Beware! Mistakes to avoid in your freshman year

Student Lounge College Life
61

<p>a few things that havent been mentioned:</p>

<p>1) realize that theres a lot of grey between being stone-cold sober and passed-out drunk. you can go out and have a good time on a saturday night and still be productive on sunday;</p>

<p>2) get to your classes early. more made friends and a less stressful day;</p>

<p>3) learn how to skim. theres eventually going to be a night when skimming will prevent a mental breakdown;</p>

<p>4) read at least the front page of a major newspaper every day. its amazing how out-of-touch even political science majors can become;</p>

<p>5) make yourself familiar with the academic resources available to you. spend some time in the library early fall semester, visit the math/writing centers, et cetera;</p>

<p>6) understand your meal plan and keep yourself on a proper pace;</p>

<p>7) dont be afraid to go to your resident assistant if theres a problem. thats why he is there;</p>

<p>8) shower, brush your teeth, wash your sheets. dont be disgusting;</p>

<p>9) dont skip classes right before breaks or right after major tests;</p>

<p>10) realize youre in college. despite all the stress, at the end of the day you should be having the time of your life. make sure you are.</p>

62

<p>My Dad just gave me basically the same speech. He's a lawyer and a CPA. You guys must drink the same water. Reading your letter was very interesting, since I often don't listen to everything my Dad has to say. ;)</p>

63

<p>I second everything erica said!</p>

64

<p>Loving the thread with all its beautiful advice. Glad I started it!</p>

65

<p>
[quote]
I second everything erica said!

[/quote]

I thought it was Eric.</p>

66

<p>That letter is brilliant!</p>

67

<p>Yeah it is. Taxguy you have been very helpful.</p>

68

<p>
[quote]
I thought it was Eric.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>lol, I think it is...Eric at Bucknell. Right?</p>

69

<p>Eric or whatever, great advice you!</p>

70

<ol>
<li>Time management is probably the biggest mistake people make - don't spend all your time studying but don't go out to that big party if you have a midterm the next day either. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices</li>
<li>Getting ahead is not nerdy - it is smart. If you have some free time, don't surf the internet or watch TV to kill it, get ahead on the work. That way you won't have to skip the big party/sports event/social thing because you will have already done all the work you needed to do.</li>
<li>Don't be afraid to talk to your professors, they don't bite</li>
<li>Eat well and sleep a lot - this will help you study better, learn better, party better, and just stay healthy in general</li>
<li>Don't listen to a guy financed by oil companies (Lindzen) when he talks about global warming</li>
</ol>

71

<p>In addition to the sound advice in post #61:</p>

<p>Deal with problems AS SOON AS THEY ARISE. It should only take ONE mediocre grade on a quiz or problem set to prompt you to seek help in that course. Go to office hours and seek advice on how to study better the SAME WEEK you got that disappointing grade. In my experience, profs are inclined to be very flexible with kids who ask for help (or to push back a due date) in the first few weeks of the term. In the weeks before the final, they'll be busy and very irritated that you didn't do anything about the problem sooner, and you may not get any help.</p>

<p>"1) realize that theres a lot of grey between being stone-cold sober and passed-out drunk. you can go out and have a good time on a saturday night and still be productive on sunday"</p>

<p>This bears repeating. Do have two beers and dance on the bar. Do not have six Jell-O shots and depend on the kindness of frat boys to see you home safely.</p>

72

<p>Freshman year--
1. Sign up for a new language to fulfill the language requirement if you have difficulty in learning languages, and sign up for a dead one, if possible.
2. Try to avoid drinking and the drinking scene even if you feel frightened and inadequate to encounter the social scene.
3. Go to all of your classes.
4. Develop a relationship with all of your professors. Go to the teas held by the department and go to the office hours the professors schedule. Even if you don't have anything to say, they will come up with something.
5. Before submitting a paper, go to the writing clinic on your campus to obtain the services of an editor.
6. Sit in the front row and take notes so that you will pay attention in class.
7. Go to all of those free concerts and lectures by guest speakers because you will never have a better chance to shag so much culture.<br>
8. Go to the campus or municipal art museum as often as possible, (see #7 on this point).<br>
9. Become very well acquainted with the library as a place to meet people and a place to enable you to get out of the dormitory room and away from the noise and distractions there.
10. Have fun. The experience in which you are about to embark may be sublime!</p>

73

<p>I just finished my freshman year on a quarter system - honor roll all 3 quarters.</p>

<p>How I Did It:
1. I went to ALL classes. Allowed myself to miss 1 day per class per quarter.
2. Participated in discussions in small classes (teachers <3 it). I asked questions after class in 300ppl+ classes, but the teacher didn't know my name is most of them still -so basically it's very hard to get noticed in those.
3. Studied at least 3 days before tests/midterms. Studied at least 4 days before the finals.
4. Didn't drink. (I guess this depends on you)
5. Didn't study on Fridays, rarely on Saturdays.
6. I'd recommend you take a normal unit courseload the first semester/quarter but in lieu of a major class, take a freshman seminar or something that's P/NP which has hw so you can get use to the workload but also concentrate on graded classes.
7. Study where you know you can study w/o distraction. For me -top floor of the main library in the way back. 2hrs, break, eat, 2hrs. Maybe bring earplugs. Don't bring a computer if you don't need, you'll probably hook it up to wireless or something and waste your time!
8. Don't worry about what other people think. If everyone else is drinking/partying/outside it is perfectly ok to go to the lounge/library to study.</p>

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<p>Lastly, I felt the "What Smart Students Know" by Adam Robinson to be somewhat helpful. I only remember a few things from it which I applied to my own studies, and used some of my own and it worked pretty well.</p>

<p>I made the honor roll during winter quarter even without being about to write for 2 weeks b/c of a freak biking accident. Keep in mind a quarter is only 10 weeks. Anything is possible if you apply yourself.</p>

<p>After 1 year 3.84 gpa. Rank 100/2500</p>

<p>I hope all of your are motivated rather than afraid. Just keep up that motivation and you will be fine!</p>

74

<p>Thanks for the advice ilikeoranges! I really appreciate it, may I ask which university you attend (if its not too much trouble)</p>

75

<p>UC Davis :)
but I'm actually planning on transferring b/c they don't have the major I want.</p>

76

<p>thanks :).</p>

77

<p>thanks, that helped a lot! i'm glad i found this lol forum at the end of my senior year in HS, hopefully freshmen year will be easy.</p>

78

<p>im an incoming freshman. dont try to follow any extreme like dont drink and be in the library all the time (although i know alot of people dont drink, drinking can be taking metaphorically to symbolize nonschool related things like parties and social events which are considered "distractions). i know college wil be different but my advice without knowing in person but based from anecdotal things from my college friends is to have a balance and set aside a time for everything as some have said. use common sense. dont get drunk the weekend before a test,etc.</p>

79

<p>ilikeoranges, that really helps. Sensible advice that I think I can follow and doesn't scare the heck out of me!</p>

80

<p>wow ilikeoranges, you really motivated me! i'm so worried i won't do good in college...i really want a 4.0 and i'm sooooo gonna get it ;)</p>