From high school to cégep: what really changes and how to succeed in your first semester

What really changes

Quebec's College Education Regulations set the pass mark at 60% and require that the course outline be handed out at the beginning of each term (LégisQuébec). Each cégep also adopts its own institutional policy on the evaluation of learning (the PIEA in French-language colleges), which sets the rules on late work, missed exams and language quality.

The course outline and the ponderation: your two basic tools

The course outline is your contract for the semester. It lists the assessments, their weights, the dates, submission rules and the teacher's contact information. Read it in full during week one and copy every date into your planner.

Each course also has a three-number ponderation. According to Cégep à distance (in French), the numbers are the weekly hours of theory, practical work and personal study, for a 15-week semester of classes. For example, Calcul différentiel (201-NYA-05) is weighted 3-2-3: 5 hours in class and 3 hours of personal study planned every week.

Add up the third number across all your courses: that is the study time your program expects, on top of class time. For many new cégep students, this is the real surprise.

Attendance, autonomy and the R score

At cégep, nobody calls home when you skip class. Attendance rules vary between colleges. At Cégep du Vieux Montréal, for example, the evaluation policy (in French) states that attendance alone earns no marks, that absent students must catch up on the material themselves, and that absences can lead to failure in certain specific courses. Check your own college's rules and every course outline.

Your R score starts in your very first semester. According to the BCI, a failed course counts for 0.25 of its credits in your average R score during your first semester, then 0.5 in later semesters. That is a safety net, not permission to fail: a failure still lowers your average and has to be retaken. The Minister also sets a deadline to drop a course without a failure on your transcript; find it in your college's academic calendar. To understand the calculation, read How the R score works or try our R score calculator.

Your first-semester survival plan

1. Week 1: read every course outline. Put each assessment in a single planner, paper or digital. Note each teacher's office hours and the course-drop deadline.
2. Weeks 2 and 3: set regular study blocks. Find your study spot on campus (library, study room) and use the gaps in your schedule.
3. Weeks 4 to 6: the first assessments arrive. After each one, write down what worked and what cost you marks.
4. Midterm: review each course. If one is going badly, act now: meet the teacher, visit the help centre, and consider dropping only if the deadline still allows it.
5. End of semester: plan your review two to three weeks before finals, which are often close together. Our final exam grade calculator shows what mark you need.

Managing your time without burning out

• Plan a typical week. Block in classes, part-time work, commuting and sleep first, then study blocks. What is not scheduled tends not to happen.
• Use schedule gaps. A free hour between classes is enough to redo the morning's problems while they are fresh.
• Work a little every day instead of cramming the night before. In math especially, each week builds on the last.
• Watch your paid work hours. If your job eats into the study time your ponderations call for, your grades are likely to suffer.
• Keep time to recharge: sports, friends, rest. A semester lasts about four months: it is a marathon, not a sprint.

Teachers' office hours: the most underused resource

Every teacher explains how to reach and meet them, usually in the course outline or on the college portal (often Omnivox). Those office hours, called disponibilités in French-language colleges, exist for you, yet many students never use them.

• Go early in the semester, not just the night before an exam.
• Prepare your questions: bring the exact problem, show your work and point to the step where you get stuck.
• Ask for feedback on your tests: understanding why you lost marks is often worth more than doing ten more problems.
• Use the help centres too (math, writing, study skills) and the peer tutoring that many colleges offer.

Math courses in particular

In Science (Sciences de la nature, 200.B1), the Ministry program includes objectives in differential calculus, integral calculus, linear algebra and vector geometry, as well as statistics and probability (Ministry of Education, in French). The prerequisite is Secondary 5 TS or SN math.

Why do these courses catch so many students off guard?

• The pace: a new concept almost every class, with little practice time in class.
• High school algebra is assumed: factoring, exponents, functions. Most Calculus 1 mistakes are really algebra mistakes (see our common Calculus 1 mistakes).
• Your work counts: a correct answer with no justification often earns few marks.

Our advice: do the assigned problems the same day, without looking at the solutions, and review algebra in the first weeks. If you want help with Calculus 1 or another math course, Stellaire Académie offers tutoring: book a session.

Frequently asked questions