There are twenty-two days until N.C. A&T students will have to go home for Winter break. Below are five tips that students can use to prepare for next semester.

1. Calculate your GPA: 

As teachers are putting in final assignments into BlackBoard, it is best to calculate your own GPA. This can help determine what changes must be made to finish a class with a desirable grade. Due to the variety of teaching styles, each class is subject to have assignments weighted a certain percentage. Two sites can be used to calculate a final grade or a student’s GPA: gpacalulator.net and rapidtables.com. The two sites display a section where students can insert the name of their class, their grade, and the number of credits. Students have the option to insert more than one semester in the sites’ system to generate their major GPA.Rapidtables provides instructions on how to manually calculate a student’s GPA or final grade for a class. Students can also contact their adviser and discuss their prospective grades and final grade calculations that are attainable in the final weeks for this semester. 

1. Create goals for the spring semester: 

After the completion of a semester, students are closer to taking their core major classes. However, students are inclined to drop-out because of the freedom that is given to students. According to EducationData, here are the statistics for college attendance and dropouts in African-Americans: 

•  45.9% of African-American students complete their degree at a four-year university within 6 years. 
• The most likely demographic to drop out are African-American males. 

With the information provided above, creating daily goals to work towards an overall goal can help students to stay focused on their degree completion. Students have used vision boards, post-it notes, a screenshot from the notes section of a phone and anything that constantly reminds them to not drop out of college. To become aware of your standing in school and the prospective career opportunities available, a student must contact their adviser. If a student is unaware of their adviser, they should contact their major’s department. 

1. Create a Handshake and LinkedIn profile: 

Handshake is a search engine used for students to find jobs related to their major or their surrounding area. As a first time-user, the site will ask for personal information such as graduation year and active involvement at the student’s school or community. After a profile is made, Handshake will provide a filtered selection of opportunities related to the profile that was made. Once a resumé and a cover letter has been created, this will automatically be saved for the selection of job opportunities. The Office of Career Services have weekly  drop-in sessions that can be made by scheduling an appointment in Handshake. The drop-in session are held via Zoom, this option can be found in the Resources section of Handshake. Virtual drop-in sessions: 

• Monday: 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
• Wednesday: 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Thursday: 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.
• Friday: 12 p.m. – 1:30 pm

As for LinkedIn, a profile can be made where other companies can see a student’s accomplishments, and other school’s involvements. To be more informed about making a  LinkedIn profile, the Office of Career Services provides sessions where students build their profile with a professional. 

1. 1891 Connect: 

1891 Connect is a resource used for students to be connected to different organizations on campus. Students can contact different organizations and have access to their events.  

1. Register/Check for classes: 

For the fall 2020 semester, students can request to have up to three courses assigned as pass/fail instead of a regular grade. Their request must be notified by the Office of Registrar between December 16, 2020 , and January 29, 2021. For clearing Incompletes, the deadline is extended from March 8, 2021, to March 22, 2021.

 Registration for Spring 2021 is from Nov. 2-30. Here are the following dates for students to register for classes: 

• Nov. 2 – Graduate and Seniors start registration
• Nov. 3 – Juniors start registration
• Nov. 4 – Sophomores start registration
• Nov. 5 – Freshmen start registration

For an advising pin, students can see their adviser, the Registrar’s Office cannot provide pins.