The Non-Traditional Student Blog (BA)

Do you use professor-rating sites? Do you like them?

The Tennessean newspaper recently did a story about a popular professor-rating site, RateMyProfessors.com.

Here is the beginning quote: "Students take professor-rating website seriously. And so do the teachers."

Here is that article: Professor-rating website tells the good and the bad: RateMyProfessors.com reviews appear honest, but are they fair? by Tony Gonzalez.

Have you used a ratings site to check out your professors? I have. I used to like a site called PickAProf. This site is now morphed into MyEdu, which I don't like as much. But I gave it another try.

First, I tried the RateMyProfessors site to find a certain WKU professor, who was not listed there. So I went back to the MyEdu site to see if I could find her.

First, I needed to sign up again. So I did, and clicked to another blank page.

I went over to the signin page and could not access the site. So I requested my password and waited. I got the reset sent to my email and I was in.

The site is fairly easy to use and I DID find the professor I was looking for. Success!

Let me know how you like these two sites. Which is your favorite? Or do you have another? List it as a comment if you do.

Betsyanne
Former Nontraditional Student
WKU

Do you have a mentor? Here are tips on how to get one.

You may need a mentor to help you navigate your school and career.

Okay. We all know what a mentor is - - somebody we can approach when we have questions about life, about a job, or about our education.

A mentor is somebody who may have "been there and done that" and has a unique perspective on what is important to you. They are someone we can look up to - - generally an older person, but not necessarily.

A good mentor is like a lighthouse. He or she can help you navigate difficult paths, and zero in on where you want to go in your life, training, and/or career.

Nontraditional students can find a mentor in their chosen field of study, or naturally gravitate to somebody, like a teacher or a fellow student who has insight into what you are learning about.

Do you have a mentor? Do you feel a need to have somebody who can steer you in the right direction at school or with your life?

I know I did not seek out a mentor in school. But now I look back and wish I had. And after picking one out, I would have wanted to meet with this person a few times before I completed my studies. So that is one reason for this posting.

Some people consider their therapist a mentor. And this can be their relationship. Not always, but sometimes. I know that some people rely on good advice from their therapist.

Other people are lucky enough to find somebody else who fits the bill for a mentor's role.

How you go about finding a mentor is up to you. Perhaps joining a club or group at school will help you find your mentor. Or maybe your mentor is online right now. Perhaps a favorite teacher or professor will be willing to guide you and be there for you when you have questions.

I had two mentors when I was in school that I could have met with and asked if they would be my mentor. I feel that they probably would have said yes to my question. They happened to be teachers, and were always there for me to ask questions of, or get extra help for class. I felt comfortable around them, which I think is an important requirement for a mentor.

I know they would have been very willing to help me with a personal question or guide me in the right direction for my career.

Do you have a favorite mentor story? I'd love to share it with my readers.

Nontraditionally yours,
Betsyanne
Former Nontraditional Student at WKU

Find out more: here are some articles to help you find your own personal mentor.

How to Find a Career Mentor by Alison Doyle at About.com

Find a Mentor Online from Project Management Institute

How to Find a Mentor for your Job - from Forbes online (expect a short waiting time to see the web page)

A Self-Improvement Mentor - going back to school

Also - you can find mentors and other nontraditional students here at:
The Nontrad site and blog
Join Nontrads on Facebook
Nontrads on Yahoo and
Nontrads on Twitter

F2F Students - can you keep your opinion to yourself?

Nontrads and Keeping Quiet Once in Awhile

Admit it, nontraditional students. Sometimes a class is just so interesting you just want to share so badly.

You want to say what only you can - - maybe tell a story about what happened to you when you were younger. Maybe you have an insight from something you have lived through or know. And on and on.

And yes, this does have more to do with students who are in a face-to-face class than online ones, but face it. Sometimes you (the nontraditional student in class) just have to tell yourself to STOP being the first one with your hand up, the annoying one who has to always say something in class. And goes on and on, using up all the class time, when others would love to enter in.

It's not that you are totally boring, (or maybe...) but other people also want to share once in awhile. That's the jist of it.

Slow down... and let some of the other students say something too. Just saying. I once had this problem, and I have seen other nontraditional students steal the show in class too. It doesn't go over well with other class members.

Some nontraditional students may even want to stay quiet for a change. It might help out - make you more popular AND a lot less annoying to your classmates. And maybe even your instructor.

That's my advice. Take it easy, and sit on your hands once in awhile -- and maybe more often than that.

Betsyanne

Former Nontraditional Student at WKU

Some Nontrad links: The Nontrad site and blog
Join Nontrads on Facebook
Nontrads on Yahoo
Nontrads on Twitter

Nontraditional students - heads up!

Nontraditional students need to do their homework when choosing a school.

Photo by Sweeneytoad on Flickr.

A while back, I wrote about for-profit schools, and warned that nontraditional students must be very careful when taking classes at some of them, because the credits may not transfer to other schools. And they can be very expensive.

Plus (see the link below) some for-profit schools actually tell students that they should take classes that don't work out for them, or give bad advice to students about whether they are a good fit for a certain program.

So... my advice is to be very careful. Make sure that your credits will transfer to other schools when you choose a college or university.

The other day, a news story came out here locally that Daymar schools' credits in Tennessee did not transfer as students had been told. Now these students are taking this college to court.

I added another story about Kaplan University, another for-profit school, in the links below. Are they really paying their executives huge salaries? And who is paying for them? The article also goes into how much each degree costs at these schools - PLUS there are many fees students must also pay.

Heads up, nontrads!

Find out more:
Tennessee students sue for-profit Daymar College
For-Profit Kaplan University Pays Executives a Quarter of Billion Dollars, courtest of Students and Taxpayers

And here are the other articles I think you will want to see:
Education or Exploitation? For-profit schools and working class students
A Nightline Investigation - are for-profit schools telling students the truth?

Betsyanne
Former nontraditional student at WKU
And Lifetime Learner

Do you have some advice for nontraditional students? Leave a comment below!

Some more Nontrad links:

The Nontrad site and blog

Join Nontrads on Facebook

Nontrads on Yahoo

Nontrads on Twitter

A new nontraditional student story from Billings Montana

I love nontraditional student stories.
Here is a recent one about a nontraditional student in Billings, Montana.

This student is 51 and a grandmother. She and other students had several questions to ask about going back to school. Some were:
How do I find a <class> building?
Where do I go for help?
How do I use a computer? and
How do I balance children, work, and school?

I have heard of these questions before from other nontraditional students who attended WKU and other schools.

In this article by Sarah Gravlee, MSU-B (Montana State University, Billings) decided to put on a TRiO free seminar, Return to Learn, to answer these questions and more.

I liked this article, and I think you will too. Here it is:

Nontraditional Students Return to Learn.

Are you returning to school? Leave a comment about your learning journey.

Betsyanne
Former nontraditional student
at Western Kentucky University