Sarah Haug
The week between spring recess and spring break might not seem like a vital week for your overall success this semester, but it is truly crucial to your current and future achievement as a Missouri S&T Miner (insert obligatory Miners dig deeper). Mid-semester grades officially posted this past Monday, March 19th. These mid-semester grades are a good indicator of what you can expect your final grades to be, provided you have a professor that actually posts mid-term grades. With only five full weeks of class left and then finals week, you will know what classes you need to pick up the slack in and where you need to put in the extra work. If a course is not going well at mid-semester, it is important to know that the last day possible to drop a course is April 13th. Summer classes at S&T are a great option if you have to drop a class or just want to get ahead and get some extra classes completed.
This current week is also advising week, so it is the perfect time to discuss your mid-semester grades with your advisor and your future plans for classes, as well as receiving advice for approaching the remainder of your semester. When meeting with your advisor, it is important to ask them any questions you have about your academic career because they are there to mentor and guide you through your college years. Joe’SS registration appointments for both summer and fall courses begin April 2nd, which is quickly approaching. The order in which students can sign up for classes depends on a number of factors, such as how many credit hours they have completed. Should you have a later registration date and not be able to register in a class you need for an impending graduation, that is restricted either by the term it is offered or is a prerequisite to a class in your final semester, priority is typically given to those with a higher academic standing (i.e seniors) come fall semester when you have to enroll manually and did not make it off the waitlist.
It may seem early to start thinking about finals, but honestly it is not a bad idea since finals week is May 7th through May 11th, which is not that far away. Looking over your previous exams from earlier in the semester and identifying where your knowledge was lacking will be valuable in creating a study plan for your classes with cumulative finals. The same holds for making crib sheets. It is also important to check if any of your finals conflict with one another, or if you have three or more finals in a day. If either of these are the case, it is important to talk to the Registrar’s Office and get your finals week scheduling sorted out. The Registrar’s Office requests to change a final exam schedule due to conflicting exams or three in one day are made at least one week prior to the week that final exams begin, i.e. April 16th to April 27th.
Pertaining to next semester, one of the ways that you can set yourself up for success in the fall is by creating a quality class schedule now. First and most importantly, make sure you are taking all the courses that are required for your major and check which courses are prerequisites for other classes down the road, as they are the most important to take as early as possible. Next, talk to some of your friends and learn about the demand of the class and what professors are recommended by other students. Additionally, it is important to note that course evaluations for professors can be viewed on Joe’SS if they have taught the course previously that you are desiring to take with them.
Overall, it can be difficult to concentrate during a week that is flanked by fun and freedom, but I promise if you work hard now, it will pay off in May and beyond.
