<p>I'm thinking of starting a series of 'college prep' classes for high school students headed to college. These will likely be classes ranging from 1 1/2 hours to 4 hours depending on the subject. Things like car maintenance, bicycle maintenance, balancing your checking account, laundry, personal safety, what to do if you're in a wreck, what to do when you're sick, etc. As basic as these things sound, we parents sometimes neglect these areas and try to make up for lost time the summer before our kids leave. Classes like these might help fill in the gaps for students or at the very least, make parents feel better about their child living on their own.</p>
<p>I'd like to know what do you wish you had learned BEFORE you left for college?</p>
<p>-Banking/Finances, and how to open an account. It’s sad how many of my friends can’t write a check
-How to pump gas–seriously. I have a friend from New Jersey who came to college in Maryland and never learned beforehand
-How much to tip
-How to get to school from home and back without a car and/or parents help.
-Laundry
-How to make a bed–I’ve done this for guy friends who couldn’t figure it out.
-what NOT to put in a microwave.</p>
<p>Banking. And other financial stuff like tax forms and financial aid forms and what not. </p>
<p>Seriously, my parents taught me pretty much everything else I ned to know to be a functioning person, but I have no idea how to transfer money… :(</p>
<p>I hope I have learned tennis and how not to be lazy. and most importantly, I hope I have thrown off the habit of procrastination before entering college. But gee, now it’s too late.</p>
<p>Scheduling tips (i.e., no seven a.m. classes for your first semester)
College Cooking (What can and cannot be made in a microwave, why Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade is surprisingly helpful)
Finances (not a good idea to spend all your money on Subway, falafel, and ‘cool’ clothes)
Seating advice-always sit in the front row and answer a minimum of one question per class. MAKE the professor know who you are.</p>
<p>(not me personally, but what I would think):
How to fry an egg, how to cook basic cheap easy delicious meals, how to clean up after yourself, how to buy and sell textbooks online (online only, abebooks, amazon, no bookstore, and no renting)</p>
<p>In terms of personal finance, one of my friends in college is writing a blog about managing your personal finances. He currently has some posts about credit cards but he told me that he would go on to talk about opening checking and savings accounts. The url is thesmartnickel.blogspot.com if anyone wants to check it out.</p>
<p>The other stuff I learned in college I had a pretty basic understanding aside from the personal finance stuff.</p>