When we go off to college, we hear the usual advice: stay balanced, make friends, don’t overcommit, etc.
I’m interested in hearing some of the more unusual bits of advice you’ve given and/or received.
Anything that seemed weird at the time, but came in useful later?
Look through this thread http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1950634-advice-for-college-freshmen-to-avoid-a-rough-start-their-first-semester-away.html#latest
Saw that one, that’s what sparked my interest. Lots of the same (good, though!) advice there. I was curious if there’s other thoughts out there that might be a little out of the ordinary.
For example, a friend who goes to my school offered lots of unsolicited advice on which bathrooms on campus were the best. :))
I’d say keep your focus on the more obvious advice. That is what will help you stay in college and graduate. We see a lot of students out here that don’t make it. The cause isn’t usually which bathroom they used. 
Remember how fast gossip travels in a dorm. Ha.
At a small college, you can encounter ex significant others all the time. Do your best to not have relationships implode (one of my kids who is a senior lives in the same dorm as FOUR of her exes – it is awkward, to say the least).
Don’t have sex in the unisex bathroom.
Just… don’t. Other people have to shower there, too.
It happened all the time in our dorms. Just use your rooms, people!
I always got Time Magazine, all through undergrad and grad school. Yes I’m old and it came in the mail either on Tues or Wed., and it was a treat to read it as it wasn’t assigned, I wasn’t tested on it, I felt connected to the world since in those days we didn’t have TV’s in our rooms (there was one in the basement of the dorm) and I didn’t get a newspaper every day.
If there is something you enjoy, do it. Join a church choir, play tennis with your roommate once a week, have coffee with a friend from high school on Thursdays. Whatever it is, do it.
An uncle told me that if you get so drunk that you get the bedspins, putting one foot off the bed and onto the floor can help.
Too bad I had the top bunk.
Be a good listener. Ask people questions about themselves. Be inclusive.
@twoinanddone That’s great advice. Where I went to school the NYTimes offered student discounts. I think the Washington Post offers online discounts for edu accounts.
Ah, @marvin100, that reminds me of another tip. If you drink too much & throw up in your room, don’t try to spray a lot of Febreze to cover up the smell. It can trigger the dorm fire alarm. 
Don’t drink the bong water.
If you live in a place that’s a tourist attraction, buy your plane ticket home for Christmas months in advance – maybe even before the semester starts.
You don’t want to end up like the friend of my sister’s who spent the first few days of Winter Break – including Christmas itself – sleeping on our family’s couch in Connecticut because all the flights to his home – the Virgin Islands – were sold out.
Wash your sheets.
Especially if you’re following the earlier advice to have sex in your room rather than in the unisex bathroom.
cheap bike; expensive lock.
If you’re having difficulty getting up in the morning look into if you’re afflicted with delayed sleep phase syndrome and, if you are, get it treated immediately…
And get the sonic boom alarm clock that shakes your mattress to wake you as well as has an increasingly loud alarm (warn roommate!)
2 pieces of advice that should be adhered to at least 3 months before you leave–and this probably requires more behavioral changes on the parents part than on the student–1)Do your own laundry, 2) Be responsible for getting yourself to/from your commitments–this includes making sure you are out of bed in time and making sure you have transportation if needed. .
Most parents will probably say their kids “know” how to do these things–but in reality, many parents (and I was guilty of this) will proactively make sure their kids got up in time for work, school, etc…or would do their laundry for them “because I’m doing a load anyway”. Starting with their second semester of senior year in HS, I completely turned that over. I no longer did any of their laundry and I no longer oversaw their calendar.(Now, that didn’t mean that I never took them/picked them up from anywhere. Just that they were responsible for asking me for a ride if needed).
It got them in the habit of taking care of themselves, because at school no one else is going to make sure they get up in time, etc.