Balancing a social life with a high GPA can be difficult for any college student, but in the end, studying — not socializing — leads to graduation.
Center for Academic Success Director Saundra McGuire recommends students adopt an attitude that academic performance is the most important part of their time at the University. Students still can have a healthy social life, she said.
“If students have an academic-based attitude,” McGuire said, “then they will be able to maintain a focus on their academics that will help them keep their social lives in balance.”
CAS, located in the basement of Coates Hall in Room 32, is the central academic support unit at LSU, according to the mission statement of the center. CAS provides students with strategies to prepare them for success in their courses, future careers and in life.
McGuire said although the center helps students to improve their GPAs, grades are not the focus of CAS.
“A message we want to get across is that students should focus on learning as opposed to grades,” McGuire said. “A focus on learning will result in good grades.”
One student expressed appreciation for the center.
“I brought my grade up to an A in biology just by following advice from the center,” said Ally Friedman, a freshman in biology.
McGuire suggested various methods for students in order to succeed academically. The first and most important method is to
follow a basic study cycle.
The study cycle advocated by CAS includes four steps, McGuire said.
Students should preview material before class, go to every class, review class notes as soon as possible and schedule intense study sessions — 60-minute targeted studying — for each class.
CAS is not limited only to offering study tips. One-on-one appointments can be made with its staff to assess a student’s personal strengths and weaknesses, McGuire said.
The center’s Web site, www.cas.lsu.edu, offers online workshops to help with time-management problems, note taking and study habits.
The staff at CAS encourages students to stop by the center any time. Pamphlets and handouts are readily available at the center’s entrance. CAS offers tutorial programs, supplemental instruction classes and counseling not offered anywhere else on campus.
For more information on CAS, visit the center at B-32 Coates Hall, call at 578-6749 or visit their Web site.