Kids at college will ask you ONCE to join them.
They will not beg you or listen to your reasons why you can’t join them.
It can be as innocent as joining them for dinner, walk to the grocery store or a weekend in Mexico.
If you say no, you may not get another invitation.
You asking to join them later may be too awkward.
Get your work done daily and early, stay ahead of the long term projects so when you do get asked to join the group you have the time.
About the weekend in Mexico, if you are responsible enough to have your passport with you at school then bring and secure.
If you go to college in a big city with dress up events, bring your tux.
Gal pals rely on the “go to” guy who can come dressed formally and knows how to mingle in any social situation.
Great advice regardless of college. A huge university effectively becomes a small college as you advance in your major. By the time you’re a senior, you are spending nearly all of your time in your major department and your friend group is more or less set. So even though there are 40,000 other students, it becomes impossible to avoid the ex who’s a fellow History major or who’s part of the crowd you eat lunch with every day.
If you dump your emotional mess on Mom and feel better the next day, please let her know you’re okay and thank her for being there for you. She’ll still be worked up about it, and not know that you just needed to blow off steam.
-Join a fraternity (if you can afford it)
-Make as many friends as you possibly can early on, no “I’m just settling in. I’ll make friends in a few weeks.” No… the first day
-Get good at a sport, join the sport club
-Step your game up (lift every day, gain weight, nice clothes, go on more dates)
-Study hard and get all A’s (pick easy teachers)
-Pick mostly classes that are useful for your career
-Get good summer internships
-Never, ever cheat (better to get a C on an assignment than get expelled)
^ What @marvin100 said. Except don’t apply this standard only to women, it applies equally to men, LGBTs, people who hold contrary views, religious people, irreligious people, athletes, STEM nerds, etc…
@thatrunnerkid , HA! Super funny re glitter. I will pass that on to my kid.
Here’s my odd tip: give your kid a very small dustpan and brush. At some point your kid will realize they are fed up with dust bunnies sticking to their socks all the time. I sent my kid a dustpan and brush after talking with the custodians on move in day, who told me that the vacuums all disappear within two weeks. She scoffed when the dustpan arrived, but she uses it. A vacuum cleaner has never been seen in her third floor room.
^^^What @Lindagaf said. Even if the dorm brooms and vacuums don’t disappear, they get pretty gross from cleaning up things that we don’t want to think about.
Best advice I gave my son is to use Youtube when you need something. Can’t tie a bowtie, Youtube will show you how. Need to change a sensor on your car, Youtube will show you how. Close friend can’t remove her nipple ring, Youtube will show you how. Can’t figure out a math problem, Youtube will walk you thru it. Youtube has the answer to just about every little mishap you may face.
Here’s a bit of unconventional advice that I received from an uncle who was a college professor. In the summer before I set off for college, the uncle told me that once I got to college I was going to hear about one or two spell-binding, super-professors. The professors may be a teaching subject that is not in my major or central to my program. If I were to take the course I might not earn a high grade in it. But I should do everything I can to TAKE THAT COURSE.
At my college, there was one professor who taught calligraphy – but it was really calligraphy + philosophy/history. I have regretted to this day that I did not take his course. (It’s the kind of experience that inspired Steve Jobs to create the fonts his Mackintosh computer.)
What one should look for in college is far more than just meeting requirements – required courses, distribution requirements, credit hour counts, “normal progress.” Look for opportunities for off-the-track intellectual stimulation or experience that can change one’s way of thinking about life, career, society, the world.
It’s helpful to memorize formulas and processes in math classes, but you should also understand where they come from. It’s easy to be lulled into thinking you can do something because you know the formula and have done practice problems, but you might misremember it slightly on a test and you will need to be able to correct yourself. I’ve tutored students (especially in calculus and differential equations) who are really earnest and think they don’t do this, but they still do.
I am wondering to which colleges it would be useful to bring a tux. My hs senior does not even own a suit yet.
Bring a Halloween costume (other than the tux and a Riff Raff wig). Halloween hits around mid-terms and it can be time consuming to assemble anything more that a basic costume.
Drink plenty of water before, during, & after alcohol consumption.
Nothing good happens after midnight.
Just because everyone else is doing something, it doesn't make it required for you.
People tend to take classes in things they already know about; try some classes in topics you know nothing about.
Dorms are there to give you the opportunity to focus on almost nothing but studying & having fun , as opposed to cleaning, buying food, cooking, etc. You will have the rest of your life to do that stuff--so don't be in a hurry to move off campus, even if everyone else can't wait to move into an apartment.
Check out taking one class per term at night...they tend to meet once per week, & taking one will make the rest of your week less hectic.
Say hello & goodbye to your profs before & after classes--it will be appreciated & they will remember you.