Midterm Exams

It may seem that you just moved your student into the residence hall and celebrated Labor Day weekend, and now you need to think about midterm exams? Midterms?

Yes, start prompting your student about how he or she is preparing for midterm exams. Here are some questions to consider:

• Is your student completing all the readings?
• Where and when is your student studying? It would be ideal if all students could study in their rooms, but many students find that to be distracting. Between the television playing, Instant Messenger popping up on the computer screen, the cell phone ringing, and friends knocking on the door, time gets wasted and the distractions become greater! Your student might want to try using the study rooms in the residence halls, a room or lounge area in an academic building, or the library.
• Has your student received any grades back from tests or papers?
• If your student is falling behind, what plan does he or she have to catch up?
• Has your student taken advantage of the free tutoring in the Learning Center or spoken with his or her instructors? Every instructor has office hours, and office hours are for meeting with students.

Now is the time to ask your student about his or her study habits, papers, and grades. When midterm exams are given in mid-October, it will be too late if your student is struggling.