<p>I'll be a freshman in September at UC Irvine, in the Computer Science department, and I'm not sure what to really expect. I'd appreciate any help or advice at all, including what to bring, study habits, tips on social life, living with a roommate, ANYTHING! I'm the first in my family to be attending a US college and living on-campus, so my parents don't even have any advice for me. Please help!! :D</p>
<p>Well, as far as living with a roommate, try and be as courteous as possible. Keep your stuff clean, don’t play your music loud, etc.</p>
<p>Bring what you normally use at home, but less clothes and shoes. Keep in touch with your roommate with regards to the big stuff (TV, fridge, etc.) so you don’t have two of everything.</p>
<p>Be courteous to every person you meet, most importantly your dormmates (who will not appriciate music being blared at 2am before a major test).</p>
<p>Print a map of your school so you don’t get lost. Have your class schedule with you for the first few weeks.</p>
<p>Get papers done ahead of time so you don’t have to rush the night before its due.</p>
<p>Be nice, be neat and be friendly. It might take a while to figure your the study habits that really help you, but when you find them, stick to it. I’m sure if you search ‘basic college packing list’ you’ll find essentials and (for lack of a better word) luxury items.</p>
<p>As far as study habits go:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>By far the most important tip, go to class. Unless you are very ill get to class and dont make excuses, it will serve you well in the long run.</p></li>
<li><p>Get homework done early. It may be due next week but get it done before then, that gives you time to ask for help if you get stuck and learn as you go. Also it is much less stressful to invest an hour a day than 8 hours on Sunday, trust me.</p></li>
<li><p>Along with number 2, do all the work assigned or suggested. Even if you dont have to turn it in, it is very likely that the the extra problems will come up on a test.</p></li>
<li><p>If you are stuck get help from a TA or professor, they are there to help.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Come with an open mind. College changes a lot of people and opens their eyes to different points of views. Take risks, but don’t be stupid.</p>
<p>While I agree with everyone that you should do homework ahead of time, etc., that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes you end up staying up all night working on a paper for that is due the next day. My advice for this is- pull the all-nighter two days before it’s due instead of the day before. Then go over it the next day. A lot of the stuff you wrote at 4 am on your third cup of coffe makes a lot less sense than it did when you actually wrote it.</p>
<p>another thing about getting your work done early…not only can you go over it/improve it, sometimes stuff comes up and this way you won’t get stuck in a bind. For example…you are feverishly working on finishing up a big assignment due in your 8 am class the next morning, and someone pulls the alarm and your dorm is evacuated for 2 hours…oops! Or you need to get a big assignment done and a friend comes up with an irresistable offer (tickets for the big game/concert tonight, etc) and you would love to go but you need to do your assignment.</p>
<p>Basically, it gives you flexibility.</p>
<p>And one more thing…back up everything as you do it. For example, email yourself copies of each draft of an assignment as you do it. If anything happens to your computer (lost, stolen, forgotten, hard drive crash) you will not have lost your work.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This, definitely!</p>
<p>Understand that a lot of people are going to have different views than you and you may be going to school with different kinds of people than you are used to hanging out with. Be willing to accept anyone. Everyone has a story and everyone is just as new at this as you are.</p>
<p>Understand that college is NOT high school. Professors aren’t going to be cool with you showing up late every day, texting through class, talking through lecture, and wanting to turn stuff in late. High school graduation might have only been a few months ago, but you are now considered an adult. You have to be responsible and now, in college, only you are responsible for your actions. If you’re falling behind in a class your professor’s not going to care what your parents have to say about it. You have to be able to deal with whatever obstacles come your way. This might sound scary at first, but it’s not hard to adjust to. Just know that people expect you to act like an adult, and they respect you if you do.</p>
<p>If you have any idea what it is you want to do with your career do everything you can to get experience. Intern, work, join clubs, ask professors for extra help and advice after class. Don’t just attend class and get a degree. There’s so much more that you can do with your college life!</p>
<p>You’ll discover what study habits work and don’t work for you as time goes on. So don’t worry, there’s no right or wrong answer for this :D</p>
<p>Most of all, don’t worry! There are going to be so many people there who are new to this school as well, and a lot of them might even be the first in their family too. It’s very easy to make friends in college as long as you keep in contact with people. This might not happen right away, but give it time. Your first semester is not going to define how the rest of your college life is.</p>
<p>Also, bring a rain jacket, umbrella, rain boots, etc.! I’m pretty sure it was pouring down raining each year on the first day, lol! Nothing’s worse than trying to find new classes when you’re soaking wet and it’s storming. Plus those fun random rain storms can hit at any time, and since you’ll probably be running across campus outdoors instead of just running through hallways to get to class, you’ll be glad you have that umbrella!</p>
<p>Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Practice programming. The end of each chapter of your textbook should have some practice programs for you to write (i.e. they tell you what the program is supposed to do). I recommend doing as many of these as possible and trying to stay one chapter ahead of the class. At least for your first few introductory programming classes. The goal is to train your mind to think algorithmically. And pay attention in discrete math!</p>
<p>These are some very good books, IMO:</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“K-12 Education Curriculum – K-12 Learning – Savvas Learning Company”>K-12 Education Curriculum – K-12 Learning – Savvas Learning Company]Etter[/url</a>]</p>
<p>I’m reading the Etter/Ingber C++ book. I took a C++ class years ago and I’ve tried picking it up again with other books, but this was the first book to really make it all stick and the secret to that was in the practice programs. You learn by doing, doncha know. Too many books emphasize explaining things and then give you one or two practice programs, but these authors gave real-world engineering problems to solve. I also like that they introduced file input/output early on, that has really helped me grow.</p>