My post-baccalaureate (postbac) program's orientation was earlier today. Time quickly flew by as the advisers and current postbac students informed all the incoming students of what was to come. The biggest thing to take away from initial events like these is to know what your resources are to further your goals and achieve success.
Before beginning to fathom academic success, I find it imperative to plan out the actual pathway to achieving your goals. I am an advocate for the SMARTER criteria for personal development and goal-planning. "SMARTER" is actually a mnemonic to remind ourselves to develop goals which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound so we could then Evaluate and Reevaluate them. I find this criteria helps me set realistic and achievable goals.
So how can we apply this? Let's take my overarching goal to "get into dental school" for example. This is a very broad goal so in being more Specific and actually Attainable, we should break this down further: "go back to school," "perform well academically," "apply to dental school." These goals could even be broken down further, but you get the point. It is also important to check whether a goal is Relevant to the overarching one - "will taking a review course really help me perform well on the DAT?" Next we should determine if a goal is Time-bound (plausible within the allotted time) and Measurable (able to show progress). Lastly, we revisit and revise by Evaluating and Reevaluating our goals from time to time. I hope this was helpful, just don't forget to think SMARTER!
Before beginning to fathom academic success, I find it imperative to plan out the actual pathway to achieving your goals. I am an advocate for the SMARTER criteria for personal development and goal-planning. "SMARTER" is actually a mnemonic to remind ourselves to develop goals which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound so we could then Evaluate and Reevaluate them. I find this criteria helps me set realistic and achievable goals.
So how can we apply this? Let's take my overarching goal to "get into dental school" for example. This is a very broad goal so in being more Specific and actually Attainable, we should break this down further: "go back to school," "perform well academically," "apply to dental school." These goals could even be broken down further, but you get the point. It is also important to check whether a goal is Relevant to the overarching one - "will taking a review course really help me perform well on the DAT?" Next we should determine if a goal is Time-bound (plausible within the allotted time) and Measurable (able to show progress). Lastly, we revisit and revise by Evaluating and Reevaluating our goals from time to time. I hope this was helpful, just don't forget to think SMARTER!
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