Snarktastic Guide to College Success, The
Published on 5. March 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
128 pages
978-0-321-94732-1 (ISBN)
Description
For First Year Experience, Student Success, and Introduction to College courses, as well as Student Orientation/Bootcamp.
What if you didn't have to force students to read their college success textbook? The Snarktastic Guide to College Success takes an alternative approach as "the unvarnished, usually-said-behind-your-back truth about what really matters, straight from college students, alums, faculty, staff, and administrators." And that's exactly what you'll find. So go ahead, assign it - and marvel as students actually read it.
This alternative approach to college success strategies focuses on presenting information in a different tone. In terms of information, this is the sort of advice that students used to have to get from older and wiser fellow students, from TAs feeling exceptionally generous one day after class, or from (horrors!) figuring it out themselves. The trouble with learning these lessons on your own is that by the time you figure it out, you've either nearly or already graduated. This book allows incoming students to 'figure it out' in time to put it to use. And the alternative tone - the 'snark' in Snarktastic - is what makes all that wholesome, mentally nutritious information go down easy, like the chocolate coating on a granola bar. The Snarktastic Guide to College Success recognizes most students respond well to a humorous, informed style, like the The Onion (http://www.theonion.com) of textbooks, if you will. Funny, irreverent, honest, and chock-full of useful stuff. It's all here, from choosing a seat on the first day of class to how paying attention to who's wearing backpacks can save a lot of grief. And that only scratches the snarky surface...!
What if you didn't have to force students to read their college success textbook? The Snarktastic Guide to College Success takes an alternative approach as "the unvarnished, usually-said-behind-your-back truth about what really matters, straight from college students, alums, faculty, staff, and administrators." And that's exactly what you'll find. So go ahead, assign it - and marvel as students actually read it.
This alternative approach to college success strategies focuses on presenting information in a different tone. In terms of information, this is the sort of advice that students used to have to get from older and wiser fellow students, from TAs feeling exceptionally generous one day after class, or from (horrors!) figuring it out themselves. The trouble with learning these lessons on your own is that by the time you figure it out, you've either nearly or already graduated. This book allows incoming students to 'figure it out' in time to put it to use. And the alternative tone - the 'snark' in Snarktastic - is what makes all that wholesome, mentally nutritious information go down easy, like the chocolate coating on a granola bar. The Snarktastic Guide to College Success recognizes most students respond well to a humorous, informed style, like the The Onion (http://www.theonion.com) of textbooks, if you will. Funny, irreverent, honest, and chock-full of useful stuff. It's all here, from choosing a seat on the first day of class to how paying attention to who's wearing backpacks can save a lot of grief. And that only scratches the snarky surface...!
Reviews / Votes
"If I was to be snarky, I would say that too many robo-guides echo the propaganda of university marketing departments rather than give students the lowdown on what they need to do to get the most out of their college experience. I adore the pulling-no-punches approach of these folks. They avoid cynicism and yet deliver the straight scoop with humor and honesty."--Simon Bronner, Distinguished Professor at Pennsylvania State University and author of many books, including Campus Traditions.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Pearson Education (US)
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
218 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-321-94732-1 (9780321947321)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Sandra Mizumoto Posey works to bring out the best in every student. Why? Because once upon a time, she was a failing student and high school dropout. Eventually she turned it all around and went on to graduate from Cal State Long Beach with honors, then earned her Masters and Ph.D. in Folklore from UCLA. Yes, she knows that is the most useless degree you can possibly get. As her friend's mom once said, "Good school, bad major." Still, it's served her well. She's Director of Learning Communities and First Year Success at Metropolitan State University of Denver where she is also an Associate Professor of Women's Studies. Prior to that, she was Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary General Education and Interim Director of the Center for Community Service-Learning at California State Polytechnic University Pomona. There she earned tenure, something she is now so fond of, she takes it wherever she goes, like her yorkie. She has taught at the college level for over a dozen years, mostly to freshmen, a term she can't use because it's too gender-biased. After all, she is a Women's Studies professor. She prefers "first year student" even though it doesn't roll off the tongue. When things do roll off the tongue she's actually pretty funny. Don't tell her I said so. Feminists are scary.
Teague von Bohlen enjoys sharing the title "professor" with his colleagues Plum, Dumbledore, Xavier, and Flutesnoot. He's won several awards for his teaching, starting with several student-service prizes from his Creative Writing MFA alma mater Arizona State University, and two faculty excellence in teaching awards from the University of Colorado Denver, where he currently teaches fiction and serves as primary advisor to the student newspaper The Advocate. He's freelanced (which too many people think he actually does for free) for magazines such as Westword and Village Voice Media, serving as everything from pop-culture critic to political commentator to humorist. (The humor part is, to be fair, a matter of opinion.) His first novel, The Pull of the Earth, won the Colorado Book Award for Fiction in 2007. His short fiction has been seen in magazines and journals, most recently South Dakota Review, Hawaii Pacific Review, Superstition Review, Waccamaw Review, and many other publications that end with the word "Review." He's currently working on a collection of flash fiction and a second novel, mainly because he likes the irony of writing both very long things and very short things at the same time. He's very tall, loves comic books, and is extremely proud to have never seen an episode of Jersey Shore.
Teague von Bohlen enjoys sharing the title "professor" with his colleagues Plum, Dumbledore, Xavier, and Flutesnoot. He's won several awards for his teaching, starting with several student-service prizes from his Creative Writing MFA alma mater Arizona State University, and two faculty excellence in teaching awards from the University of Colorado Denver, where he currently teaches fiction and serves as primary advisor to the student newspaper The Advocate. He's freelanced (which too many people think he actually does for free) for magazines such as Westword and Village Voice Media, serving as everything from pop-culture critic to political commentator to humorist. (The humor part is, to be fair, a matter of opinion.) His first novel, The Pull of the Earth, won the Colorado Book Award for Fiction in 2007. His short fiction has been seen in magazines and journals, most recently South Dakota Review, Hawaii Pacific Review, Superstition Review, Waccamaw Review, and many other publications that end with the word "Review." He's currently working on a collection of flash fiction and a second novel, mainly because he likes the irony of writing both very long things and very short things at the same time. He's very tall, loves comic books, and is extremely proud to have never seen an episode of Jersey Shore.
Content
Foreword, Forewarned
Section One: Before Class
1. Picking Your College and Picking Your Battles
Nancy Williams Parks
2. Cutting the Academic Umbilical: Preparing Your Parents for Your College Experience
Randy Hyman
3. Be Good to the Gatekeeper: Please Don't Call Us Secretaries
Leslie Bailey
4. Beyond the Chili Pepper: Scheduling Classes and Picking Your Professors
Eileen Wallis
5. Oh the Humanities: A Defense of the Well-Rounded Education
Teague von Bohlen
6. Debt and U
Antone Minard
7. Between Boredom and Terror: Six Steps to Financial Aid Solvency
Nathan Rudibaugh
8. Why Choosing a Major for Stupid Reasons Might Be a Very Smart Thing to Do
Sandra Mizumoto Posey
9. Why Professors Want to Help You: Your Professor May Have Been a Loser Too
Sandra Mizumoto Posey
10. Why Professors Want to Help You, Part 2,
Teague von Bohlen
Section Two: In Class, With Class
11. Choose Your Seat Wisely: The Strategy of Sitting Well in the Classroom
Teague von Bohlen
12. Can I Sit Next To That Chick in the Burka?: Diversity in College Life
Heather Joseph-Witham
13. Get on the SyllaBus
Sandra Mizumoto Posey
14. TXT L8R
Teshia Young Roby
15. How Pretending to be Interested is Good for Everyone
Victoria Simmons
16. ProcrastiNation, How Not to be a Citizen
John A. Lanning and Sandra Mizumoto Posey
17. Yes, We Can All See You Doing That
Teague von Bohlen
18. The Bad Question
Kevin Haworth
19. Bring Me Your Tired, Your Hungry, Your Mediocre, Yearning for Grade "C"
Sandra Mizumoto Posey
20 The 'Do-I-Know-You' Grade
Teshia Young Roby
21. B.S. Is a Path to Truth
Sandra Mizumoto Posey
22. Good Writers Steal, But Not Like That
Sandra Posey and Teague von Bohlen
Section Three: Beyond Class
23. Will Work For Free: Campus Publications and You
Patricia Murphy
24. No Way...Pay Me
Bryan Smith
25. To Friend or Not to Friend: Social Networking and Your Professors
Patricia Murphy
26. Choose Your Own Adventure: Taking Advantage of Student Travel
Mindy Bezdek
27. Learning to Walk: What You Need to Know About Graduation Ceremonies
Teague von Bohlen
28. What You'll Need to Know From Day One of College to Get into Grad School
Sandra Mizumoto Posey
29. Get a Job! No, Scratch That Get a Career
Bridgette Coble
Section Four: Student Perspectives
30. Picking a Major (Without Kicking Yourself Later)
Daniel Alvarez
31. Tasting the Rainbow, One Friend at a Time
Megan Fowler
32. Roommates: The World is Not Your Toilet
Adam Steininger
33. Why Taking Erotic Notes is the Best Way to Remember Everything
Thorin Klosowski
34. Snark and Consequence: Lessons a Protest Taught Me
Jef Otte
35. The Truth About Your Professor: Lessons Learned from Hard Experience
Tasha Ringo
36. Make Sure They Have Backpacks (and Other Rules for Surviving Freshman Year)
Gellilla Gebre-Michael
Afterword: Sunscreen for the 21st Century
Section One: Before Class
1. Picking Your College and Picking Your Battles
Nancy Williams Parks
2. Cutting the Academic Umbilical: Preparing Your Parents for Your College Experience
Randy Hyman
3. Be Good to the Gatekeeper: Please Don't Call Us Secretaries
Leslie Bailey
4. Beyond the Chili Pepper: Scheduling Classes and Picking Your Professors
Eileen Wallis
5. Oh the Humanities: A Defense of the Well-Rounded Education
Teague von Bohlen
6. Debt and U
Antone Minard
7. Between Boredom and Terror: Six Steps to Financial Aid Solvency
Nathan Rudibaugh
8. Why Choosing a Major for Stupid Reasons Might Be a Very Smart Thing to Do
Sandra Mizumoto Posey
9. Why Professors Want to Help You: Your Professor May Have Been a Loser Too
Sandra Mizumoto Posey
10. Why Professors Want to Help You, Part 2,
Teague von Bohlen
Section Two: In Class, With Class
11. Choose Your Seat Wisely: The Strategy of Sitting Well in the Classroom
Teague von Bohlen
12. Can I Sit Next To That Chick in the Burka?: Diversity in College Life
Heather Joseph-Witham
13. Get on the SyllaBus
Sandra Mizumoto Posey
14. TXT L8R
Teshia Young Roby
15. How Pretending to be Interested is Good for Everyone
Victoria Simmons
16. ProcrastiNation, How Not to be a Citizen
John A. Lanning and Sandra Mizumoto Posey
17. Yes, We Can All See You Doing That
Teague von Bohlen
18. The Bad Question
Kevin Haworth
19. Bring Me Your Tired, Your Hungry, Your Mediocre, Yearning for Grade "C"
Sandra Mizumoto Posey
20 The 'Do-I-Know-You' Grade
Teshia Young Roby
21. B.S. Is a Path to Truth
Sandra Mizumoto Posey
22. Good Writers Steal, But Not Like That
Sandra Posey and Teague von Bohlen
Section Three: Beyond Class
23. Will Work For Free: Campus Publications and You
Patricia Murphy
24. No Way...Pay Me
Bryan Smith
25. To Friend or Not to Friend: Social Networking and Your Professors
Patricia Murphy
26. Choose Your Own Adventure: Taking Advantage of Student Travel
Mindy Bezdek
27. Learning to Walk: What You Need to Know About Graduation Ceremonies
Teague von Bohlen
28. What You'll Need to Know From Day One of College to Get into Grad School
Sandra Mizumoto Posey
29. Get a Job! No, Scratch That Get a Career
Bridgette Coble
Section Four: Student Perspectives
30. Picking a Major (Without Kicking Yourself Later)
Daniel Alvarez
31. Tasting the Rainbow, One Friend at a Time
Megan Fowler
32. Roommates: The World is Not Your Toilet
Adam Steininger
33. Why Taking Erotic Notes is the Best Way to Remember Everything
Thorin Klosowski
34. Snark and Consequence: Lessons a Protest Taught Me
Jef Otte
35. The Truth About Your Professor: Lessons Learned from Hard Experience
Tasha Ringo
36. Make Sure They Have Backpacks (and Other Rules for Surviving Freshman Year)
Gellilla Gebre-Michael
Afterword: Sunscreen for the 21st Century