and colleagues will notice too.
22. Develop Your Own Ideas.
A good college education should eventually make you less
dependent on other people telling you what to think.
Many assignments are not just asking, “Can you repeat what
the professor said?” They are asking you to explain, evaluate, compare, argue,
interpret, or defend a conclusion.
Take that invitation seriously. You are allowed to have your
own ideas. You are also responsible for giving good reasons for them.
23. Cultivate Habits of Excellence.
The individual strategies in this guide matter. The larger
goal is to stop experiencing them as a collection of rules that somebody else
is making you follow.
Build routines that make the right action easier: a regular
place and time to study, a daily email check, a weekly look at upcoming
deadlines, a habit of reviewing feedback before beginning the next assignment.
When possible, decide in advance what you will do instead of asking your tired,
distracted future self to make a good decision in the moment.
Over time, these behaviors can become part of your identity:
you show up. You prepare. You finish what you start. You ask when you don't
understand. You can do difficult work. You can improve things after receiving
criticism.
That is what I mean by habits of excellence. Excellence is
not one heroic night of studying. It is a way of working.
24. College Is Practice for Life Beyond College.
College matters partly because of what you learn in your
courses. It also gives you years of practice becoming a person other people can
trust with important things.
Reliability. Preparation. Focus. Judgment. Initiative. Clear
communication. The ability to learn something difficult, respond to criticism,
solve problems, and keep going when the first attempt does not work.
Those are not merely school behaviors. They are capacities
that give you more options in life. The habits you build now can follow you
long after anyone cares what grade you earned in a particular class.
25. Don’t Do It
All Alone
You will have bad weeks. You will procrastinate sometimes.
You will misunderstand things, receive disappointing grades, forget something
important, and occasionally discover that a strategy that worked before no
longer works.
Do not turn one difficulty into a conclusion about who you
are. Ask a better question: What should I do next?
And remember that doing things for yourself does not mean
doing everything by yourself. If you are struggling to develop any of these
habits or skills, ask for help. Professors, administrators, advisors, tutors,
classmates, friends, and family can all be sources of guidance and support.
Knowing when you need help—and seeking it out—is itself a habit of excellence,
not a failure of independence. Many people at your college want you to succeed;
give them the opportunity to help you do that.
College is supposed to stretch you. Treat difficulty as a
reason to adjust your strategy, seek information, practice, ask for help, and
keep working—not as automatic evidence that you cannot do it.
You are earning a degree. More importantly, you are
developing yourself. Build habits worthy of the person you want to become.
Research Note
This guide is written for students rather than as a review
of educational psychology, but its presentation has been informed by research
on adolescent and young-adult motivation and learning.
In particular, this presentation emphasizes high
expectations combined with respect and autonomy; the idea that difficulty can
signal importance and growth rather than inability; identity-based motivation;
students' sense of belonging; connecting academic work to personally meaningful
purposes; and evidence-based learning strategies such as practice testing and
distributed practice.
Key influences include David Yeager's work on the “mentor
mindset” and growth mindset; Daphna Oyserman's work on identity-based
motivation; Edward Deci and Richard Ryan's self-determination theory; Gregory
Walton and Geoffrey Cohen's work on belonging; Chris Hulleman and Judith
Harackiewicz's work on utility value; and John Dunlosky and colleagues' review
of effective learning techniques.
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