What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Some of my friends are nervous prefrosh and asked me to make a list of all the things I wish I had known when going to college so I made a list for them. It has stuff like "bring flipflops to wear in the bathrooms," "don't put styrofoam in the microwave," "bring a ton of quarters for laundry," and "this is how you cash a check."

Sadly however I am worried that I am going to not think of an awful lot of things.

So if you can think of something that you had to learn the hard way, or you had problems with, or just wish you had known before the problem was sitting right in front of you please post it here so I can be sure my list is as complete as reasonably possible.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

I'm not in college yet, but this is important...

Facebook is really addicitive. I have a college account (purdue.edu)...I just can't stay away from it!

Really, it's really addictive.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

That it wouldn't take me 14 years to finish! :ahh:

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

What I would be doing 25+ years later (now) so I could have better selected my classes.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

communication is key to any relationship, including student / faculty. If you've got something going on, talk about it. Your professors are people too!

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

You'll get out of college whatever you put into college. Remeber, you're paying for it, so make the best of it.

Get to know your professors.

I also have the ultimate list of stuff to bring to college. It was passed down through about 15 people or so, I just typed it up. PM/e-mail me if you want it.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Remember to have fun with it! Don't be afraid to take chances, to be the person that you want to be. This is a new chance, a new start. The people at your college aren't going to know you, they will be just meeting you. Shape the person that you want to be, and become it.

Take some fun classes! Don't overwhelm yourself with all of your tough classes at once.

No matter how many times you forget your ATM code (I have the running record of all of my friends for forgetting it 6 times), go to the bank, bring your liscence and they'll give it to you.

BEWARE OF CREDIT CARDS! Most people haven't been out on their own before. Most people haven't had credit cards. There's no one there to tell you no. If you want to go to the mall and get 17 Louis Voittan purses, mom isn't going to be in your dorm room when you get back to yell at you to take them back. I have a friend right now who is paying over $300/month just in credit card interest. Don't do that, it's very bad.

On the other hand, don't be afraid to spoil yourself sometimes! Some of those things that mom and dad say no to at home (for me, it's my weekly ice cream run to Coldstone), you can have now. Just be sure to use self control.

Ratemyprofessor.com is your friend. If you don't see very much in the way of ratings, your school might have its own site. Talk to your RA, see if one exists. This site is your friend and will help you avoid a really bad semester.

Get to know your RA, they are older and have been there before. Every college is different, they will be able to tell you the little tricks of survival at yours.

And finally, HAVE FUN! This is college, one of the most fun times in your life! Enjoy it, make lots of new friends, and have the time of your life!

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

I work in a building here at UT called the Student Services Building. There is actually a branch of Students Services that falls under Student Affairs.

Within that are many areas:
New Students Services
Student Retention Services
Students with Disabilities
Mental Health & Counseling
Financial Aid
Legal Services for Students
Health Center
Dean of Students
and many more

In the websites of the universities that you choose/select - you will find these services. Use them.

Tomorrow I am at an outreach sponsored by Mental Health & Counseling called Stress Fest. We'll have biofeedback, acupuncture, massage chairs,
games, a small petting zoo, snow cones, cool music - it is something our students services does to get the word out to college students during finals/crunch time - that you can access help during stress and bad times and help maintain during good. It's here for you. Get connected with what your university can do for you to help make it an incredible journey.
Jane

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

That's basically my advice as well. College is a good time for you to explore, figure out what you like doing, and try things out, both good and bad. More importantly, for most people it is their first chance to be an adult, which means the freedom to make your own decisions and push boundaries. As well as having to live with the consequences of your bad decisions.

MSU has a Coldstone now? Back in my day (BSME '95) they only had Melting Moments, the MSU Dairy Store (which was conveniently located directly between two of my classes almost every spring, and was only $0.50 for a single scoop back then), and half price tuesdays at the Quality Dairy.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Yup, there's a Coldstone right off of Grand River on MAC. Melting Moments and the Dairy Store are still here. Dairy Store is still like, $1.50 or something for a couple of scoops.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

- Learn the words to the fight song, even if you don't like sports.

- Treat it like a job. You go to work everyday. I wish I knew that one.

- It's not just a job. Have fun. Try new things. It's not all study.

- Do something. SAE car, give campus tours, join an organization on campus. Something.

- Eat healthy. Yes - you can have Mt. Dew and pizza EVERY day. But soon you'll hate pizza, and no one wants to hate pizza.

- Don't be stupid. I have to remind the students on the robot team every week, so I assume college people need to know that too.

- Be yourself - not who you think you should be. College is the perfect time to do this.

- Just because you can buy 50 giant pixie stix with your roommates Sam's club membership does not mean you should eat them all at once. Laughing colored sugar out your nose will be your punishment.

- Don't call your family on April 1st and tell them you are in jail and you need bail money. They might forget it's April 1st. Especially if you tell them you got caught doing an April fools day prank. Mom's don't like that.

- Call home.

- Do laundry. At least once a month. Even if the smell doesn't bother you.

- Hang out with people from different majors. It's OK. I had more fun with a bunch of music majors...

I'm done for now... lots of life lessons from college.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

College was the best twenty years of my life.

I started as a dual-enrolled HS student because there was no calculus at my school back in 1975. I have credits from six colleges, all my degrees (BS'83, MS'85, PhD'90) are from Georgia Tech, and I spent four years as an assistant professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Missouri. I finally left college for the 'real world' in 1995, and thankfully discovered FIRST a year after that.

The most important thing I can tell anyone about college is to enjoy it as much as you can and follow your imagination wherever it leads you. If your goal is to be a professional, then your education will never be complete. Keeping your imaginative fire burning should be your top priority. The knowledge and skills you can acquire are (like the money you can earn) just fuel to keep you moving toward the larger goals you set for yourself by constantly exercising your imagination.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Manage your time well & Start your work as soon as you get it. I was lucky enough to go to a high school that overloading you with work so you got used to high work loads. A lot of people on my freshman floor did not have that and goofed around until 9pm the night before it was due, needless to say they didn't sleep those nights.

Know there will be nights that you have all-nighters.

If you drink, be smart. Alternate between an alcoholic drink and water. You'll be thankful for it in the morning.

Make friends with upperclassman in your major. They'll be able to help you out if you need it, or even borrow books from.

First semester, only join one or two clubs at most. Overloading with too many extras might be hard to adjust to college life.

Get one credit card through your bank with a small credit limit (~$500.) This teaches you to learn financial responsibility and build credit. Don't use it unless you know you have the money to pay it off though. If the bank keeps increasing your limit, like some banks do, call and have them lower it again.

Mix your hard classes with easier ones each semester.

Don't be afraid to change your focus in school. If you went in for certain major and discovered it wasn't for you, go to something that will make you happy. I did this in a way. I thought through my work with Robotics I wanted to do design, turns out I didn't really enjoy it; however, manufacturing & materials interested me a lot more.

Understand that sometimes people you were really close to in high school aren't that way in college.

Take advantage of internships or co-ops.

Create a resume your freshman year. Get it critiqued by professionals in your area or your school's career center. It helps to have a baseline to add to once you have more experience.

Have a folder/box with all important documents in them - bills, bank statements, passport - in a place where you know you can find them. It helps having them all in one place when you need something.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Taking off from that, make sure your parents teach you how to do laundry before you leave home.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

I laughed at some of those above.
Boring stuff first:

Although you have probably heard it before, don't leave your work til 20minutes before its due in ... it is so tempting to do so...
Try and be considerate to flatmates/neighbours... loud music is fine, but if they want to go to sleep, turn it down or relocate to someone elses room...


Facebook is way too addictive ... as eugenia said. You can sit there and find random stuff out from your friends and it just wastes your day
Don't sit around in your room... go to the uni bar (well, probably doesn't apply there) or to the common room... just do something
Laundry, do it at least once a week... not because of the smell, but because otherwise you get to the end of the month and everyone is doing huge amounts of washing... and you will be stuck waiting for hours : Best time of the week to do washing : first thing on a weekday... even better is to take a train home , stay at home for weekend with free decent nosh(food), and get your parents to do your washing ;)
Get them to make some filing cards or fill in a notebook of random useful stuff , eg what the symbols mean on clothes labels, how to cook an egg until its safe, etc
If there is a day to sign up for various activities / societies, sign up to as many as possible. you don't realise how much time you actually get.

First week. Go out EVERY NIGHT! Meet people and make friends! everyone is in the same situation. keep this in mind and you shall suceed.


Enjoy your freedom from family, but try to pack up neatly before they come to collect you at end of term/year... get aload of the collapsable boxes to take your stuff in, then throw boxes under your bed.

Don't forget to pay for any stuff you need to, such as accomadation. you may get fined if you pay late. (like i lost £40 due toforgetting to pay...)

Don't be like JVN.
 

Are you going to college to get a degree, or an education?

My experiences at Clarkson taught me, that in some classes, you can cram for the tests and pass the course without learning much at all. (Though you will often pay for doing so down the road, when you're expected to know the stuff you crammed and forgot).

If you go through college doing this, you will regret it.
So, now I ask people the above question, and ask them to remember this question throughout their college tenure.

Are you going to college to get a degree, or an education?

(Make sure you get both, I'm not advocating a Kamenesque career.)

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Hmm. Best way to learn imo is to take notes. you tend to think stuff as you write them and it sticks in your mind...



shame i can't mention much on drinking, doesn't apply to you, theoretically....

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Back in our "starving artist" days, my wife and I could split a Quality Dairy cone and make it a meal.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Don't miss out on the following quoted from lyrics from a pretty funny (but a little mature) play on Broadway. If anyone wants the name, let me know.

I found these all rather amusing and bolded the ones I agree with a lot, even though I'm still in college.. (part time student, full time job - working does that to you)

I Wish I Could Go Back To College lyrics:
The last 2 lines is what I feel now to a certain extent. LOL
I'm in a commuter college now, so it's a bit different as the night students are a range of 18-60 year olds, but it's still weird being old(er) and still in college..

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Anybody who tries to stop you while you are walking along on campus, ignore them, especially if they are holding a clipboard. Don't get sucked in. Sometimes they will even try to follow you. If they ask for money, just say "wish I could" If they ask you "have you...." just say "already did, thanks" and keep walking. People come onto college campuses to take advantage of poor college students who don't know any better. I see it almost every day. Don't let it happen to you.

Also, don't give out information like your address and brithdate and social security numbers to people you don't know.

Don't leave your backpack or laptop sitting around. The world isn't full of FIRSTers. There are theives out there.

And do become involved in something. But make sure it is a good something. Many clubs meet once a week to just sign in and eat pizza. Don't bother continuing if that is a club you were thinking of being involved in. Make it worthwhile.

Re: Don't be like JVN.
 

John speaks wisdom. There will be some courses that will be more applicable to your career than others (Music Appreciation or Astronomy, for example, will not do as much for an engineering major), but try walk away with some knowledge from every course you take.

If you have to take some courses in a certain department, look beyond the 101s and 110s and find something that clicks with you. (I had to take a social sciences course. I looked at the master schedule and settled on GEOG 333, Geography of Popular Music. Definitely one of the best courses I've taken at USC, in no small part because it interests me.)

Meet as many people as possible. Bonus points for faculty. You never know where it'll lead you.

When it comes to going to class or reading ChiefDelphi, go to class. (No, this has not been an issue for me.)

Do at least one silly (but legal) thing a semester.

Procrastination is allowed, but you take your life into your own hands by doing it. You have been warned.

Try to avoid going home every weekend, unless there's some overriding reason.

Know where the nearest drug store, supermarket, and Wal-Mart (or your choice of big-box store) are. The student health center may have a pharmacy inside--check to be sure.

Oh, and a general guiding principle: Don't be stupid.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

looks like we have avenue q =)

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Billfred and I are opposites. I have two college degrees, which I spent nine years on (with a couple of work breaks in between). The absolute best times I had in college were in "Introduction to" classes. I finished my undergraduate degree with the exact minimum number of classes in my major to get my degree. I spent the rest of my time having fun. I discovered that our School of Physical Sciences had a sequence of courses for non-majors. The instructors had the chance to teach something they loved, without the pressure of making majors happy. I took Observational Astronomy, Cosmology, Newtonian Physics, and Geophysics. I took a one-year course in psychobiology. I took six Humanities courses, including Logic and a history of the American presidency. I have four units in undergraduate Criminal Law. I took six quarters of Sailing. I lifted weights for a year. I was disc jockey at KUCI for three years, wrote for the New University newspaper for two years and was news editor for a year, was Director of the Model United Nations program, and completed a half-dozen independent study projects (for class credit).

The moral, and I do have one, is that college can be a tremendously broadening experience, and might be the last chance you have to hang out in an intellectual playground where all you have to do is learn. Don't waste it learning to be a drone. Trust me -- most of the classes you take won't help all that much after you graduate, and no one will care in 10 years if you got an "A" or "B+" in a course. Focus on your education, not school.

And don't be stupid.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

This is what I wish someone had told me:

Go to class. Care about your classes, even the ones you don't like. And even if you would be happy with a "B" or a "C" as long as it's a passing grade, still strive for that "A" because striving means you care. If you run out of money before you finish, don't give up, get as much out of what you have and try to get back as soon as you can. Get your basic requirements out of the way first if you don't test out of them (I had a small degree of talent in English and was able to convince the head of the English department to allow me to take advanced classes).

I made mistakes like the ones I'm cautioning about and I'm now in my 30s and finally back in school. All of those advanced English classes transferred as electives so I'm pretty much close to starting from scratch. But I'm doing it right this time so I guess I have to tell you to remember that even if you do mess up, you will have more chances, it's harder, I won't lie to you about that, but it's still another chance.

Again, that's what I wish someone had told me.

Heidi

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

I'll chime in again here, since I agree with TYler here. College is one of the most "free" times you have in your life. You've got time. You've got a nice intellectual playground. You've still got some of your youthful energy. And you hopefully aren't too jaded yet. It's the best time to explore and learn, and it's best if you make good use of the opportunity.

That, and even if you are the pratical-minded type, you never know when skills can be useful, and some of my non-Mechanical Engineering classes I took over the 10 years I spent in college (BS, MS, PhD) turned out to be some of the most useful:

• All those fun computer programming classes (programming gigs and sysadmining basically bankrolled me through school)
• Scuba diving (considering I spend a fair amount of time now working with decompression sickness detection systems, this turned out to be tremendously useful in addition to fun)
• Viticulture (I later ended up having a consulting client who needed some heat transfer expertise regarding issues in his vineyard, and I got the job since I was the only engineer he talked to that knew what he was talking about)
• Intro to industrial engineering (not a major course or a tech elective. I took this since it consisted of nothing but *lots* of factory tours. Probably one of the most educational classes I ever had)

So you never know what will and won't turn out to be useful (indeed, that "Design Creativity" core ME class was probably the least useful class I ever took...). So spread your courseload around a bit. It also makes you a more interesting and informed person.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

I like to keep asking myself "Why is this interesting? Why is this cool?" (Because it almost always is, if you look close enough). Nothing will turn you off school faster than slogging through equations that seem pointless just to do well on a test, so take a few minutes, step back, and try to find some neat patterns or applications. A lot of profs seem to teach just the equations and how to apply them, but try to ask yourself why the equations make sense, how they fit in with other things, etc.

For instance, Laplace transforms always bugged me because I coudn't see the fundamental reason why you convolve with e^-st instead of something else, and no prof or textbook will tell you (because the answer doesn't have any obvious practical use). So I played around with it for a few hours and figured out that, given certain qualities that you want the Laplace transform to have, e^-st is the only function that works (if this sounds interesting, PM me and I can try to recreate my thought process...it was a while ago). This didn't directly help me pass any tests or do any assignments, but certainly reinvigorated my interest in the subject.

As for applications, FIRST is great for this. If you're trudging through control systems theory, think about applications to PID controllers for drive systems. If you hate your electromagnetism course, take an hour or two, make a mathematical model of a simple DC motor, use the specs from the CIM and see how closely you can predict its performance (I've done this, and not only is it a ton of fun, but you end up with a much better understanding of DC motors). If dynamics has you down, start thinking about nifty robot mechanisms (I know that I took stuff directly from my first year physics course and used it directly to help mentor my old team on my next co-op term).

That's a little more abstract than some of the above posts, but hopefully it helps...

Oh, and one more thing: It IS possible to get through 4 years of engineering quite nicely without ever resorting to

a) Kraft dinner, or
b) caffeine.

:) I've done it, and I know other people who have as well. Finally, don't feel pressured to drink - engineering at my school, at least, has quite an alcohol culture, but I can almost count on my two hands the number of drinks I've had in the last four years, and I get along with everyone just fine.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

advice my step dad gave me the day i left for college:

its pro'lly pretty simplistic, but it still seems profound to me.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

In all fairness to my 100-level professors, I can't say I didn't enjoy most of my introductory courses. All of them were interesting courses that covered new material (something that can't be said for some of my current courses). But someone will have to explain what Bach's Sonata No. 5 in B Minor* has to do with marketing. ;)

* That may or may not be a real piece. But I bet I had you fooled until the asterisk, eh?

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

If you want to get your masters degree look at doing a 5 year program. Going back and doing it while working is not that easy.

Take an honest look at the greek life on campus it may surprise you what you can get out of it when you actually give it a chance. Depending on where you go there are great differences in the way the greek system works.

Oh and buy Ramen noodles by the case because it's cheaper.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Realize that college is the single greatest educational opportunity you are likely to have. The school has thoughtfully placed at your disposal dedicated professionals who know what they teach, a great library full of knowledge, labs full of equipment, other students to discuss a wide range of subjects and all of it is in this nice little, compact, community, so it is easy for you to take advantage of it. And there are people to help you through almost any problem that might crop up. Get to know your counselor and all your professors. They are being paid to teach you and help you graduate. They are not the enemy.
Know that temptations exist. Learn how to recognize them and how to avoid them. Those mentioned so far are credit cards, bars, other entertainments, the computer and your room mate or friends. Set times to study and reward yourself when you have completed a task. Get sleep when you can, without it nothing else will work.
Keep a notebook or Palm with you to write down assignments and deadlines. It's hard to plan without knowing what or when.
There are no shortcuts, no easy way to get through, no way for anyone but you to get the job done. If you are reading this, you are already well on your way. It means you are trying to do the right thing and asking for directions.
Keep this in the back of your mind. You (or someone you are really close to ) is paying a lot of money for you to be there and you are investing a huge amount of your time and effort. If you don't go to class, don't try to learn, don't do your best, you are wasting those resources. Conversely, you should not accept an instructor who wastes your resources for the same reasons.
Know that there will be times when it feels like the whole world is against you. They are not! This is usually a condition brought on by lack of sleep or some other essential. Get some sleep, even if it's only a nap and start again later. Things will improve.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

I just wanted to note that I'm a prefrosh and I am reading all of these with great interest. It's really nice to hear advice from our fellow FIRST mentors/college students. Keep 'em coming!

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Bring a pair of flipflops for the showers.
You never know what might be on that floor.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

...that you can throw away at the end of the year. (I had a dedicated pair last year, and by the end of they year they looked a little...sketchy.)

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

has it really been 25 years since I was in college? sheesh....

If you have to get a part time job, try to get one in a field where you can apply some of what you're studying....I worked at a junkyard taking cars apart, and a transmission shop taking transmissions apart....somehow that fit in pretty well with my mechnaical engineering studies, at least more than flipping burgers would have. In lieu of a job, get involved with a project such as an SAE car, or helping a FIRST team (if you're in engineering), or anything else that lets you apply what you're learning. You really don't learn well until you can put the new info to use somehow.

And be careful with your punch card decks, DON'T let them get out of order!

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

That's why you draw a diagonal line down the side of the deck with a magic marker, so it's easier to re-order them.

Hmmm, I'm feeling a need to add a card reader or papertape reader to the robot.

Never actually programmed with cards (yes to papertape, tho), but during my early undergrad years the old course registration system used punchcards, and if you went and found the old manual cardpunch in the Computer Science department, you could make your own cards and do things add seats to a section and stuff like that. Much fun was had, especially since the enrollment thing was basically one big black market anyways.

Bringing this back to the college advise topic: Don't get caught hacking into the school's computers.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Apply what you learn to an internship that next summe(us FIRST connections), find the place on campus outside of the dining hall which accepts the student meal cards. Buy all the books online and used if you can. Join a club or 6 to meet new people and most of all try everything because you won't know what you don't like(even in engineering..i found out i enjoyed law as well). And of course, cheap throw away flip flops for the shower

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Help your local FIRST team even if you're not in engineering. The benefit of putting your learning to use applies equally well to non-technical learning.

One of our team leaders is starting college in the Fall and plans to major in Journalism. She is mainly responsible for this year's STL winning WFA essay. I'm sure she will be a tremendous asset to an FRC team near her college -- I think they've already started recruiting her!

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

I forgot this in my earlier post, my apologies:

singing in the shower
dancing in the rain
snowball fights outside the dorm
walks in the sunset
if you look up from your books and spy a rainbow
stop and watch it for a little while

One of my all time favorite memories is a spider web that was woven between branches of a sapling in the central campus of my college. I was on my way to an early morning class and the sun made the water droplets on the spider's web sparkle and shimmer. I've held that memory for 32 years. The tower bell was tolling 8 a.m. -
Jane

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

I want to keep this short:

1) You will retain more (and for a longer time) if you study many times for short time periods than if you study in one long study period. This has been shown in many psychological and educational studies. Break up your study periods and take advantages of short downtimes (like between classes) to quickly study something.

2) GET SLEEP!!!! You think you're doing yourself a favor by doing an all night cram session, but in reality you would have done better on the exam if you stopped studying and got 8 hours of sleep. With a little experience, you will start to notice when your productivity starts to take a dive. As soon as you notice this, it's sleep time. Set your alarm for 8 hours from now and resume studying after sleeping.

Good luck. If you do it right it will be the hardest thing you've ever done while also being the best and most rewarding thing you've ever done.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Well that's just great -- how was I to know? I went to school in Southern California and missed EVERYTHING!

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

- California Dreamin'

- The Beach Boys

- I think not -

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

I will start with the ones I listed for the Clarkson Social in Rochester... Note that all of these are pretty much aimed at engineering students (might change for other majors).

1. (Ok this is for pre-prefrosh) PAY Attention in your chemistry and physics and calc classes in high school!!! It will make your life 10 times easier when you get to college! (I know... I had to spend so much more time studying in college because I didnt pay attention to calc and physics the first time!)

2. DO NOT blow off your freshman classes because you have already taken them (ie the calc, chem & physics I mentioned above!) It will be similar material, but the tests are MUCH harder... they actually expect you to think!! not just repeat repeat repeat! I know many of my friends that were really smart, ended up graduating with 2.5-2.9 GPA's because they thought freshman year just didnt matter, and they would do better in their "real" classes... guess what? All of your classes count!! Take advantage of the "easy" ones!

3. Get a co-op or internship while you are in college!! Im a key recruiter at Harris, and I cant tell you how many times we have turned down kids with great GPA's or good leadership because they just dont have industry experience, or didnt seem to have the drive to get a "real job" while in college.

4. Don't be afraid to ask for help. I dont know if all schools are this way, but Clarkson was great at giving help IF you asked... your advisor will meet with you occassionally, but most schools expect you to act like an adult and ask for help if you need it. Dont be embarrassed... I was a physics tutor, and had to go get tutored in calc 3, it was really hard to accept at first (I always thought I was smart!) but I got a lot from the tutor, and ended up with a B+ instead of the D I got on my first test!!

5. At any decent engineering school, you WILL fail one of your first tests. At Clarkson, its physics... everyone fails the physics test! Studying in college is so much different from studying in high school. Learn what works for you, find some friends, get a tutor, or just plug through it.

And some other advice I would give:
6. Get a credit card... I came out of college and had ZERO credit... with money in the bank, I wasnt allowed to finance a $1700 bed, but my boyfriend, in 60k of debt could! Your debt and/or a credit card will get you some credit to start with. But keep your credit on the good side. If you have to, use it to pay for things like books you already have $$ for, and then send it home with your parents and dont touch it until next semester!!

7. LEARN TIME MANAGEMENT!!! We had A LOT of fun up at Clarkson, but we also worked really hard. I can remember during pre exam weeks (dubbed he** week), I would plan out every waking hour of my day, 2 hours on physics, 3 hours on chem, 2 hours for lunch, 5 hours on calc, 1 hour for coffee, 3 hours for physics, 2 hours for frisbee... etc. You dont have to go to that detail, but dont procrastinate, start assignments the night they are given to you, first thing in the semester, or you will end up behind for the whole semester. Figure out when you are going to work, and when you are going to play and commit yourself to it!

8. This is important, and I know it may cross some small lines, but its what my dad told me, and I think its the best advice I ever got. We know you are going to party. BE SMART about it... seriously, cabs or walking in the cold are worth it when lives are at stake, even just one is too many. Also, if you are going to party, always bring a friend that you know will watch out for you, and do the same for your friends (especially girls). Dont just run out with the new person you met and head to their friends party... take a friend you know and trust, it will be worth it!!

Ok ok thats it :) best of luck in college!! It WILL be the best time of your life!

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Thats crazy! Banks know they can get more money from people in debt than those with money... it sucks.
Get a debit card ... then you can't go over your credit limit...here we can get student accounts with no interest on a £1250 overdraft ... and free railcard too ;)
May i suggest getting an acc similar to above, and another account, with high interest. Then putting all your money into the high interest and setting up a standing order for a budget. eg £40 a week, and if you keep to it , your balance will be 0 or above.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

-Learn to use an alarm clock and a calendar
-Don't always just in the cafe, explore your surroundings some
-Meet upper classmen, they can be helpful when picking out professors, with homework, and sometimes they will "loan" you their old books.
-Free is your friend, don't feel bad because in some form or another you are paying for it

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Well, it isn't actually such a bad idea, provided that you don't buy things which you can't afford. The trick is, exactly as Kim said, to build up a (good) credit history by buying things which you can repay immediately when the statement arrives. As long as you don't carry any debt beyond the end of the billing period, you don't pay any interest, and a good credit history accumulates. (This makes it easier and cheaper for you to conduct future transactions where you might need to take on significant amounts of useful debt—mortgages, for instance.)

The problem is, people (idotically or ignorantly) buy things on their credit card which they can't afford immediately. If you need to borrow money, borrow it at the lowest interest rate available to you—which is to say, don't use your credit card for that purpose. Try the store's financing options, or a bank loan, for example. (And, of course, ask yourself if you really need whatever it is that you're buying....)

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

1. Study throughout the semester. It will make the tests easier than if you cram for them.

2. If you choose to ignore Number 1, then cram up until 15 minutes before the exam, then do something else, even if it is cramming for another exam.

3. If you know your schedule ahead of time, look on the campus bookstore website for the required books. If you are not going to be changing classes, buy them online several weeks in advance. I saved ~40% every semester I did this.

4. Learn to highlight your textbooks sparingly (if at all). Somewhere along the way I realized most textbooks put the important information in a different format than the rest of the text.

5. If you need help with understanding the material, visit the prof. during office hours or go to the tutoring center on campus. Do this early, do this often!

6. Do not take all of the GE courses during your winter and summer breaks. You will come to regret not having something to break up all of your major courses later on.

7. If you're unhappy with your major, change it. If you're majoring in it because of your parents, sit down and explain to them why you are not happy with it. You might be surprised by the results. (This happened to a friend in my first year at school.)

8. Finally, if you don't pass a class, it is not the end of the world. Get your GPA up with classes you can pass, then retake the one(s) you didn't. This is coming from someone who has 2 Bachelor's Degrees and was on Academic Probation/Subject To Dismissal every other quarter throughout the first 3 years of the first degree.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Alright, I've read all of these suggestions and agree with all of them, but I'm going to highlight and add a few more to the mix from not only the standpoint of being a college student, but adding in the fact I swim for my college as well....

1. Every campus has FREE counseling and learning, and helping you figure out what you should be doing with your life. Take advantage of the services offered to you by the college, and don't wait....

About a week into school I was so stressed out because I was reading things two or three times over and not being able to remember what I was reading. After visiting the academic support center on my campus, they worked with me to find the BEST way for ME to study, and things really came together after that.

2. Get involved, meet people! Get out and enjoy yourself! There is no excuse not to be involved in a club or organization, if you can't find it, you can start it, and the people will come.

3. Get to know your professors.

Your professors want you to succeed. If you need help or have a question ASK, they're their to help, even if it's not class related. (This is more and more true if you are at a smaller school).

4. Take advantage of the opportunities thrown your way...

Travel abroad. Do Research. Every college has these things, find them, this is the point in your life that you can do this the most easily. If you don't think you can pay for it, talk to the professor in charge, there may be grant money or scholarship to help your ability to go. Because of this reason I get to spend a month in Japan. Not only will you have fun, but it will also look good on resumes for your future career;).

5. Find a career that you love.... and if you don't see it, start asking around how to combine the topics you love into a career. Again, Professors want to see you succeed and they'll work to help you be who you want to be. Sometimes they bend over backwards to do this.

6. Don't drink if you don't want to.

Just as in High school, your true friends aren't going to care whether or not you drink. It is also very possible to find people in College who do not go out on Friday or Saturday nights and party; it may just take some extra looking. And if you are going to... PLEASE be responsible.

7. Last but not least, for now, Remember this is College and not High school.

In college things pile on and are more difficult, don't procrastinate and keep up. Also, college is much more of an applied learning so knowing the information to take it to the next level is that much more important. Also know going in you're going to be spending a lot more time studying, writing, and working than you ever have before, be ready for it.

Best of luck to all who are graduating this year! If anyone has anymore questions, feel free to PM/IM me, I'm happy to answer them! :D

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

1. Go to class. At the very least, go to the first class, and get the syllabus / make friends with someone who will let you know if anything changes. It might just be an intro course that you know everything about, but they'll probably throw in a few things that you don't.

2. It's all up to you, no one is going to come to you anymore. There's plenty of opportunities out there: professors are nice people, and you really will need to get to know them for recommendations / grades, but it's up to you to do that.


3. bottle of water before bed = being less hung over in the morning.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

or a pizza...!

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

-----
there should be something called a health promotions office at your school
it will have tons of information on
eating
drinking
physical well-being
smoking
peer pressure
living without restrictions for the first time on your own

Moderation in everything is a good way to approach freshman year.
I know, I'm just not any fun.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

I almost forgot something:

Don't sell you textbooks (at least the ones that relate to your major).

You'll get maybe $10-$15 for them. They're worth much more than that as references once you graduate. I keep most of mine on a bookshelf in my office at work. They come in handy quite often.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

One thing I don't think I have read that has saved me an insane amount of money this year is buying textbooks online. The Bookstores on campus charge outrageous prices. Get on Amazon.com and buy it used, if you even need to buy it at all. Don't buy your books until you've had the class - a lot of the times, professors will post all the material you need to know online.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Ok guys I am adding all this to the list. Do you want me to post the list when it is done?

There is one thing I will throw in here for now because I want to hear the older people who have actually finished college debate it. I am still a college student and so I don't know much about things that are suppose to benefit you after college.

The idea I had was not to go for the credit card. If you lose your credit card or it gets stolen you can only lose $50 after you report it (I think). Many debt cards do not have this.

Since I go to college about 3000 miles from home my parents gave me a credit card that is a branch on their account. It is for special permission use. The idea was it would build my credit up slowly...lets say my parents offer to pay for my textbooks for one term. I make the purchase and put it on my credit card. In this manner I do not have to cash a check they send me then carry a term's textbook's worth of money to the store to buy my textbooks. I also earn up credit. The other purpose is for emergency use. If disaster strikes and I need a plane ticket home or a way to pay for hospital bills there is enough in the credit card to cover that. Since I only use it with permission or in emergencies I'm not really tempted to abuse it.

Anyway I wonder what older people think of that plan and if it is worth it for traveling undergrads...because if there is a better plan I'd like to switch to that too.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

I think it is a good idea. Keep the limit reasonable. Read: small.
Pay it off each time you use it.
Keep your parents in the loop of your business end of things.
Walk by hawkers that edge the campus at the start of semesters. Ignore them. They hawk credit cards, cell phone packages, magazines, etc. You should already have your system of support in place and working for you on your first day in class.

I'd like to talk about:
a. dorm room -
securing your belongings. After a couple of months of being lulled into a false sense of security, the student doesn't lock the room or put things away and the things walk off.
b. late night treks across campus - buddy system - never alone.
That is for safety not for any other reason.
c. establish a pharmacy and an easy access to one. Nothing like being away from home and getting some kind of crud -
d. let friends and family know when you need a care package or a little pick me up. Loneliness is nothing to ignore or be embarrassed by. Deal with it as it comes up - and as has been said, do not hole up in your room.
:)

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

The credit card debate - mmm...

You are in college now. I would hope you are responsible enough to budget your money. Don't buy anything unless you have the money. Credit Card Debt is evil. Credit is good. Because, someday, you'll be out of school, and you'll have a good paying job, and you'll go to buy a house or car and the sales people will tell you no because you have no credit. Or more likely they will charge you insane intrest.

Also, credit cards are good to have in an emergency.

But for goodness sakes... only get 1 or 2... it's so easy to get 30 credit cards in college.

And then this one...

It's true! I didn't drink in college, and I turned out OK. I hung out with people who did drink in college, and they turned out OK. Do your own thing. (Of course, there was the one friend who drank on the last day of classes at U of Michigan, and... well... how embarassing...)

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Wow, I love this post! I've spent the last 20 minutes reading everything in here. I graduate this year and these are all things I'm going to keep in mind! Thanks everyone!

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Katy,

This is really a question that you have to answer yourself. You have to look deep inside and truly ask yourself, "if I have a credit card, am I responsible enough to use it only if I can pay it off at the end of the month?" If you can truly answer 'yes' to that question, then get a credit card. If you have a slight feeling that you can't trust yourself, then you might want to hold off until next year and ask the same question at that time.

Here's another way of thinking about it: if you have $100 (either in your pocket or in your bank account), do you find that you immediately find a way to spend it, or do you think to yourself, "I don't really need anything right now, I guess it would be better to save it for when I really need it". ? If you fall into the latter category, then you have shown the proper responsibility needed to get a credit card. If you fall into the former category, you should hold off on the credit card and spend your freshman year practicing responsible spending habits.

Good luck.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

I will add one more suggestion - keep your parents informed.

Most people attending college are 18, and thus have reached the age of majority. Privacy concerns lead colleges and universities to communicate directly with the student, leaving the parent out of the loop. (Except to send the tuition bill, of course!) If your parents are paying for all or part of your education, they have the right to know how you are doing. So even if the university isn't going to share that report card with a failing grade on it, you shoud 'fess up to it and let your parents know. (Edit: Yes, I know, no FIRSTer ever fails a class - I'm just speaking hypothetically. :D )

And it's not just grades, but also live in general. Sure, we don't know all your new friends and activities, and may not understand all you tell us. Still, an email every week or two to let us know you're still alive is very welcome. Back in my day, we actually had to find paper, pen, envelope, stamp ... No student should be so busy that he or she can't keep in touch. Jot us a note in between IM'ing your friends.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Hrmm :: Ponders :: Things I wish I had considered before college?

Well I wish I knew a little more about what I wanted in a school. I go to a HUGE college, something like 48000, and sometimes its entirely to easy to feel lost in the system. Know yourself, and know what you want, If you want smaller make sure you go smaller, if you like the big aspect GO BIG.

Don't be afraid to get help, for the most part professors actually want you to learn, and are encouraged when you approach them for out of class help. It is also quite likely that it will help your grades, not only because the help will aid your understanding but because the professor knows you and if your a borderline a/b b/c c/d you may just get that higher grade.

Avoid credit cards like the plague, skimming over some statistics from some websites, the average credit card debt for a college student is somewhere around $2700, and 10% of college students debt exceeds $7000. I don't know about you but I sure as heck don't have $7000 dollars laying around and you'll pay for that debt later. I hear the having one for emergency use reasoning often, Its rare thats the case but maybe you can arrange something with your parents that if you are in an emergency you can use theres. But try your best to avoid having to carry your own it just enables you to use money you don't have, and often times your emergency is " How do I pay for these concert tickets.. hrmm this is a crisis.. crisis .. emergency.. charge it baby! "

Roommates... A lot of times you don't always have a choice, but when you do be careful. Your best friend isn't always your best roommate, trust me, I've been in more than one " tussle " over who ate my bologna and cheese. There are people out there who's hygienic habits you didn't know existed.. I know.. I live with one now, I wear a mask when I go into his room to ask him a question.

DON'T DO FIRST, if you can avoid it for at least your freshman year. I wish I would have followed my own advice. Two years running I've meant to take a laid back roll and just be sort of a consultant. Somehow my rookie team this year ended up building their robot in my garage. Yeah... Right... being in FIRST and taking a laid back approach? I imagine there are a lot of you out there reading this that are much more diligent and smarter than I but take my warning and be careful. It is extraordinarily difficult to keep your grades up while being fully involved with FIRST, make sure you balance your schedule and leave ample time for study. You do not want to bank your GPA on robot ship deadline. Also travelling to competition is a difficult strain on your time as well, 4 days of classes and missed assignments can be difficult to deal with. For example Nationals is on my final exam week this year.

Avoid "marketplace food" at all costs. Easy Mac and top Ramen to the rescue.

Lastly, Enjoy yourself. College is a great experience, I've enjoyed it to this point. I've had my fair share of disappointments as well, but the college environment is so full of opportunity. You don't have to drink and party and what not thats not what I'm talking about. But the clubs, the intramural sports, the people and the general laid back approach to life can be a great thing to experience. Being responsible for yourself is a great thing to learn, its been exciting for me to go through the change from high school into college. And enjoy having to be just responsible for yourself, because someday you may have little FIRSTERS running around that you have to be responsible for lol.

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

its about £6k AVERAGE here... and thats about $10k... hence why its hard to get anywhere , can't get property etc... if your coming to the uk at all, manage your money tightly and remember its value in dollars, stuff here is much more expensive

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Stupidest rule ever!!!

And I'm not saying that so my parents can be nosey, and see what I'm passing and failing, but I have been too busy to do some stuff form time to time going through college, and wanted my parents to take care of some paperwork for me.

They agreed, and the college was very adamant on stopping them from helping me.

I think there is something wrong with that picture.

Colleges need to take in the fact that, yes.. you are a college student and you want some privacy being on your own for possibly the first time in my life for an extended period of time, but they also need to realize a student's needs to have that safety net (parents) who need to be involved with your college life from time to time.

And no, not just to pay for it. That is not the only time a college, student, and parent should get together on the same issue.

I will proudly state that all (8 years :eek: )of my tuition costs (minus one year for a grant) have come out of my own pocket.

So, in other words, my college has had no connection to my parents in my case, which is a really stupid thing in my opinion.

<cynical>
So, kids.. in closing, if you are in that stage of life and you want your parents to butt out of your life when you get into college, just do what I did, and pay for it yourself.

That's the only legal, and true way to keep things from your parents apparently!!!
</cynical> :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

I'm not too sure about this. In college, I'd say that parental involvement was only a 50/50 affair. Having a safety nice is nice... but having parents swoop in and handle everything isn't good, either. And often the parents bungled it worse than the students would have.

I think if a student truly wants a parent to be able to be involved, that should be allowed. But allow students to keep some things from their parents as well (especially if the parents aren't paying for things).

Re: What do you wish you had known when starting college?
 

Hehehe... I was still seventeen for two monthes in my freshman year of college. I couldn't do anything without them signing for it because I was still a minor.It actually depends on your major. Ironically, freshman year in my college was the easiest year so far for EE. I was told multiple times that the grade level drops between these two years.I was knew someone who actually fell asleep during the finals. It wasn't a pretty sight.Actually, this has to do with the credit rating more than anything. It has more to do with the fact that a person with no debt/no history of bill paying is an unknown quanity to the credit rating company. How do you establishes your credit rating?? Paying off bills. You can actually get a credit rating just by having the cable bill/telephone bill in your name and paying it off.