One-on-One Skills Coaching
Whether you’re preparing for your first year or finishing up your final year, reflecting on your academic performance will help you succeed in university. Our academic coaches will work with you to identify and develop the skills and strategies you need to succeed academically.
This page will help you:
- Stay on track
- Gain confidence
- Learn new strategies
Get personalized academic support
Are you unsure how to improve your grades? Or maybe you need help developing effective strategies for studying and working on assignments. Meet with our academic coaches one-on-one to receive personalized academic support.
Our academic coaches are upper-year peer mentors who can help you develop your academic skills.
Reasons to meet with an academic coach:
- You want to explore new academic strategies for studying, working on assignments, time management and more.
- You need help making a realistic study or assignment work plan.
- You aren’t sure which skills you should work to develop.
Our academic coaches can help you:
- Build organizational skills.
- Learn best practices for time management, studying and test-taking.
- Develop learning strategies.
- Discover valuable McMaster resources to support your academic success.
Academic coaching appointments are 30 minutes long, and you can book as many appointments as you need in a semester. At this time, all appointments will take place online using Zoom. After you register on OSCARplus, we’ll contact you to set up your appointment and share any additional details.
What to bring to your appointment:
- Your class schedule
- Specific ideas for what skills you want to develop
- Ideas and questions about your learning strategies, studying habits and so on
Academic coaching FAQ
At the appointment, your coach will help you complete a learning skills inventory to identify your learning style and areas where you can improve. Using open-ended, positive questions, your coach will help you understand your study and work habits so that you can develop new skills and strategies to improve your academics.
You can book as many appointments as you need each semester.
Our academic coaches are trained using a holistic approach, meaning they can teach you learning strategies that can help you in any subject or course.
If you need help with specific course content or concepts, you can meet with a peer tutor through the Undergrad Peer Tutoring Network.
We all have strengths and areas where we can improve. By meeting with an academic coach, you can learn new strategies to help you study, take better notes, overcome procrastination and get the most out of your university experience. Additionally, through academic coaching, you can gain confidence in your academic skills, which can help you grow and meet your university goals.
Learning at McMaster University (2018)
Recommended reading
Under the Archway: Supporting students and their academic success in first-year
Jenna Storey, academic skills coordinator with McMaster’s Student Success Centre (SSC) and former Grade 12 teacher, recognizes that students entering university this fall will likely do so with larger learning gaps. Through programs like Archway and the academic skills programs offered by the SSC, Storey wants to reassure incoming students that McMaster has you covered.
Journey
Asking questions and communicating with professors in university
Interacting with both your peers and your professors in an academic context is extremely valuable. In university, you can gain far more from going to class than simply learning the lecture content. However, we know that it can be intimidating to speak to your professor and connect with your peers, so we have a few ideas for you.
Read the Journey