Don't afraid to be a bit creative with your essays and share your ideas in class as much as you can. Semerdjian is a musician and writer himself so he loves when people show their passion towards a topic and/or story in his class. Also, this is obvious, but please do your work on time. Semerdjian is very open and forgiving in terms of extensions, but don't give him a reason to tighten that policy; basically only take them if you need them.

Start essays ahead of time and don't procrastinate!! Start working on assignments as soon as you get them instead of doing everything the day it's due to give yourself more time to manage any other work you may have.

Make sure you do all your homework, grading is very harsh.