How to Succeed at College: Campus Survival in the '90s 2nd ed

Alexander D. Gregor is director of post-secondary studies in the Faculty
of Education, University of Manitoba, and co-editor of Postsecondary
Education in Canada: The Cultural Agenda.

This book is based on commonsense experience rather than on the research
literature related to teaching and learning in postsecondary
institutions, and the related research on what has been called the
“college experience.” Nonetheless, it provides a very useful role as
a kind of “counsellor in a book” for those in the process of making
a decision about going on to postsecondary study, or for those actually
entering their first year. It has become increasingly clear in recent
years that the transition between high school and postsecondary studies
is a challenging experience even for the academically strong; and, as
the author quite correctly notes, the transition is more than just
academic—it also involves adjustment to quite a different social
milieu. All of these are part of the so-called freshman-year experience;
and this book provides a useful guidebook to the customs—and
survival—of that foreign terrain. For the author, however, the
expressed goal is not just to cope, but to thrive and succeed.

The term “college” as it is used in the title is left undefined;
but the lessons seem equally applicable to either of the two sectors of
Canadian postsecondary education: universities and community colleges.
Likewise, the introduction seems oriented toward the student departing
high school; but the contents could be equally useful to the mature
student some years out of school.

Following a general introduction to the new environment are individual
chapters on techniques of note-taking; getting organized; how to study
and learn; exams (different approaches for different kinds); how to
write an essay; writing book reports; writing lab reports; giving a
talk; and problems and solutions (e.g., complaining effectively,
adapting to different instructors). Brief comment is also made on such
matters as the use of technology (e.g., computers and word processing).
In addition to providing sensible and useful “how to” suggestions in
these various areas, O’Day also injects a refreshing leaven of
“why.” This book is very useful for any newcomer to the academy.