I’ve created a list of 5 tips that may come in handy while you’re at college. Some of them might be obvious, but I’m always here to help out the new freshmen.
Eat breakfast or brunch in your dorm room or on the go if you have early classes or breaks in between them. If you buy either Styrofoam (throw away) bowls for cereal, mini cereal boxes, granola bars, or anything that you can heat up in the microwave by just adding some water (minute rice or mac n cheese), it can really help you in the morning. You also won't have to waste a meal at the dining hall. Also, you should add some food to your college list. Trust me, it helped me in the long run.
To save space in your dorm room, only take seasonal clothes when you first come to college. Keep the winter jackets and sweat clothes at home. You can still bring long pants and a light jacket. I learned the hard way by keeping everything from winter until the end of the year. Go back home during the breaks to pick up your winter stuff and then go back home to drop it off whenever the weather gets warmer.
At parties, if you don't want to drink, buy Gatorade, Powerade, non alcoholic glass soda bottles, or powdered mixers. You can also pour these drinks into an empty red cup and pretend that you're drinking. Just make sure that you always hold your cup and don't place it down anywhere. For the glass soda bottles, tear off the labels and no one will know the wiser. I did this at parties with my old roommate and it worked out well for us. Most people will never get curious of you if they see any of these drinks in your hand.
Even if someone does find out, then don’t make a big deal about it. Just be honest with them and leave the party if they give you a hard time.
Always go to parties with someone else or with a group of people. Never travel alone to parties if you have to walk quite a bit to a party. Even though that you might feel safe, you never know what can happen. Take a DD (designated driver) or the campus bus to a party if it's too far of a walk for you. Remember: DD's are Not only for drunk people. Bad weather, no bus services during that night, etc.
Even if you’re not a party person, just go to one for the experience. Apartment (off campus) parties and Frat parties usually have their differences. If you don’t like it or feel uncomfortable, then do something else with your roommate(s) or friends. No one is forcing you to go. It’s all by choice and personal opinion.
To save space and time in the bathroom, buy a 2 in 1 shampoo and body wash so you only have to carry one bottle. Also, bring your comb, teeth stuff, shaving stuff, etc. all in your shower caddy. To keep all you stuff organized, buy a travel size bag or two to keep everything together. You can shower, shave, brush your teeth, and comb your hair all in one trip. On an extra note, make sure that you buy a big enough shower caddy to hold everything.
P.S. Buying a tall mirror for your dorm room wouldn’t be a bad idea as well.
Before I can give some advice, may I ask some Questions?
1.do you have a planner, schedule, or calendar to set reminders?
2.Where do you plan to study (library, dorm, cafe)?
3.does your college have a tutoring center? If so, I would take advantage of It and find a tutor that works for you because some are not helpful and some can even be rude.
4. Are you gonna be working while your going to school?
5. What classes are you taking, what is your major, and are you taking morning, afternoon, and evening classes?
GO TO CLASS, BUY THE BOOK, READ THE CHAPTERS, AND DO THE HOMEWORK!
Go to Professor’s office hours early in the semester and Ask this question: “I know this is a really difficult class-- what are some of the common mistakes students make and how can I avoid them?”
If you have problems with the homework, go to Prof’s office hours. If they have any “help sessions” or “study sessions” or “recitations” or any thing extra, go to them.
Form a study group with other kids in your dorm/class.
Don’t do the minimum…for STEM classes do extra problems. You can buy books that just have problems for calculus or physics or whatever. Watch videos on line about the topic you are studying.
Go to the writing center if you need help with papers/math center for math problems (if they have them)
If things still are not going well, get a tutor.
Read this book: How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport. It helps you with things like time management and how to figure out what to write about for a paper, etc.
If you feel you need to withdraw from a class, talk to your advisor as to which one might be the best …you may do better when you have less classes to focus on. But some classes may be pre-reqs and will mess your sequence of classes up.
For tests that you didn’t do well on, can you evaluate what went wrong? Did you never read that topic? Did you not do the homework for it? Do you kind of remember it but forgot what to do? Then next time change the way you study…there may be a study skill center at your college.
How much time outside of class do you spend studying/doing homework? It is generally expected that for each hour in class, you spend 2-3 outside doing homework. Treat this like a full time job.
At first, don’t spend too much time other things rather than school work. (sports, partying, rushing fraternities/sororities, video gaming etc etc)
If you run into any social/health/family troubles (you are sick, your parents are sick, someone died, broke up with boy/girlfriend, suddenly depressed/anxiety etcetc) then immediately go to the counseling center and talk to them. Talk to the dean of students about coordinating your classes…e.g. sometimes you can take a medical withdrawal. Or you could withdraw from a particular class to free up tim for the others. Sometimes you can take an incomplete if you are doing well and mostly finished the semester and suddenly get pneumonia/in a car accident (happened to me)…you can heal and take the final first thing the next semester. But talk to your adviser about that too.
At the beginning of the semester, read the syllabus for each class. It tells you what you will be doing and when tests/HW/papers are due. Put all of that in your calendar. The professor may remind you of things, but it is all there for you to see so take initiative and look at it.
Make sure you understand how to use your online class system…Login to it, read what there is for your classes, know how to upload assignments (if that is what the prof wants).
If you get an assignment…make sure to read the instructions and do all the tasks on the assignment. Look at the rubric and make sure you have covered everything.
If you are not sure what to do, go EARLY to the professors office hours…not the day before the assignment is due.
You might think that this is all completely obvious, but I have read many stories on this and other websites where people did not do the above and then are asking for help on academic appeal letters.
During Orientation, go to as many activities as you can. Ask people in your hall way if they are going. Introduce yourself…they are looking for friends too. “Hey, I am Pat…what are you majoring in?”
Go to the Activities Fair and sign up for a bunch of clubs that are of interest. They may not all pan out, but don’t eliminate anything yet. If you are into music/D&D/running/church/whatever, you can find other people who are interested too. Service clubs are great because you spend time working together.
Talk to the people on your floor…Get some cookies and offer them “Hey I have cookies, anyone want some?” and then strike up a conversation about where they are from, what they are majoring in, etc. People like to talk about themselves…let them. Don’t make it too long…move on to others.
At dinner time, ask your roommate/people on your hall if they are going to dining hall. Go with them. See if people in your dorm generally sit in the same area… Join them.
Go to any dorm activities your RA has set up. If you are still having issues, talk to your RA. See if they have ideas. If not suggest that they have one. Maybe a movie and pizza?
Join your dorm’s intramural (or any intramural) team.
Talk to others in your classes…exchange numbers so that if either of you miss you can exchange notes… Ask what someone got on a homework question (that you did too)…once you get to know them, ask if they want to form a study group.
If this isn’t working, go to the Counseling Center…they are ready to help freshman this time of year. Don’t think you are a loser because you have to go…this is something you pay for! Get the benefit! You may need to learn some new social skills. They may also have group talks on Homesickness or fitting in.
Go to ongoing campus activities…concerts/movies/lectures/parties. Invite someone/group of people or just sign up and meet people for activities that might be off campus.
See if your dorm/floor has a GroupMe Group set up…otherwise suggest to someone who is extraverted that it might be a good idea. Then people can send a group text that they are showing a movie in the lounge or are baking cupcakes in the kitchen.
You may notice that all of these things take some action…they are not passive. You have to take initiative. But the risk is small…if someone says no, then just say “Maybe another time”.
If you have the money to buy lunch near the classes, do try to eat breakfast and dinner in the cafeteria near your dorm. Other students are more likely to be there at those times and it is easy to meet and talk to people.
My takeaways from my first year (literally this year LOL):
INSIDE OF CLASS:
Don’t be afraid to step outside the comfort zone: college is about finding who you are. This can include a wide swath of things ranging from clubs and activities to just exploring the campus.
Schoolwork comes first: you’re in college because you’re planning to get a degree in something. Make sure that you are on top of everything. Stay organized. Prioritize the courses that you know you’ll struggle with and plan accordingly.
Find a way to study for each class: not every class is built the same way. For example, I did incredibly well in Chemistry II by constantly doing practice problems from each chapter. In a course like that, practice makes perfect. On the other hand, my Human Development Psychology class was rote memorization. I would summarize my notes from the class and study off of that for the exams.
The professor/lecturer is there to help you, not hurt you. Be sure to know the professor! If you’re in a large lecture course like bio, orgo, chem, physics, etc., be sure to go to office hours to make sure the professor knows who you are. Don’t be a face in the crowd. My professors from fall semester still recognize me and I always say hi to them whenever I see them. They can also write recommendations for you if ever need it!
Seek help when needed: in addition to knowing the professor and going to office hours, there are a variety of ways that you can get academic support. The school tutoring service is one of the largest resources available. They can be taught by students who previously had the course with the same teacher. They can give you tips and tricks to do well. Remember, you’re being strong by asking for help when you need it.
Find back-exams: these are past exams that professors upload to the course website (like Blackboard or Sakai) so that you can use them as a study tool. Other students can sell back exams from the same course and instructor, so be on the lookout for those too!
Build upon what you’ve learned and how you did on exams. What went well? What didn’t go so well? What can you do in the future to improve your score?
DO EVERYTHING THAT’S BEEN ASSIGNED TO YOU: doing the assignments earns you easy points. They can also act like a buffer for when you don’t do so hot on exams.
OUTSIDE OF CLASS:
Get to know your roommate(s). I knew my roommate since he and I went to the same high school and are really good friends. That end wasn’t the hard part for me, but if your roommate is someone you never met, talk to them! Go hang out with them!
Meet your hallmates! My college friends are evenly split between commuters and residents. I made a lot of my resident friends just by one friend from the same major. We were both in a GroupMe (highly recommend this app) for Physical Therapy majors and we became good friends even before school started. He then introduced me to other people who I’m now really good friends with. I met my commuter friends starting with my Chem 1 Lab partner who then introduced me to his other friends. Needless to say, it didn’t take me long to make new friends. You shouldn’t talk about school stuff all the time: find common ground. What are common hobbies, interests, etc.?
Not everything about college is alcohol and rushing. If you want to get drunk on Friday and Saturday night, that’s on you. There’s a lot of consequences that come with drugs and alcohol. Evaluate your decisions and review your school’s policy. Is there medical amnesty? What if something goes wrong?
Go explore the area around the college! My school is literally next to UPenn so I spend my Saturdays studying there. In addition, I ran on the nearby river trail (absolutely beautiful, recommend to anyone going to school in Philly) almost every other day. Don’t be cooped up in your dorm. See the community. Visit restaurants. Attend events at school and in town!
Get fit and active! College is stressful. Go to the gym, lift weights, swim some laps, run the track. Since I’m not necessarily a weight-lifter, I run around Philly and it’s great! It gets my mind off of school for two hours and I feel ready to go when I get back.
All of these things take initiative. Remember, “you get out of college as much as you put in”. Get college your all and you’ll be amazed what you have accomplished. If things are getting too much for you, seek out therapy and counseling if need be.