The Secret Syllabus: A Guide to the Unwritten Rules of College Success

by Jay Phelan, Terry Burnham

Overview

The unwritten rules of success that every student must follow to thrive in college

The Secret Syllabus equips students with the tools they need to succeed, revealing the unwritten rules and cultural norms and expectations not included in the official curriculum. Left to figure out on their own how the academic world works, students frequently stumble, underperform, and miss opportunities. Without mastery of the secret syllabus, too many miss out on the full, rich experience available to them in college.

Jay Phelan and Terry Burnham share the essential lessons they have learned from struggling, unfocused students as well as award-winning college instructors and researchers. The Secret Syllabus draws on Phelan and Burnham’s experiences with thousands of undergraduate and graduate students. Weaving engaging storytelling with practical, actionable advice, they illustrate both productive and counterproductive approaches to achieving academic excellence, and highlight the importance of setting and attaining goals, nurturing strong relationships, developing resiliency, and more.

This fresh, funny, and boldly innovative book enables students to develop the consistently winning and effective behaviors that will equip them to thrive on campus and beyond.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691224428
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	07/05/2022
Series:	Skills for Scholars , #16
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	626,535
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jay Phelan received his PhD in biology from Harvard University and is on the life sciences faculty at UCLA. He is the author of What Is Life? A Guide to Biology and (with Terry Burnham) the international bestseller Mean Genes. Terry Burnham received his PhD in business economics from Harvard and is a finance professor at Chapman University. His books include Mean Markets and Lizard Brains. Twitter @TerenceBurnham

Table of Contents

Preface vii

1 The Big Picture: Every Culture Has Rules and Norms. Some Are Written, But Many Are Not 1

Setting Goals: It's Not the Plan, But the Planning

2 Not Having a Career Plan on Day 1 Usually Is Better than Having One 11

3 Planning Your Schedule This Term, This Year, and Through Graduation 25

4 Planning Semester and Life Goals 41

5 Planning Daily and Weekly Goals 55

Achieving Goals: How to Interact Effectively and Get Stuff That You Need

6 In Choosing Your Courses Seek Great Teachers 71

7 Office Hours: How to Get the Most from Your Instructors When You Control the Agenda 82

8 Classroom Behavior: How to Master Content and Make a Positive Impression on Your Instructor 94

9 Nurturing Your Relationships with Instructors: The Path to Recommendations, a Mentor, Jobs, and More 103

The Nuts and Bolts of Learning and Performing

10 How to Study (The Lessons You Need but Never Got) 137

11 Exams: How to Perform When It Counts Most 157

12 Papers and Other Writing Assignments: Say It Better 170

13 How to Study a Language 183

Overcoming Barriers to Success

14 Resilience: Everyone Falls; Only Some Get Back Up 195

15 Exam Postmortem: How to Learn from the Experience 212

Career Planning

16 Getting into the Graduate School of Your Choice: The Process (and the Secret) 221

17 What Makes You an Appealing Job Candidate? It's Not What You Think 234

Conclusion

18 The Big Picture, Revisited: If You Remember Just One Lesson Five Years from Now, It's This … 247

Acknowledgments 253

Appendix 255

Index 269

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“The Secret Syllabus is unlike any other book I’ve read on preparing for college success. The stories and conversations are enjoyable and the authors don’t just give advice, they explain how to do it. If you have questions about the culture of your college before you even get started, this book is a must-read.”—Shellee Howard, CEO of College Ready

“Uniquely personal and exquisitely readable. Navigating the ‘secret curriculum’ of higher education is nebulous and difficult, but aspiring college students should look no further than The Secret Syllabus to set themselves up for a successful (and happy) journey forward. This is a book I wish I had when I was starting out in college.”—Sagar Desai, MD, Teach For America

“The Secret Syllabus should have been titled Rules for Life. The authors take us on a tour of student life in academia and distill the skills necessary for freshmen to thrive. At a time when students seem increasingly ridden with anxiety, this book throws them a lifeline they can grasp. I will definitely recommend this book to my freshmen.”—Daniele Struppa, President of Chapman University

“I speak with many college students who are interested in the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. I will add this book to the list of must-reads. Phelan and Burnham have written a dynamic road map for successfully navigating the challenging college years. From setting goals to career planning and every step in between, they are there guiding you with specific, actionable behaviors you should do to achieve your goals and dreams.”—Kristen Slater, Special Agent and Unit Chief of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit

“The Secret Syllabus covers it all, from the big ideas for living life fully to the small navigations of daily college life. It’s a great read for students looking for the ‘secrets’ for success in college and choosing a career path that is the right fit for them. Who wouldn’t want that?”—Roxanne G. Neal, Assistant Dean and Director of the New Student and Transition Programs at UCLA

“I know from my twenty years of experience teaching at Harvard that academic excellence requires far more than acing the material. The Secret Syllabus will teach you how to create positive and effective relationships with your faculty. You will learn how to talk to your professors, what to do in office hours, how to stay in touch without being a burden, and much, much more.”—Carole Hooven, Codirector of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University

Editorial Reviews

04/23/2022

Drawing on more than 30 years in academic life, including as university professors, Phelan (life sciences, UCLA; What Is Life? A Guide to Biology) and Burnham (finance, Chapman Univ.; Mean Markets and Lizard Brains) offer practical, supportive tips that college students can use when facing unfamiliar norms and unwritten rules of academia. The authors offer real-life scenarios for improving academic performance through effective notetaking, study skills, language learning, term papers, and exam strategies. The authors argue that building relationships with professors is more valuable than good grades. Strategies for developing professional relationships with professors begin with demonstrating positive classroom behaviors, effectively using office hours, and maintaining appropriate contact which may lead to recommendations, research opportunities, and internships. Readers learn that resiliency, the ability to recover from and persevere in the face of setbacks, is essential for both academic and future career success. Lively discussions are interspersed with anecdotes from the authors' academic experiences and those of their students. With the prevalence of online courses, it is unfortunate that the authors do not address how to develop and maintain professor relationships in a virtual environment. VERDICT The honest, straightforward advice will be appreciated by students. A valuable resource for any college student.—Lydia Olszak

Library Journal