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Ryan Markowitz

Andrew Pinkerton

English 1510

20 March 2018

How to Attain Success in College

Merriam-Webster defines success as a favorable or desired outcome; also: the attainment of

wealth, favor, or eminence. But how do you attain success in college and who is most likely at attaining

success. What makes a successful college student and what steps should one follow to achieve success. I

believe the most successful students are ones that are driven, well rounded, and enjoy college.

Throughout this paper we are going to explore why that is through multiple different articles and

viewpoints.

To start let’s look at college majors, a big determinant of success during and after college. The

college major is the specific subject area in which a student chooses to specialize in. In an article by

College Board, a website and organization that specializes in helping college students succeed, it was

stated that “Typically, between one-third and one-half of the courses you’ll take in college will be in your

major or related to it” (College Board 1). That’s a large number classes that can influence if one

graduates. The college board lists tips and gives actual student advice on choosing a major. The article

states, “Take courses in areas that appeal to you, and then think about which subject truly motivates

you” (College Board 1). The college board is talking about finding your motivation, finding that topic that

truly drives you and makes you want to learn. This makes sense because learning and studying come

easier when you are truly motivated to learn. Once you’ve found what motivates you and you’ve chosen

a major, you’ll have to try to find success in it.

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Let’s now consider what others say about what makes a successful college student. Kristine

Urban, M.Ed., is the Learning Center Coordinator at the Ocala, Fla campus for Rasmussen college. She

wrote an online article listing what she believes are the main keys to success for college students. These

keys include drive and motivation, persistence, positive thinking skills, support, and organization skills.

Kristine Urban goes into detail describing each one of these keys and when she talks about persistence

she addresses how it connects with your college major. “You must persist and keep striving for success

in your courses—do not let an obstacle become a wall” (Urban 1). Kristen Urban is talking about how it

is important to persist through your obstacles no matter how hard they are and to not let them stop you

or “become a wall.” She also states, “You have to really want to earn your degree and be prepared to do

anything it takes to reach your educational goals” (Urban 1). What this quote is saying is that you must

be motivated or a specific drive, kind of like when your choosing a major. You must be driven towards

choosing your courses and your major and you then must be driven and motivated to do well in those

courses and earn that degree in your major. So, with all of this in mind we can look back at the thesis

and connect these findings to it. Having determination and drive or an interest in what you do seems to

be crucial in succeeding in college.

Let’s see from a different viewpoint now and explore what others think make for a successful

college student. College is a place for opportunity and growth and one way to achieve both of those is

through clubs and organizations. But does being in a club influence your success in college? In an article

by Kathleen Carroll called for success in college, join a club or two - Groups can boost learning and ease

tough transitions, the idea of clubs and student success is talked about and is shown to influence

success. Carroll talks about how in recent years colleges have shifted toward educating the ‘whole

student’ meaning that colleges have been putting a greater emphasis on social and extracurricular

activities. “Researchers have found that having a strong peer group helps students earn higher grades

and graduate on time” (Carroll 1). The above quote states how being involved with others such as a
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strong peer group or club have a positive impact on grades and graduation times. Higher grades are

crucial to succeeding in one’s major and graduating and being in a club is shown to help with this.

Kathleen Carroll goes on to cite a quote by Karen Pennington, vice president for student development

and campus life at Montclair State University in Little Falls. In this quote Pennington states “"It's the

engagement, students who become engaged in the life of the campus do better academically and

socially. They get connected to people and to the institution.” This quote demonstrates that clubs make

for more well-rounded students. Clubs positively influence grades, cause students to make connections

both to others and the university, which helps with involvement confidence and becoming well

rounded. We can again relate this back to the thesis and how well-rounded students are likely to

succeed.

Now we can go back and review some of our information. We know that choosing a major you

like is important because it gives you a drive and makes you want to learn and do good. We also know

that it’s important to be driven and persevere through all obstacles. And then it is good to be involved

and explore clubs and organizations to promote learning and growth and becoming an overall more

well-rounded person. But how and why do these things relate to each other. Well in college when your

studying for an upcoming exam, you must be driven to push through and keep studying. You need to

have something motivating you, whether you like the subject or you need to pass this course to move

on to classes that you will enjoy. Say you meet an obstacle while studying and things don’t look so good,

well you need to have perseverance to push through that obstacle and keep studying and learning

everything you need to know. Now say you need to study in a group, well being involved in a club or

other organization can be that study group where you can learn new ways to study or learn vital

information that you may have missed on your own. These clubs can also get you close with faculty and

other administration which allows students to build relationships with professors, receive job or
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internship offers, letters of recommendation and so much more. But what are the other forms of

success in college.

To move forward, let’s look at the college experience as a whole so we can see another form of

success emerge. In the article What Makes a Positive College Experience, Tamar Lewin describes the

ways in which you can find alternative forms of success in college. By this I mean college isn’t just about

success in grades and academics, its success in meeting new people and making new and lasting

friendships. Lewin describes in his article “what really matters in college is who meets whom, and when.

It’s the people, not the programs, that make a difference.” He goes on to say “In choosing classes, pick

the teacher over the topic. Over and over, we found that contact with one great professor sent students

in a new direction.” So, to find success you want to make college a good experience with new people

and new relationships with those people. Making friends can have a crucial impact on new college

students. So, in order to help find success it’s wise to focus on meeting new people and choosing classes

with good influential professors. The article doesn’t stop there however, a good point that is mentioned

by Lewin is “It helps to join a large high-contact activity, like a sports team or choir, where people see

each other at least twice a week.” Again, we see elements of the club or organization like in the last

article by Kathleen Carroll. It’s good to be well rounded and its very good to be involved. Lewin finishes

up his point by talking about how it can only take two or three great friends and one or two great

professors to make college a meaningful experience. So, something so small when looking at college as a

whole can have such a profound impact on your experience. To many, having a meaningful experience is

just as important as succeeding in classes, the college experience is a form of success all on its own.

One final view that we should look into is what to do after you find success in college? After a

student has picked a major that drives them, persevered through any obstacles, made lasting

relationships and has become a more well-rounded individual, what do they do then? College is meant

to prepare you for life and a future career so wouldn’t it makes sense to then get a job after such a
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meaningful and successful college experience? To answer this let’s look at what employers look for

when hiring new employees. In the Boston Herald, Peggy Schmidt writes about some of the things that

an employer looks for in new hires, and all of what she says relates back to what we examined with

what makes a successful college student. Schmidt writes “Employers want people who want to work for

them. So, make it clear you want the job.” She goes on to write “A willingness to work hard. As more

companies try to keep profits up and costs down, it pays to let an employer know that you're willing to

do whatever is necessary to get work done.” These two quotes are basically rewording what we have

already said before, in the first comment Schmidt talks about a passion or drive which can make it clear

to the employer that you want the job. A willingness to work hard also refers to showing perseverance

which is another successful trait we identified. So, a lot of what employers are looking for is what makes

a successful student. When your driven and able to persevere, employers see that as good qualities that

boost your chances of being hired and finding future success. One more thing that Schmidt writes is “An

easy-going manner. If you come across as personable and, better yet, with a sense of humor, you'll be

seen as the front-runner.” Becoming personable comes with meeting new people and being involved.

When you have a lot of practice meeting others and making new relationships, you become easier going

and personable and well rounded. As we identified before, those that are more rounded are also more

successful in college and apparently in life after college too. So, it seems that it is important to keep the

traits that make you successful in college because they can also make you successful after college as

well.

Let’s go back one last time and review all that we’ve learned. Those that are successful in college

are those that are driven. They have a reason to go and study and learn because they are driven to do

so. Successful individuals also have perseverance and are able to overcome the obstacles that are in

their way. While having a drive and being able to persevere, successful individuals get involved, they join

new clubs and organizations and in doing so become well rounded. But success doesn’t just mean
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getting good grades in the classroom. Success can also come from enjoying the college experience as a

whole and making new and lasting friendships. And finally, as was Identified above, a lot of what makes

you successful in college also makes you successful in life.

College is an important step in a lot of people’s lives, and it is crucial to succeed in college so

that one can succeed in life. We’ve identified what makes a successful college student and why and we

also showed how that can help after college. So, to conclude, the most successful students are ones

that are driven, well rounded, and enjoy college and what it has to offer.
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Works Cited

“The College Major: What It is and How to Choose one.” College Board, Big Future TM. 2018

The College Board | PSAT/NMSQT, https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/explore-careers/college-

majors/the-college-major-what-it-is-and-how-to-choose-one

Urban, Kristine. “What it Really Takes to be a Successful College Student.” Rasmussen College. January
2014. http://www.rasmussen.edu/student-life/blogs/main/what-it-takes-to-be-successful-
college-student/

Carroll, Kathleen. “For success in college, join a club or two.” Record, The (Hackensack, NJ), October 10,
2009 LOCAL, 3pp. Articles Plus Search

Lewin, Tamar. “What Makes a Positive College Experience.” The New York Times. April 2014.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/education/edlife/what-makes-a-positive-college-
experience.html

Schmidt, Peggy. “YOUR NEW JOB; What do employers look for?” Boston Herald, (MA), April 8, 1996
Careers 1, p. 37 1pp. Articles Plus Search

“Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America's Most-Trusted Online Dictionary.” Merriam-Webster,

Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/.
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