Kampus Insights to the Max

A debut advice guide by a student adviser/consultant outlining an action plan to get the most out of college.

For college life coach Williams, “the biggest problem in completing college and getting a job within your field of study is not having a specific plan of action.” She seeks to remedy that in this book by offering a pyramid-structure strategy for setting specific academic objectives for each school year that can serve as building blocks to maximize the college experience. “The first year of college is about creating the solid foundation for your academic success,” so Williams focuses freshmen on their studies, insisting they visit professors during office hours and judiciously choose classmates for study groups. Sophomores should step up to become leaders in a student organization to develop networking and other nonacademic skills also critical to success. Williams recommends studying abroad, if feasible, in Year 2’s summer as preparation for her recommended focus on being “a global student” in Year 3, which should include participating in or creating campus events that expand one’s cultural horizons, since such heightened awareness is also a competitive advantage. Students should snag that career-focused internship in Year 4, she says, since such positions often lead to post-college jobs. Debut nonfiction author Williams has mapped out a clear, engaging strategy by which students can better leverage their college experiences. She offers an array of practical tools, including a college finance budget spreadsheet. She relates her advice in a warm, noncondescending manner and supports her points by sharing her own experiences as an engineering undergrad, including how she dealt with her fear of physics by forming a study group and how her study abroad experience in the Caribbean “changed my life forever.” Indeed, Williams is to be commended for including cultural/diversity awareness as an important element in her success mix. The chronological organization gets a bit confusing at the end, with a “year five” discussion that includes completing a senior project as well as early postgrad living. Overall, however, Williams offers exceedingly helpful advice for students in navigating their college experiences.

Pragmatic as well as inspiring road map to maximizing college ROI.