Midterms are over! Rankings are out!

Hey Everyone,

Midterms are finally over for most of you! Hell week is out of the way! Since the last issue there hasn’t been much going on in terms of academics. There is a new PD course coming up and that will be discussed in the next issue.

This week I want to talk about what students can do between midterms and finals. At times our midterm grades don’t turn out to be as we expect (not always a bad turnout, sometimes the bell curve really saves us). This is the time when students start calculating how much they need in the final to get the marks they want. So what happens now?  Midterms are over and finals are two months away!

Once you get your midterm back, look at it! Don’t just throw it in your bag and call it a day! If your grades aren’t as good as you wanted them to be, make sure you work on improving them. It’s not too late. Look at the mistakes you made and talk to your professor or TA. It is also helpful to look over your mistakes with classmates or an upper year student.  Being able to identify your mistakes and the reasons for those mistakes will help you prepare and perform better on your final exams. For those of you who scored a solid grade, keep up the good work and don’t slack off. Good grades can lead to procrastination and aiming for “oh now I only need x marks to pass”. Aim for a higher mark than your midterm and work just as hard.

For those going on co-op next term, rankings for the first round are now complete.  Congratulations to all those who got an offer and are done with the job-hunting process. For students working out of province or out of the country, look in to travel plans (tickets are cheaper the earlier you purchase them). Be sure to have accommodation sorted out.

For those of you going in to the second round of postings, take another look at your resume, and see if you want to correct anything or change sections specific to a job you really want. Writing cover letters may seem like a lot of work, but at times it’s that extra effort that scores you the job you really want.  EngSoc carries out resume and interview skills sessions. Check out the calendar to see the date for the next session. Don’t panic, keep calm and do your best.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to send me an email on vpeducation.b@engsoc.uwaterloo.ca.