About this course: College can be confusing and intimidating, but U101 can help. If you were just admitted to college and are nervous about what the next step in life might look like, this course is for you. If you are the parent of a newly admitted college student and curious about what college life is like, this course is also for you. While your specific college will, no doubt, provide additional orientation material, we wanted to give some basic information about what life might be like at a large American University. You might be years away from college or enrolled right now; either way, U101 has some excellent advice from college students, professors, administrators, and staff. At the conclusion of the course, learners should: 1. Understand the basics of how colleges and universities operate. 2. Identify and describe what faculty are looking for in college-level academic work. 3. List some effective study strategies. 4. Identify some strategies for exploring and selecting a major. 5. Identify the various types of grants and scholarships available and describe the steps involved in applying to these. 6. Discuss the college life, with special attention to the benefits/limitations of living on or off campus. 7. Identify some strategies for getting the most out of campus life activities (investigating student clubs, fraternities, sororities, etc.). The course is divided into 4 weeks/8 lessons, which provide an overview of the different aspects of college life. If you were just watching the videos and looking at some of the links, the whole course would take about 4-5 hours. Week 1 Lesson 1. Welcome to U101! Lesson 2. Understanding the Nature of College Week 2 Lesson 3. Succeeding as a Student Lesson 4. Building Your Major Week 3 Lesson 5. Financing Your Education Lesson 6. Living On and Off Campus Week 4 Lesson 7. Getting Involved in Campus Life Lesson 8. Conclusion Please join us for a short exploration of modern American Colleges. Hopefully, this course can help demystify your upcoming college experience.
Created by: University of Washington
Taught by: Dr. Matt McGarrity, Principal Lecturer
UW Department of Communication
Taught by: First Year Programs
| Commitment | 4 weeks of study, 1 hour/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Welcome to U101!
Welcome to University 101. This short course will help you get the most out of your college experience. We want to help incoming undergraduates understand their universities. This opening module lays out what the course is and how you will navigate this online space.
2 videos, 3 readings
- Video: Welcome
- Video: Course Design
- Reading: Course Preview
- Reading: How to Use Discussion Forums
- Reading: Get to Know Your Classmates
Understanding the Nature of College
Now that we have discussed the basic approach in this course, we can dive into the material. A good place to start would be understanding how the university operates. Modern universities are large, complex organizations employing thousands of different teaching and researching faculty, all of who have slightly different roles. College isn’t simply larger than high school, it is structured differently.
3 videos, 3 readings
- Reading: Key terms
- Video: What's college life like?
- Video: What do faculty do?
- Video: How do colleges work?
- Reading: Review
- Reading: Resources
Graded: Understanding the Nature of College
Graded: Reflection: Mapping your interests
WEEK 2
Succeeding as a Student
You’re coming to college to get an education. Classes will take up a significant amount of your time, so we should discuss some strategies for success. As discussed in the last module, high school differs significantly from college. Incoming freshmen are often most worried about the classes. You have much more flexible time, but that time needs to be filled with self-directed study. In this unit, we’ll talk a bit about how understanding these classes and studying effectively for them.
4 videos, 3 readings
- Reading: Preparing for a college education
- Video: Studying in college
- Video: Faculty expectations
- Video: Using the libraries
- Video: Finding additional resources
- Reading: Review
- Reading: Resources
Graded: Succeeding as a Student
Graded: Reflection: Planning for Studying
Building Your Education
One of your big questions at college is, “What should I major in?” This module will tackle this question head on. In all honesty, what you major in matters less than how you prepare yourself to be an expert in an area. This requires you to move beyond simply your major and take ownership of your intellectual and professional development during your college years.
4 videos, 3 readings
- Reading: What do you want to major in?
- Video: Learning in college
- Video: Choosing a major
- Video: Applying to a major
- Video: Working with faculty members
- Reading: Review
- Reading: Resources
Graded: Building Your Education
Graded: Reflection: Finding and Following Your Interests
WEEK 3
Financing Your Education
Paying for college is a challenge. This module will talk about some strategies for budgeting your money while at college and all the options available to you for funding. There are so many different resources out there to help you pay for college. Regrettably, these are so broad that students remain unaware of them. This module should direct you to some of the most fruitful areas for finding funding.
2 videos, 3 readings
- Reading: Finances in College
- Video: Budgeting in college
- Video: Finding grants and financial aid
- Reading: Review
- Reading: Resources
Graded: Financing Your Education
Graded: Reflection: Money Matters
Living On and Off Campus
Are you going to live on-campus or off? There are strengths and benefits to doing both. This module will talk to some students about their experiences living on and off campus. Wherever you live while at college, odds are that you will experience homesickness at some point. This is entirely natural. We’ll talk a bit about why this happens and identify a few strategies for effectively dealing with homesickness.
3 videos, 2 readings
- Video: Transitioning to a new living environment
- Video: Living on campus
- Video: Living off campus
- Reading: Review
- Reading: Resources
Graded: Living on and off campus
Graded: Reflection: Where to live?
WEEK 4
Getting Involved in Campus Life
Going to your classes is probably the most important thing you’ll do during your time here. But it won’t be the only thing. Campus clubs and groups offer you a great opportunity to experience new things and ideas during your time here. They can introduce you to lifelong friends and enrich your education in untold ways. This module will talk about some options for getting involved in campus life.
2 videos, 4 readings
- Video: Finding your place
- Video: Understanding fraternities and sororities
- Reading: Student clubs and organizations
- Reading: Health and Wellness
- Reading: Review
- Reading: Resources
Graded: Getting involved in campus life
Graded: Reflection: How will you get involved?
Conclusion
Here we are at the end of this online orientation. Thank you for participating. This module will recap the key themes from the course and help you figure out what to do next as you prepare to enroll in college. Good Luck!
1 video
- Video: Review and Thank You
FAQs
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Coursework
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Creators
University of Washington
Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest state-supported institutions of higher education on the West Coast and is one of the preeminent research universities in the world.
Ratings and Reviews
It was really well done, i think that most of the issues were raised, there were a lot of extra materials (it's worth to say: accurate matterials) and generally i'm just satisfied :)
Amazing course. It helps you understand college life and how college works. And gives you tips on how to get the most out of college. Definitely recommend it, specially for international students.
I felt that this course was very informative and would most definitely assist the first year student who is enrolled in the University.
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This wonderful course is suitable for people of any age who want to enter college. It is very well organized, the videos are fun to watch and it is very inspirational! I would advise this course to all my colleagues and to all Ukrainian students who wish to study abroad and need some moral preparation on what to expect when studying in U.S. institutions.