What are some things you wish you knew before going to college for the first time?
Talk to current students/recent grads of schools to get a complete picture. Tours/brochures and a lot of online info is meant to sell you on certain aspects.
- Really good time management skills.
- Keeping a strict budget.
- Tutoring options.
- Time management
- How to study effectively
- Using office hours more often
- Being more confident in social situations
- Being safe, smart, & responsible during parties
- Getting a job before most of the positions are filled
- Going to bed at an appropriate time to avoid sleeping in and missing/skipping classes
- etc.
You can totally mess up something and still come out ok in the end.
I wish I had learned better study skills before returning to college. Nothing like being thrown into the deep end after being out of school for so many years. I’ve had to develop study skills, time management and keeping another schedule just for the school.
Also, it’s okay if you get a B or a C, it is not the end of the world. Also, when financial aid says the buck stops at 600%, they mean it so plan your degree track carefully and try not to change majors too much (I changed my major one year into my program and I had a lot of ground to make up for).
Learn about the campus writing center if there is one, and use it when you get there.
- Learning how to be alone, just because you are surrounded by thousands of other undergrads, doesn’t mean that you should be with them all the time or that if you are not you are worth any less.
- Time management and study skills
- Getting to know professors and seeking out opportunities
- Career and internship seeking advice
- How to be the best version of yourself: aka reach your full potential
- Your own strengths and weaknesses and how they play into your life
In rough order of importance, but they are all important:
- A not so obvious shift to the student being much more responsible for their own education.
- Study skills
- Time management
- There are so many more opportunities that one must now make choices and sometimes the choice is no.
- At many schools, the professor’s first priority is research. Getting involved in that research has many benefits.
All great advice above. I spent six years getting my degree, entirely due to my slacking off and being put on academic probation while at community college. I skipped classes, didn’t try, never went to see a prof when I struggled, dropped classes, and basically did everything wrong before I finally wised up. What a waste of time and my parents’ money. Don’t do what I did.
If I were to do it all over again, I would have made an appointment with an academic advisor right off the bat, and I would have asked the advisor to help me make a plan and stick to it. I never used any resources the school offered. I thought I didn’t need those things. I was wrong.
- I would highly recommend the book by Cal Newport: “How To Become a Straight-A Student:
The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less”
It will help you with time management and how to be more efficient.
2)Tips for making friends in college
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/1808143-having-trouble-adjusting-to-college-making-friends-top-10-things-to-do.html
- Doing well in college
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/1920853-college-is-a-step-up-from-hs-16-tips-on-doing-well-in-college.html
4)How College is different than HS https://www.smu.edu/Provost/ALEC/NeatStuffforNewStudents/HowIsCollegeDifferentfromHighSchool
A lot depends on what an individual’s strengths and weaknesses lie.
- If you're smart but coasted through school on brains without any study habits then you could run into trouble.
- If you are not necessarily smart but got great grades in HS by grinding and doing a ton of extra credit you may be in trouble when you find that there's little extra credit in college and the increased pace could outstrip the hours it takes you to get through the information.
- If you don't do homework regularly but do learn the material and crush the tests the profs may or may not cut you any slack. Check the syllabus and communicate with the teachers to avoid trouble.
- Figure out how you study best: the location, the time of day, alone or in groups, all of that. It's part of developing the study skills that some people did in high school.
In short, be aware of how you’re doing, don’t let trouble build up before making adjustments, and ask for assistance before you think it’s really necessary. If getting help feels really necessary you’re probably already in the weeds.
Also, college is like high school in some important ways.
- It’s a big system full of rules and politics so get to know teachers and administrators. There will be a day when you want to get a signature to bend a requirement rule (eg let physics 191 count as your science requirement after you change majors even though it’s not specifically on the approved science courses list) and they’re more likely to do that for kids they know.
- You get out what you put in. If you just hang out and smoke pot and watch Bob Ross vids then college will be a gaping hole of missed opportunities and wasted money. If you join clubs, meet more than six people and try things out you can make some awesome memories.
- It doesn’t last as long as you think, so don’t wait until junior year to engage or make plans for the future. Dive in on day 1.
You need to take responsibility for your actions.
Academically - Nobody will be on top of you to check that you did your homework and assignments or that you studied for exams. Nobody will insist that you seek out extra help (ex. tutoring center, writing center, professor’s office hours) if you need it. You need to be proactive. Keep on top of academics. Also try different classes you may be interested in and see where things take you.
Time management - Nobody will stop you from frittering away your time. In college you have less class time and more outside of class work than you had in HS. If you use your time wisely you can expect to have a full and successful college life. If you don’t you may find yourself in a quagmire at some point.
Socially – Put yourself out there. Choose your friends wisely. Don’t be talked into things you are uncomfortable doing. Take responsibility for your social life.
Activities - Get involved. Find things you enjoy doing. It will be fun and a source of great friendships.