It’s the first day of class. You have your pens and pencils ready to go, your laptop fully charged and your water bottle filled. The professor either hands out a packet of paper or directs you to your class website to read something called a “syllabus” ... except it’s your first day of college, so you’ve never heard that word in your life. Or, maybe you’re a sophomore, and you just never got the hang of looking ahead for course expectations and deadlines. Or maybe you just get overwhelmed scrolling through all those dates in the online syllabus.  

For lots of reasons, students often find themselves confused and overwhelmed when they receive a class syllabus: a summary of all of the requirements, expectations, assignments and grading scales that will be used in a particular class.  

Well, fear not, because Nutshell is here to help you work through your syllabus one step at a time so that you can slay the semester! 

First things first—read it! 

Because it’s not technically an “assignment,” many students skip reading over their syllabus when they start a new class. But trust us, you don’t want to do that! Reading the syllabus is essential to understanding what your professor is going to expect from you over the course of the semester, so you don’t want to miss anything.  

There’s even an urban legend that a professor once snuck a fake-out rule into their syllabus to see who would read the whole thing. One version of the story says that a history professor required his students to read the entire syllabus. On first glance, it looked like the assignment calendar contained 10-page papers as assignments every week ... or so it appeared. When the students who took the time to read the whole syllabus got to the last page, it read five words: “Just kidding about the papers.” While this is an extreme example (and an unlikely one), it shows why it’s important to read the WHOLE thing! 

Stephen Kelly, assistant director of writing services at Temple’s Student Success Center, recommends making time to focus on the syllabus and ONLY on the syllabus. “Actually set aside about an hour of unofficial homework time and just try to read through every single thing that’s in the syllabus, and make sure that you understand.” And we mean EVERY. SINGLE. THING. 

What’s important on a syllabus? 

Ok, so you’ve read the whole thing. But how do you know what’s important? Often, professors will take time in class to go over the syllabus. When they do, be sure to pay attention! It may seem redundant because the paper (or website) is right in front of you, but listening to what the professor has to say could be vital for understanding the rest of the class.  

A great way to use this time is to highlight and take notes on what the professor goes over. If the syllabus is online, take physical notes or type them. That way, you’ll remember the most important things that the professor really wants to emphasize. Plus, they’ll usually emphasize it verbally. 

Take it one step at a time 

Now that you’ve read it AND highlighted the most important parts, it’s time to plan out your semester. Just because you have the whole semester’s worth of deadlines right in front of you doesn’t mean you need to do them all right now ... but it also doesn’t mean you should leave them until the day before they’re due.  

Colleen Williams, a program coordinator at the Temple University Student Success Center and Temple alum, recommends breaking your syllabus down into chunks. “Try and handle it one day at a time, one week at a time, one month at a time,” they said.  

One way to do that is to use a planner or calendar. The beauty of this is that you can do it online or with an app, or you can go the old-fashioned route and get a physical calendar. Or, some people even prefer setting up a series of reminders or alarms on their phone or laptop. 

You’ve got this! 

You really do! Remember that you’re not on your own—don’t hesitate to ask your peers for help, go to office hours, or seek out tutoring and academic coaching through your school, college or university. Here at Temple, students are encouraged to take advantage of the Student Success Center, which offers help with writing, studying, academic prep and pretty much anything else you would need to be your best self in class. 

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