BAYLOR BOUND
honest advice from honestly nice people
By Hallie Hillebrand Hey y’all! If you’re a Pre-Business student, congrats on choosing a great field of study and an even better college. I’m Hallie and I’ll be a junior Baylor Business Fellows, Accounting, and MIS major this fall. I’ve known I wanted to do something in business since my sophomore year in high school and picked accounting a year later. I’m super pumped to be able to share some info on your future major, specific to Baylor that you may or may not know. I am also excited to see the Class of 2020 on campus in August! Here are my top 8 tips for a Baylor Business student, told with the help of some of the most knowledgeable people in business (or not, you decide). This is kind of info heavy, but hold on to the end. 1. Study rooms - yes, you have to study in college.As a business student at Baylor, you have access to the awesome study rooms in Foster, so definitely make use of them! These rooms have a table and chairs, a TV with connections to plug your laptop into to project it on the screen (you can also play your music or Netflix over the speakers in the room), and some have white boards. The best part about these rooms is that your ID can swipe you into almost any of them in the business building. You can also reserve them for future use – they’re a great place to collaborate on a group project or to cram for a test with classmates (not that I’d recommend the latter). Don't be like Kelly - go study. 2. Check out the Office of Career Management.Something unique about the School of Business is that it has its own career center that’s separate from the normal one located in Sid Rich. They have an office in Foster, right by the doors to the main entrance, and use a website called Handshake where you can find out about upcoming employer info sessions, interviews, and other useful information related to getting a job or an internship. You can also sign up for mock interviews, resume reviews, or career coaching with one of the staff. I did a mock interview this past semester and it really boosted my confidence before the actual interview the next day! Thanks to my mock interviewer #prepared 3. Don't pay $250 for a textbook from the bookstore - ever.The most by far that I have ever paid for a textbook is $200 and that’s because I had to purchase an access code. I definitely recommend checking BigWords.com for your books – it can show you the lowest price based on buying vs. renting, new vs. used, etc. I usually pay about $30-$50 per book (and a lot of times even less if I rent it). Also – check out the Free and For Sale Baylor page because there’s usually someone selling their old books, especially for basic intro business classes that every student takes. Seriously - avoid the bookstore if possible. 4. Go see your advisor.Baylor, unlike many other schools, makes it mandatory for students to see an academic advisor before registering for classes each semester to help you better plan your schedule as part of their initiative to help students finish school in 4 years. The business school also has its own advisors rather than the general ones that most students go to who know the specifics about business classes more thoroughly – and they’re also conveniently located in the business school. I recommend going to see them more than once per semester though if you have additional questions because they’re there to help you. Another tip I suggest is asking them for professor recommendations – they might be able to help with information as far as who to take or who to avoid. When you have to choose between a professor with a 40 rating on BUBooks and one with a 45 5. Get out and go to a career fair or an info session.This is something I suggest EVERY freshman does. The business school hosts several per year but they’re not necessarily very well advertised or marketed to freshmen students because they mostly try to target juniors or seniors, typically people who are seeking an internship or a full-time job post-college. However, at least for me, going into a very large room with a lot of people who have a ton of information to throw at you can be more than a little intimidating and I strongly advise you check one out before you actually HAVE to go to one to get a job. Going as a freshman is the best time to go because there’s no pressure to be perfect or to have a ton of coursework or extracurricular activities. The representatives might be surprised to see someone so young initially, but if you ask them for more information about their company, what opportunities they have available (and what year they start looking for and interviewing candidates – e.g. sophomore, junior), or if they have an upcoming info session on campus, I promise they’ll be impressed and would be happy to answer your questions. You can also go to make contacts with the recruiters – that way in another year or two you may see a familiar face when you want an internship. An extra tip to impress them: do some research ahead of time and come with your own, more specific questions about the company or their internships and you’ll earn bonus points with them. Heck yeah you did 6. Take advantage of free tutoring because GPA.If you’ve done a tour of Baylor at least once you’ve probably heard of SI (Supplemental Instruction) and that’s because it can be one of the greatest things to happen to you freshman year. SI is a student-led group tutoring/review session, held twice a week by a student who has already taken that class in a previous semester and made an A. They also have office hours and test review sessions to help you do the best you can in the class. Most freshman-level classes have them and some upper level classes do as well. A lot of SI’s will hand out extra worksheets to reinforce the material or will even help you with your homework. The average student supposedly raises their class grade by half of a letter grade by going so definitely go if it fits in your schedule. S/o to my Calc SI 7. Find a study buddy or a study group.Study groups are fantastic. Nothing screams college more than a group of people learning half a semester’s worth of material together the night before you have to take a midterm. Even if you know the info before a test, helping teach it to others can help you practice the material even more. Plus – having a group text with 5 other people from your class who can help remind you about something that’s due the day of is a huge help (not that I’m speaking from experience or anything…). Make friends with people who you sit around, or at least talk to them and find out their name and maybe their phone number so that if you have a question about homework or a quiz you can check with someone who may know. If you have to do a group project, make friends with your group and that’s a built in group of people from your class to study with! Tbh how a lot of study groups end up after an hour 8. Join a club related to your major.Baylor has SO many business-related clubs that students can join. AITP, Delta Sigma Pi, and Phi Beta Lambda are just a few, but there’s one for most of the individual business majors offered. I’m involved in Baylor Business Women and Beta Alpha Psi (Accounting honor society) and really enjoy being in both of them. You get to meet people who are studying the same thing as you and hang out with them at social events instead of just in the classroom. They’re also an opportunity to meet upperclassmen who are taking classes in the major that you’re interested in and they can give you advice (and again – source for cheaper textbooks). Joining one of these clubs is an awesome way to get plugged in at Baylor and to learn more about your major before you have to declare it. Join a club (cult?) and work for a leadership position! That’s all I have for now; hopefully you find some of it helpful as a new student. Feel free to email me if you have any questions about Baylor or being a business major. Enjoy the rest of your summer – and see you soon!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |