<p>Is there any advice current college students can give to us upcoming college freshmen? Much appreciated :)</p>
<p>Study and Try to be more outgoing, tired of seeing of you sad lonely kids here.</p>
<p>Don’t sweat the small stuff. That’s good advice for anything, I’ve found.
You’ll have a lot going on in college (learning how to be on your own, learning how to adjust to the greater academic demands of college, learning to start thinking about your future more by looking into internships, research projects, jobs, etc.), so it’s important to not get lost in trivial matters. Remember why you’re there, what you’re aiming for, and then march along to try and attain your goal.</p>
<p>I really appreciate the responses… what about advice on making new friends</p>
<p>Just be your self and put more confidence cause college life is different from high school life.</p>
<p>Remember that college is a means to an end. College should be an awesome experience, but it’s (usually) only going to be four years of your life. Think about how you can best use those four years to set up the next 40 years of your life - so that you find a career which is enjoyable, fulfilling and intrinsically rewarding.</p>
<p>If you have AP credit for which the college allows you to skip introductory courses for, and you will be taking a following course in that subject, check the college’s old final exams for the course to see if you know the material well from the college’s point of view.</p>
<p>If you don’t have a resume already, first semester freshman year is the time to make one. Even if you have to fill it was trivial stuff, do it. Get the format right and fill the page. You’ll update it as you go through, but get the draft set up as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Freshman year is a good time to make connections with your professors. Most professors lay out a portion of their day for office hours, which you can use to visit them and ask questions. I highly recommend that you use these office hours visits–when the time comes to submit a letter of recommendation for a job or grade school, you’ll know who to ask.</p>
<p>get organized from the beginning–that is the secret to having time to get both top grades and have lots of fun.</p>
<p>once you are registered for your classes, take a calendar/day planner, and block out all of your classes. Then access your syllabus for each class, and enter the dates for all assignments, exams etc. Aim to treat your schedule like a work week, trying to do most of your work between roughly 9-5 on weekdays, to leave yourself time to have fun and to do overflow work/major projects.</p>
<p>Then take a look and figure out a rough plan for when you plan to do the work for each class–for example, plan to do you Econ reading on Mondays from 1-4, and to do your calculus problem sets on Tuesday mornings from 10-12. Revise your plan weekly as needed.</p>
<p>This lets you plan for getting your work done, because it is all laid out for you. It also lets you realize that there is time for fun because you have planned to get the work done. So you can calendar in times for club meetings, and intramural sports, and when friends on your floor want to go for impromptu pizza–you can check your calendar, and see if you are free to go (or if you can legitimately rearrange things, so you can be free to go!), you can take part with a clear conscience.</p>
<p>Also, realize that in college, every student has a different schedule, with different due dates and a different rhythm to his semester. For example, Joe down the hall might have just finished up a rough week with two exams and a paper, and he is looking to go out tonight–but last week was lighter for you and this week/next week look to be killer, and you need to study while he wants to go out. In college, no one will think badly of you for saying you need to do work and take a raincheck. You won’t be deemed “unpopular” for needing to hit the library instead of the party on Thursday night if you have a test on Friday.</p>
<p>two more things–</p>
<p>1–read each syllabus carefully! Each professor has grading rubrics/class rules/policies spelled out, and you are responsible to follow them. For example, one professor may require all work to be turned in by 6 pm on the due date, another may give til 11 pm or midnight. Some professors require all work to be turned in via email, some require hard copies, some require both. Some professors dock work if submitted late, some don’t accept late work at all–and give a nonnegotiable zero for the assignment.</p>
<p>Also, many professors have policies about attendance, etc. and they do enforce them. And they will enforce them without giving you any warnings that your grade is in jeopardy.</p>
<p>2–get used to checking your university email several times a day. Often a professor will send out a last minute change in assignments or class meeting etc, or want certain materials brought to class etc–and saying you didn’t know about it is not an acceptable excuse.</p>
<p>Wow great idea with the planning work thing… and I’m in IB student so hopefully I get the diploma and start college as a junior… <em>fingers crossed</em></p>
<p>Boysx3 has some excellent practical advice about time management! I’m going to take some of that myself 
</p>
<p>You’ll find that managing your time is one of the hardest parts about college, especially during the first couple semesters. You’re used to being in class ~35 hours a week in high school, but in college, you’re only in class for maybe 15 or 16 hours for 16 units, maybe more if you have labs or less if you have more artsy or hands-on courses. It’s easy to say “oh, I don’t have class again until Tuesday; I have 4 whole days to get my reading done” and then still wait until Monday night to cram it all in. </p>
<p>They say to spend 2-3 hours studying outside of class per credit hour, but that can be tailored to your own style and to your courses. Some things will be easier for you and others will be brutal. I can whip up a decent paper in about 3-5 hours (including a first draft and revisions) but it takes me way longer to read from textbooks because I get so antsy. I’ve adjusted by learning to take more breaks during reading, but in contrast, I try to do more of my writing in one sitting since I get locked into the feel and the mood. You’ll find little kinks like this as you go along (if you haven’t already found them in secondary school), and what’s important and necessary in college is to learn how to handle it to be the most efficient. </p>
<p>And as for friends, it’ll just happen. Your floormates are a great backdrop of people to hang out with when first settling in, and you’ll make friends in class that you’ll also start to hang out with. It’s all very natural. Like someone else said, just be yourself. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>