Academic Coaching

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented/Achievable, Relevant/Realistic, and Time-Oriented. Learn how to apply the exercise and create a thoughtful, achievable action plan.

Academic Skills, Social Support, and Resource Utilization helps you navigate the university and your pathways to your academic goals. Using all three can help you attain academic success.

CU Boulder students say that faculty office hours are the most helpful resource for academic success. Utilizing office hours is clearly important, but how do you know if you’re taking advantage of office hours enough or if you’re getting the most out of your meetings with professors and TAs?

No matter what kind of uncertainty you experience, working through the unknown requires a growth mindset and self-awareness. This article helps you reflect on your approach to uncertainty and gives you guidance for creating as much certainty for yourself as possible.

Cramming to relearn everything you need to know for a test in one sitting is inefficient, stressful and not effective for long-term learning. What’s the alternative? Make your studying more challenging.

The seven-day study plan is a tool that helps you think through the steps needed to create and map out study strategies that work best for you.

According to Hope Theory, developed by C.R. Snyder, hope is one’s ability to create multiple pathways to goals. Hopeful students have a strong sense of agency—they believe in themselves and in their abilities. They can clearly articulate their action plans. If one pathway doesn’t work, they construct another one and recognize failure as part of growth. Hopeful students focus on connecting their present actions to their ideal futures, which allows them to maintain or increase their engagement as they pursue their goals. They see obstacles as opportunities, and they embrace them as an essential part of their learning and growing process.