What do you wish you had known when starting college?

[indieFan]

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.

[Luckyfish05]

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!

[pludodog]

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.

[Denman]

Originally Posted by pludodog

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

or a pizza...!

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Denman

or a pizza...!

-----
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.

[Chris Hibner]

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.

[Ryan Dognaux]

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.

[Katy]

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.

Originally Posted by Denman

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

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.

[JaneYoung]

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.

[Not2B]

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...

Originally Posted by Luckyfish05

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.

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...)

[pez1959]

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!

[Chris Hibner]

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.

[GaryVoshol]

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. )

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.

[Dan Richardson]

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.

[Denman]

Originally Posted by Stud Man Dan

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.

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