Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About College: A Guide For Minority Students (Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About College)

Rating:
Summary: The Black College Student's Bible
Review: (I wish I would have had this book when I first started college; maybe it wouldn't have taken me 7 years to get my first degree....)

Watkins provides a very realistic viewpoint of what Black college students go through. I was pleased to see that he addressed all aspects of college life from the academic to the social. He provided studying techniques and test-taking strategies. He discussed how to maneuver (i.e. get in good with) professors, how to manage your time, and how to handle relationships. Specifics that I liked were "don't sign for anything for someone else, no matter how much you love them"; "always keep a book with you wherever you go", and "teachers sometimes let the little secrets for the exams slip out during their office hours". This book has so many nuggets of truth and bits of advice (conveniently summarized in the back of the book as "rules" for test-taking, studying, paying for college, etc.)

In this book, Dr. Watkins wasn't the stuffy, boring, professor-stereotype. He talked about "real-life" factors like safe sex, pregnancy, and being in love. I enjoyed his very casual (and extremely funny) writing style interspersed throughout the book. It read like a book that your best friend or older brother could have written after they went through the experience. I think that is the true value in the book, hearing it "on the real" from a "brotha" who went through it and survived (and believe me, "survival" is the right word for what Black folks with degrees went through.)

Buy this book for yourself! Buy it for your children... nieces.... nephews... kids who you care an inkling about! It will definitely help them survive college life with a few less scratches and bruises than they would have gotten without it!!! It may even be the pivotal tool that keeps some students from falling prey to the high rates of non-completion of college experienced by African American students.


Rating:
Summary: Excellent reference
Review: I always thought that college professors were boring people. Watkins makes sure that students stay interested in the content and he inspires them to do their best in college. I have recommended the book to everyone I know because I think that kids need to read this kind of stuff. A great book!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent reference
Review: I always thought that college professors were boring people. Watkins makes sure that students stay interested in the content and he inspires them to do their best in college. I have recommended the book to everyone I know because I think that kids need to read this kind of stuff. A great book!