First Year Odyssey

A Snapshot of UGA’s First-year Students

The Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement at UGA

First-Year Students’ Academic Profile

UGA faculty care about their students, and with the advent of the First-Year Odyssey (FYO) program, the faculty has an especially strong interest in the entering class. Data from the Admissions Office tell us how strong these students are. For the UGA class of 2015

  • the mid-50% range for GPA is 3.68-4.00,
  • the mid-50% range for the SAT Critical Reading and Math is 1170-1350,
  • the mid-50% range for the SAT Writing is 570-680.

The annual Beloit College Mindset List < http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2014/ > also reminds us of how young they are. Born in 1992, the class of 2014, for example, rarely knows cursive, rarely uses email (too slow), and has always had access to hundreds of cable channels.

Because the University of Georgia asks incoming students to participate in a survey about their experiences and engagement < http://www.uga.edu/ovpi/pdfs/UGA_BCSSE2010_Report.pdf >, we also have access to information particular to UGA students. We know, for example, that in the UGA class of 2014,

  • 66% took and passed calculus,
  • 70% took 4 or 5 Advanced Placement classes in high school and 82% took 4 or 5 Honors classes,
  • 89% reported that most of their high school grades were A or A-, and 69% think the same will hold true in their university classes.
  • and 65% thought they knew what their major would be.

In other words, students entering FYO seminars are well-prepared, and they think they know what their future holds. Faculty should know that 54% never or only sometimes prepared two or more drafts of a paper before turning it in. If faculty want papers carefully written, they should probably make those expectations clear. And 56% of entering students discussed grades with a teacher often or very often. Given high student expectations about grades, the more clearly professors explain what their standards are, the more smoothly those conferences will go.

First-Year Students’ Expectations of College

Most students (55%) expect to spend between 11 and 20 hours per week studying and another 33% expect to spend longer (but 44% spent 10 hours or less during high school). About three-quarters expect to ask questions or actively participate in class discussions. A dismaying 67% report that they never or only sometimes discussed ideas from readings or classes with high school teachers, but 47% expect to have those discussions at UGA. Those data suggest that some incoming students understand what a research university’s active learning style is like. Others do not, however, and will have to learn that they need to spend time preparing for class so that they can participate actively. Most will have to learn that an in-class discussion asks students to engage with ideas and push beyond what the text says.

But incoming students are ready to be challenged, and not just by their professors.

  • Students were asked how often during the coming year they expected to have serious conversations with students of a different race or ethnicity: 77% indicated often or very often.
  • Students were asked how often during the coming year they expected to learn something that changes the way they understand an issue or idea: 88% indicated often or very often.
  • Students were asked how important it is that their university provides opportunities to interact with students from different economic, social, and racial or ethnic backgrounds: 60% indicated important or very important.

The First-Year Odyssey

In FYO seminars, students want to learn from one another, as well as from the professor, and they enter with minds that are open to the possibility of change. Those attitudes mean that group activities and projects may be particularly effective in reaching the first-year student.

Since the FYO seminar program was designed so that first-year students will have the chance to interact with a faculty member outside of class and will be encouraged to attend campus events, the survey had some promising news.

  • Students were asked how important it is that their university provides assistance coping with non-academic responsibilities: 43% indicated important or very important.
  • Students were asked how important it is that their university provides support to help students thrive socially: 52% indicated important or very important.
  • Students were asked how important it is that their university provides opportunities to attend campus events and activities: 71% indicated important or very important.

Those results suggest that the FYO seminar is likely to be a crucial moment for incoming students. In a successful FYO seminar, students will rely on the small class to provide them with connections to the university community at large, they will be introduced to the importance of learning, and they will see that learning can go on both in and outside the classroom.