<p>I'm sure many people here are heading towards college this fall. Any advice on how to make the most out of college or just little things to make college fun?</p>
<p>manage your time well so you don't have to cram
excercise
get enough sleep
don't stress
try new things
meet new people
if you mess up don't worry, because freshman year is the year to do that :)</p>
<p>Off the top of my head, in no particular order.
Edit: I started typing before willmingtonwave's post showed up. I guess great minds think alike, haha.</p>
<p>1) Go to class. AT LEAST the first couple weeks, go to EVERY class. After that you might be able to see that you can skip one or two, but in general, GO TO CLASS!</p>
<p>2) When you're studying actually study. Don't sit in your dorm room half watching TV, half doing physics. You won't learn any physics. If you actually study you'll have time to do other stuff later.</p>
<p>3) Don't just hang out with your old friends/your roommate. Make friends in your hall and in your classes and hang out with them. If you just hang out with your roommate who are you going to complain about your roommate to?</p>
<p>4) Don't be a jerk to your roommate. Set up guidelines on sharing food and stuff, and don't take anything without asking. If you all have an agreed upon set of standards for the TV, visitors and sharing supplies/food everything will go much easier.</p>
<p>5) Exercise. All that cafeteria food and studying can take its toll on your body. Go for a run, lift weights, play football, just do something. Bonus points if you actually join some sort of club or intramural sport.</p>
<p>6) Meet a lot of new people. Leave your door open when you're in your room and don't be afraid to strike up a conversation with someone before or after class. The more friends you have the better your experience is going to be.</p>
<p>7) Don't get too into the partying scene. Have fun, but don't start going out five nights a week or anything. You have to know when to work, and when not to work. Friday night, you aren't bumping up on any deadlines or tests? Go have a good time. Saturday night, final you haven't studied for on Monday morning? Study.</p>
<p>8.) GO TO CLASS.</p>
<p>9) Talk to your professors, especially if they're in your major. Go to their office hours and ask questions on anything you're not positive about. Most professors like students that do stuff like that, and will help them out. Also you get contacts/recommendations. The professors here bent the rules for me BIG time and let me transfer into my college within the university because I knew two of the three that could make the decision.</p>
<p>10) Keep healthy/clean. Eat some decent food (vegetables and fruits) and take a vitamin. Now's a great time to stop drinking pop and start drinking water. Keep your clothes and room fairly clean, you never know when you're going to have somebody over. Wash your sheets every once and a while too.</p>
<p>11) Call your parents every once and a while. They're probably paying for you to go there so it's nice to let them know you're still alive, especially if you call sometimes NOT asking for money. With my parents at least, they bug me less when I give them a weekly or so call then when I fall off the face of the earth to them for a month.</p>
<p>12) Try some new stuff. I'm not talking about drugs and whatever (Don't do drugs, you'll get kicked out of the dorms and all kinds of other bad stuff), but if you're the type of person who's sort of quiet and doesn't go out much, try going to a party. Try new food. Play a new sport. Go to a play. Just do SOMETHING new. It keeps life interesting and gives you something to talk about.</p>
<p>13) Don't go home every weekend. Don't go home every other weekend. About twice every three months works out pretty well. I tend to not go back unless there's something big happening. There's plenty of fun stuff to do on campus, and you'll end up missing a lot if you're just home watching your mom do your laundry.</p>
<p>14) GO TO CLASS.</p>
<p>15) Have fun. Really, you've got the oppurtunity to make college whatever you want to. Want to be a huge partier? You can. Want to stay locked in the library all day? You can. Want to live healthier? You can. You are actually going to be making real decisions that really effect who you are as a person every day. Just remember to keep everything in moderation and you'll be alright.</p>
<p>haha, but yeah, chuy hit the nail on the head with everything.
great minds do think alike :)</p>
<p>What about community college students? Do we count as real college students or just slackers?</p>
<p>Uh... it depends. If you're going there to transfer to a "real" college or are going there for a degree that is only really offered there (nursing, I think, maybe a couple others) then I wouldn't consider you a slacker. A lot of my advice wouldn't hold true though, just because it's a different environment.</p>
<p>Oh, one other thing. Buy your books used online. It'll be about 3x more expensive to get them from your school. Get the ISBNs and plug them into Amazon (or anywhere else) and buy from highly rated places on there.</p>
<p>I definitely second chuy's "go to class" and "buy books online". Seriously, your bookstore will rip you off - or rip off your parents depending upon who is paying. And not just a little. Often the difference is a couple hundred dollars.</p>
<p>Get involved with something, and participate in the "lame" traditions. Go to a sporting event or free lecture or art show or whatever. Even if you have nobody to go with.</p>
<p>Don't buy a trash can with holes/mesh. Some drunk person will inevitably vomit in and through it. </p>
<p>De-tag questionable photos of yourself from facebook, and maintain a reasonable privacy level. If you wind up applying for a leadership position or go before the honor board, you'd really rather not have this kind of documentation. Red cups work against you.</p>
<p>Don't bring a laptop to lectures if you know you'll just spend the time playing games.</p>
<p>In order of importance:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Don't die.</p></li>
<li><p>Don't fail.</p></li>
<li><p>Have fun.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Don't be a prude.</p>
<p>open your mouth and say "hey" to peple. you'll meet a hundred people your first week and will only be friends w/ 10 of them maybe in the end.</p>
<p>HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Freshman year is unlike any other, so enjoy it</p>
<p>don't cheat/plagiarize/miscite something because TA's/prof's are reallllllly good at picking it out and they can and might screw you.</p>
<p>Don't listen to advice and do your own thing. hAHaha.</p>
<ol>
<li>Go to class no matter what. No excuses. Seriously.</li>
<li>Join at least two activities. Then actually go to the meetings.</li>
<li>Be nice to your roommate and their stuff.</li>
<li>Take vitamin C and don't share drinks. You realllly don't want mono.</li>
<li>Go out a few times a week! Just get your work done during the day so you don't have to stress over it later... with a hangover</li>
<li>Get STD tests and use protection if you're sexually active. One can handle being the kid who gained some weight at college but it's harder to live down being the one who got crabs/herpes/etc.</li>
<li>Buy your books on Amazon.com. Save the left over cash for snacks. And booze.</li>
<li>In addition to your new freshman friend, make friends with someone older. Older friends equal good advice, better parties and transportation.</li>
</ol>
<p>Blog post from almost a year ago, sorry about formatting issues, I just did a quick Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V</p>
<p>In the beginning, there was a single blog entry, and it was good, and the people sought it for it's content. That's what I hope will pass through the minds of readers after reading my personal foray into the Blogosphere.
I'll begin by introducing myself. My name is Jason Becker, I am a member of Brown's Class of 2009, and anything else you need to stalk me can be found on the profile listed by RealIvy. My current occupation (besides blogging) involves any task Gary S. Alweiss, attorney at law, determines I should be doing between 10am and 6pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On September 2nd, 2006, I move to Providence for the second time, and I couldn't be more excited.
It's hard to believe that just a year ago I was an anxious pre-frosh, awaiting housing and subsequent roommate assignment, with an anxious gut as the future lies before me. Now I am looking back, ready to provide advice and guidance, and also realizing how ridiculous I may have seen to my soon-to-be-peers. So how about I assuage some of those fears, and offer my advice to success at any university, at least for the first year.
Be yourself, but not too much. Realize that lying, pretending to be someone or
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something your not, and a false smile will only take you through orientation. Be
cautious enough to get off on the right foot, but do so while remaining who you are.
Realize that everyone you now meet has no idea what your life was like before and
who you were-- share what's necessary, but drop the baggage. You'll be happier as a
person and be far better equipped to find real friends, and not fake hellos.
Don't try and remember every name, you'll never need them again. The first week
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of school you will be confronted with several hundred names-- it's not important you
remember and Facebook them all. Don't worry, the people who are going to be around
more often will mention their names again (and if they don't, feel free to ask), and
those that won't probably forgot your name already too.
Talk to your roommate, be fair, but be firm. Talk about what it is that you think will
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bug the hell out of someone living with you. Find out their pet peeves and difficulties
as well. Discuss what you'd like the environment in your room should be like and
establish a middle ground. This brings me to my next point...
I understand the need for personal space, but... an open door can go a long way.
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Just having an open door and an inviting feel/attitude will bring in all kinds of people, at
all times, all throughout the year. My roommate and I were fine with people coming in
and spending sometime with us even if we didn't really know them. This happened
frequently straight through the year-- if someone was in the room the door was open
and all were welcome, period. This created a fantastic social environment as our room
became a hub for people in our dormitory, making finding friends and easy task.
But lock your door when you're not around! If you don't want someone to steal
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your stuff, don't give them a free pass. I wouldn't be wrong to say that over 95% of all
thefts on college campuses occur when people leave their room open. Suck it up,
learn how to take your key, and lock the door behind you at all times. Be friendly, but
make sure you're stuff is safe.
Get over your grades. Yes, college is important. Just like high school, it can be
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treated as simply a stepping point to the next challenge-- an obstacle which you must
overcome to prove your worth to medical schools, business schools, graduate schools,
and commercial industry alike. This does not mean that the best approach for you is to
push for a 4.0. If you're driven, and that's all that matters to you, go for it and don't look
back. For me, the best advice I can give is realize that college is a place of learning.
Todays top universities can be viewed as strongholds of knowledge-- soak up all of the
knowledge you want. Find subjects and courses you're motivated by and take them. I
am at Brown University specifically for the freedom it provides in choosing my course
load. Engage in your personal curriculum, be active in your learning. Recognize that
the Law of Diminishing Returns can be applied to that MISERABLE class, Introduction
to Literature of Post-Feminist Native American Culturalist in Translation, and that a B
will not be the end of th world. Let college not be a place where you seek great
success through grade assessment, rather, let it be a place where you see great
success through learning.
College is about the next four years... not the years after that point! Learn what
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fascinates you, figure out a job later. Don't justify with money, justify with desire. It's
important not to preoccupy yourself with fears of the real world-- that'll come whether
you like it or not. It's now time to plan your life at college, slowly, as it is necessary. My
personal approach to choosing a concentration involved reading quite a bit about
courses and looking at all the concentrations even remotely close to something that I
liked and choosing the path that included the most courses I would like to take at some
point. I dubbed this, “The Path Of Least ****ty-ness”. This is the path least likely to
make me miserable in the next four years. Beyond that, who the hell knows what I am
going to do.
Enjoy. This is your last chance to be stupid, your first chance to live independently,
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entirely surrounded by friends. Make mistakes, screw up your priorities, have a good
time. Don't fear taking chances. Remember that students, especially at school that fits
you well, can, and most likely will, be far more interesting than any professor you meet.
Learning happens constantly, whether you're studying for Organic Chemistry or
drinking your Friday to oblivion. Experience it all, get a taste for life and bask in it.
You'll be surprised what becomes the most important and defining moment of your
year.
I hope you've found this bit of advice helpful. I did not number my ideas, because each one is
as important as the next. Most posts in the future will be about current events or cool new
products, music, or media in general I come across. I figure, based on the design of the site
and the time of year, this kind of entry seems an appropriate introduction to myself and my
personal philosophy.
Until next time,
Jason P. Becker</p>
<p>A couple more things about scheduling, if you haven't done so already:</p>
<p>You know if you're a morning person or not. If you are then you should get your classes out of the way early. Some people can do 8ams, some can't. If you can't do NOT sign up for them, you will skip.</p>
<p>Make sure you leave time to eat lunch. Class from 10:30 - 2:30 might get the day over with quicker, but you'll be ready to eat your notes by the time 2 rolls around. If worst comes to worst take a sandwich and eat it between classes.</p>
<p>Try not to take any evening classes on fridays. Evening classes are generally fine, especially if you only have one or you're not planning on getting a job, but having one on friday makes it harder to go out and do stuff, or to take weekend trips, or go home or whatever. Just try to get out of class as early as you can on friday. In my experience there are fewer classes on friday anyway, with way more M/W or T/TH than two day classes that meet on friday.</p>
<p>If you live pretty far off campus try to get all your classes together. If you can't and you have a large block between classes stay on campus and use that time to study. You'll be wasting a lot of time and gas driving back and forth.</p>
<p>If you're on campus you have a bit more flexibility. Some professors do run over. If you have one that has a tendency to do that talk to him after class one day and just inform him you might have to duck out right at the classes ending time to get to your next class. He shouldn't care. You COULD schedule huge blocks of classes and get them all over with, but then sometimes you're racing across campus over and over. Just try to avoid having just a half hour between classes, since then you'll be getting back to your room just in time to leave again. If you do have an hour or so you could just go to the library and study. Time management is key.</p>
<p>I've found ratemyprofessor to be pretty inaccurate at times. If a professor has a LOT of reviews that all say basically the same thing then it might be worth listening to, but two or three reviews generally don't mean anything. If you can, talk to students that have had professors before. This is easier to do when scheduling for second semester and beyond, but if you've got older friends that go to that college you can ask them. You can also use facebook to try and find people. The professor you have makes a HUGE difference in many classes, enough of one to justify taking an 8am over an 11am just to get a certain professor. Trust me.</p>
<p>Try not to schedule too much of one thing on one day. Split up your math classes or labs or whatever if you can, especially labs. Having two labs on one day would be a very draining experience, so don't if you can avoid it.</p>
<p>Schedule classes with friends if you can. You can study together and keep eachother on your toes when it comes to test dates or whatever.</p>
<p>Only use online classes if that is the only way it is offered, or if you're extremely motivated, or if the class is not in your actual field (just taking it to satisfy a university requirement) and you've talked to a lot of people that have said it is easy. It's easy to forget to do stuff when you don't have an actual classroom to go to, and it really becomes annoying to keep up with everything.</p>
<p>PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT COURSES YOU HAVE TO TAKE, AND DO NOT BELIEVE A SINGLE WORD YOUR ADVISOR EVER SAYS! This one came back to almost kill me. I was first told that I did not have to take any english classes, ever. This sounded kind of strange, but I'm an engineer, and it was my advisor telling me this, so hey. A couple weeks in I get an email telling me oops, yeah, I did have to take one, but it was ok, no need to force-add me in now, I could just take the first one next semester and the second one first semester sophomore year. I trusted her again, and scheduled accordingly. </p>
<p>When it came time for me to transfer into my specific college within the college of engineering (all freshmen in engineering are together here, and then they go to whatever specific field they want) I received a phone call telling me it was impossible, because I had not completed the required english classes. I needed to get in to take my classes, and to get instate tuition through the ACM. For about two days I was scrambling to find a summer course I could take somewhere (they were all already closed) and then familiarizing myself with the transfer procedures, since this would set me a year and several tens of thousands of dollars back. Luckily I had met and had lunch with one of the heads of the department a few times (it's a small department, and they recruit people by buying us food) and he remembered me, and convinced the head of the College of Engineering to grant me a non-conformancy. It ended happily for me but it may not for you. Get on the college website and look yourself to see what classes you have to take.</p>
<p>I'll probably post something about roommate relations tomorrow, when I have some more time.</p>
<p>I don't think people are either "morning people" or not.</p>
<p>I used to regularly go to bed at 4 am. I don't like waking up early, and I always signed up for late classes.</p>
<p>But this summer, I wake up at 6 am each morning. Sometimes, it's not that bad.</p>
<p>Right, but for some people the temptation to "just skip this one class" in the morning is going to be too much. If someone is going to be like that and they know it they should just schedule later classes.</p>
<p>No kidding, it was painful getting up for my 10 AM classes last semester, i skipped a couple times. Needless to say, My earliest class this semester is 11 AM :).</p>