Succeeding as a Student at MJI

What to Expect at MJI

For many students entering MJI, this will be your first exposure to college level education. Research has shown that all students perform better and experience greater success during their college years when they know what to expect and how to appropriately respond. Therefore, we offer this section as a brief orientation to college life at MJI. We also recommend that in addition to carefully reading this material, entering students should consult with their academic advisor, faculty members or other more experienced students whenever questions arise that are not addressed here.

Personal Responsibility

As at most colleges and universities, at MJI you will find that you now have a level of personal freedom with schooling that you have not previously experienced. Absent testing and the completion of course assignments, no one will be monitoring your school related activities the way you were monitored when in high school or earlier. Basically, you will be solely responsible for your own academic progress. You are an adult and are treated as such by the MJI faculty and administration.

Critical Thinking 

At MJI you are expected to understand and remember class lectures and discussions and what you read in your textual assignments. You will be asked to draw conclusions, form opinions and evaluate the ideas of others. In other words, the rote memory you relied on most often during your pre-college education will not serve you quite as well now. You will not only have to learn specific and detailed material but you will have to think about it and demonstrate your understanding of it in new ways.

Great Emphasis on Independent Study

While at MJI you will be expected to do most of your learning on your own. For every hour of class time, you should plan on spending between one and three hours out of class reading, studying and completing assignments. The nature of courses you take, your own study habits and other factors will generally determine the actual amount of time you will have to spend out of class learning course  material. 

Class Size

Class size at all colleges can vary widely depending on a number of factors including the field of study, level of complexity and the college student census. Some courses can have hundreds of students while others may have less than ten. At MJI, you should expect class sizes to be relatively small. However, there may be times when a class will contain more than 25 students. At this time, this is rare.

Emphasis on Testing and Written Assignments

Generally, instructors at MJI will assign work to be done outside of the classroom. While homework assignments may account for part of your final grade, it will generally account for only a portion of it. In many courses, midterm exams, finals, term papers, case studies and other projects will make up the greater portion of your final grade.

Serious Consequences for Low Grades

MJI, along with all other colleges and universities, has academic standards that students must meet in order to stay enrolled and succeed. Students who let their grades fall are generally put on probation for a period of time. If improvement does not occur within a defined period, students are dropped from the college. Please review other sections of this catalog for discussions on Satisfactory Academic Progress, probation and termination for poor academic performance.