Preparing for College

Character Education Home Articles Illustrations/Activities/Ideas Lessons Intercom Insights Links Membership Hot Stuff

Getting the Most out of College
(October 4)

Our First Session

During the first live session, our narrator, Adam Bishop, blasted our three panelists with all kinds of live and pre-submitted questions. Our brave panelists were Greg Matta (Admissions Office, KSU), Mike Miller (Certified College Planning Specialist), and Lindsay Boyd (College Senior). Let us know if you need more tips from these experts!

New Information About College

Some students really dread college, fearing it will be just a boring extension of high school. It's not! Tons of people love their college experience! Some people who are bored to tears by high school Math and Social Studies suddenly come alive in the classroom when they get choose classes they're really interested in.

And college isn't just about classes. You may meet some of the best friends you'll ever have, and leave college with both a diploma...and a wedding ring! By learning more about college and your options, you can get the most out of your college experience. Below, we've put together hints from those who have been there and articles that will guide you to more.

A Whole Bunch of Helpful Tips

On blogs, people wrote tons of tips in response to questions like this:

I'm just about to go to college. Any advice for a new freshman?

The responses we chose go way beyond the standard "study hard" and "don't party too much." Below you'll find some fun and interesting responses, everything from handling hard classes to avoiding gaining weight. You won't agree with everything, (neither do we!) but you'll learn something.

If you have electives, take them way outside your major.
Join clubs.
Don't work yourself to death and don't slack off.
There are fewer people out there getting totally smashed than you think. You have four years of weekends to have fun and unwind - take your time.
Study abroad if you can wing it.
Get involved in organizations on campus. Become a part of your campus community.
Study abroad even if you can't wing it. I totally regret not doing it.
Take whatever classes you want to. Want to study photography (even though you're a Chem. major)? Do it. This is your chance to soak up a little bit of everything.
If you can afford it, don't take a job your first year.
Meet as many people as you can from as many different backgrounds as you can.
Wish I'd networked more, joined a good club, and engaged in at least one massive, clever, harmless prank.
I just finished my first year. I also suggest sampling a bunch of clubs and activities, even if you don't intend on sticking with them, just to get involved and meet people.
I found that declaring a minor worked out well for me. It required many courses I wanted to take anyway, and it gave me a little something to show for it. I got to take substantive, challenging courses with people outside my major.
I chose (and avoided) some classes on the basis of the faculty. If you find a professor that impresses you, do whatever you have to do to take more classes with them. Other times, if you find an uninspiring burnout, or, say, a man-hating feminist political science professor who is chair of the department, run away. It's not worth your time and money.
Getting a job can be great- especially campus jobs. I found it the best way to meet new people.
Beware of (RPG's) EverCrack clones such as WoW! With the freedom, it's incredibly easy to become addicted to them. I know plenty of people who dropped out due to them.
Get to know a few professors. Depending on your class, sizes, it can be a royal pain in the ass to find recommendations when the time comes (and yes, oh yes, the time will come sooner than you think!) if you don't personally know them. Do your research. Find out who the more prominant professors are- seek them out ASAP and build a relationship.
Don't be afraid of talking to prof's about your school-related problems and why you suck as a student. More often than not, if you show the prof you have a vested interest in passing, you will regardless. Unlike HS, grades are, um, highly flexible.
If you get an utter *%#&*@* roommate, try to get a different one. It's not worth living a year with them and making your life a living hell in the process. Sure, some might say it teaches you to put up with anyone, it's not worth it.
Be friendly with your flatmates (including those in the halls above and below you, if you're living on campus - or even in an off-campus apartment). You'll never know when you're going to need them.
On the same level as the seminars, go to functions: movie nights, plays, speakers. Take advantage of all the things you've paid good money for. (Plus, a lot of them - especially a few weeks into a semester - offer lots of free food.)
Cook occasionally to save money. Taco Bell is great, I know, but you don't have to live there.
Make friends with older students. Or people in your major. Listen to them when they tell you that someone is a lousy teacher. Take gut classes that you need but have no relative basis to your major (that you hate and don't want to take) either during evening classes or summer. The evening classes are often taught by teachers looking for good reviews...as long as you 'show up' you'll do better.
For classes where you struggle, create a study group - one kid smarter than yourself, and someone attractive of the opposite sex to get you to show up.
First and best thing I learned: This Is Not High School.... I had so much fun getting to know people my first few weeks that I forgot to be the invisible dorkus I was in high school. The most awesome whoops ever.
Study something you love, or study something that you can sell.
Go to class--every class, every single time. Sit near the front, its easier to pay attention. And take off that stupid hat.
Don't get pregnant or get anyone pregnant, catch any STDs, or do anything on videotape that you wouldn't want played at Thanksgiving dinner.
Call your parents.
Due to a generally horrid primary & secondary school life, I had developed a fear and hatred of school in general. I didn't want to go to college...When it came time to go, I was nervous and scared...I entered college, and for the orientation week we had to prepare for the Performance Evening. I took to the stage and I was the life of the show. I was given a load of opportunities in college because of it. So you never know.
You don't need to take drugs or drink or smoke or have sex or whatever if you don't want to. No need to buy into the stereotype. Be your own person. You'd be a lot more honest, sincere, and interesting than most of the others.
I got through undergrad by reassuring myself that I could not possibly be the stupidest person in the room. It's kind of mean, but it works and it's not like I was calling people stupid or trying to pick out who the stupidest one was.
Oh, and find *something* you love doing. Experiment with people and things to do. Also, be confident. Everyone is "finding themselves" so even if you make a foux pas or whatever, just laugh it off and continue on your merry way. You will embarrass yourself. Repeatedly. It's OK, and so will everyone else.
Go to faculty office hours. Meet your professors. Knowing them outside of the classroom is what will help you get the break in the classroom. Know that kid that always gets a B- while you do the same work and get a C+? He did this.
Take an internship. It will give you real world experience without all the real world problems if you really screw up. Plus, it looks great on the resume. Up for a job right out of college against someone with the same background as you, but you had an internship? Get ready to start talking about your salary and benefits package.
Buy your textbooks online. It'll save you a fortune.
If you can find a job where you can study at work, take it.
Avoid credit cards. The free t-shirt isn't worth it.
Have fun.
VOLUNTEER. This is a great way to get out into the community. Even if it's just a few hours a week.
Very Important Tip #1: Find a good place to study.
Very Important Tip #2: Do not tell anyone you know where it is.
Friends are the number one cause of not studying. You will want/need to avoid them if you plan on getting good grades.
Ask around before enrollment each semester. College students seem to love advising each other as to the best/worst classes to take. Especially with freshman/sophomore-level classes that have multiple sections, knowing which teacher is easier/more interesting/better often makes the difference between a waste of your tuition and a class that changes your life.
If you go to a big school, you can use something like Pick-a-Prof to see who might be good/bad to take.
If you really *%#&*@* in a class, don’t be afraid to drop it, it’s not a big deal. Don’t do this too often though or you will end up taking 15 hours during the summer your last year to graduate.
Get an oriental rug for your room, and a dart board with good darts.
Oh, and if you can, make bunk-beds out of your bed frames, but leave out the bottom bed, thus making a loft bed. Dramatically increases the space available in your room.
Get some exercise. Join a sports team or go to the gym with a friend or just run six times around campus, but whatever you do, get some physical activity in once in a while. It helps relieve stress, helps you sleep better, and just makes you feel better in general.
Most (if not all) schools these days have free counseling available if you have some school or life issue you need to talk about. Don't be ashamed to look into this if you are getting overwhelmed with the course load (or you think you are getting overwhelmed).
Things are never as bad as they seem. See my previous point: I had a bit of rough patch my freshman year where I thought the world was coming to an end (or at least I thought that it would in the future, since there would be no way I could keep up with the work). Thinking back it was kind of silly, but at the time it was very real. Chatting with those professors convinced me to talk to the councilers and the rest is history.
Co-Op - If you eventual line of study lends itself to a co-op arrangement (basically, intermittent semesters of full-time study and full time work), definitely do it. You get practical experience at an early age and you will get some insight if this career is for you. One of the guys I co-op'ed with decided that Computer Science wasn't for him. Last I heard Dan was in the Psych program. Plus, Co-Op jobs pay much better than those on campus jobs by a large amount.
Also, forget about your high school cliques. There are college cliques too, but they aren't formed on day one. No one there will know anything about you, so you can feel free to present yourself however you want to with the baggage of your former life. It can be quite liberating.
Avoid the credit cards. I'm going to say it again: AVOID THE CREDIT CARDS. I'm still trying to get my credit under control and I don't remember the stupid *%#&*@* I bought.
Your school will have some center or institute about teaching, learning, or both. Go there. They have people who know all about different note-taking strategies and how to study and stuff like that.
Go To Class. This is the single most important principle. Look at class as equivalent to a job. If this was the "real world," you'd have to go 40 hours a week. Your class time is much less. Lucky you! The benefits are a) your prof gets to know your face and assumes that you are interested in his/her class. Said prof cuts you more slack. B) Profs drop lots of test hints in class. C) Studying is much more effective when you are doing it the second time. Going to class almost always insures that studying is a review, not a desperate attempt to absorb all the information at the last minute.
Know yourself. All four classes I failed were scheduled for 8 a.m. If you have a class that you aren't making it to, drop it or reschedule it if you can. Never feel that you have to finish a course just because you started it. If the term is getting out of hand (whether because you've slacked off, hate your classes, or are having serious non-school issues that are interfering), drop the problematic course. There is no shame in dropping, no penalty (other than some fees if you do it too late), and your profs won't be mad.
If your school offers some kind of "library skills" or "research techniques" class, take it. It might only be worth a half a credit but it will make every class you take easier.
Yes, you should definitely find out which are the good profs and which are the duds. Sometimes the "biggest names" in the department are crap at teaching. Go to office hours.
Be bold and opportunistic. I met some really amazing people and got some really amazing stuff to happen this way. Just take any opportunity you can find to promote yourself and move up socially and academically. It will pay off in spades later.
As a teacher: Tell the teacher when you need help. We stare at anywhere between 20 and 500 faces that just stare blankly back. We're clueless.
Love it. Do something you love, and something you'd love to be doing in twenty years. Find something you'd do, even if they didn't pay you, and then thrill at the fact that they're actually paying you.
High school is gone like a light switch turning off at this point. Remember that. You have a totally clean slate and no one expects anything of you. You are not a Geek, you are not Popular, you are just a freshman. That is good. Be who you want to be.
Study in the way you need to study. For me, this was comfort of my PJs and Law & Order as background noise. Some people want to get a study carrel and rock it old school in the library. Figure out what works for you and stick with it.
Once your work is done, you can do whatever you like, not stress about it, and get enough sleep. (Getting enough sleep will make you way more efficient, happier and healthier in general.)
To do well in the post-collegiate world, you need to have two out of the following three qualities: you must be a total genius, you must be the nicest person in the world, or you must be on time. Any two of those three. Get in the habit of that last one, right now.
Get really good at something you love to do already.
Don't buy textbooks until after the first day of class (unless there are assignments due that day). Professors and TAs will sometimes tell you that the textbook is "required by the department" or that it's for "reference only" or use some other phrase that roughly translates to "don't buy the $200 textbook."
Get involved. Volunteering is a huge stress relief; it's meaningful with a clear purpose; it often gets you off-campus; you meet awesome people; and can lead to some pretty decent (paying!) jobs.
Intramurals can offer everything from casual innertube waterpolo to cutthroat competitive soccer. If your frosh week includes some kind of "Clubs Days" where all the student groups have booths, go to it. Use your first year to sample a lot of different things, but don't commit to more than three, or even two.
Meet lots of people, make lots of friends. The friends I made my freshman year I lived with for the rest of my college years, and to this day remain my best friends.
If you're having trouble in a class, talk to the professor ASAP. Not only will they help you (if they're a good prof, anyway) but they will be more lenient with grading at the end of the semester if they know you were trying really hard.
Even if you know what you want to major in, take a variety of classes. Some of the best classes I took were classes that were outside of my major and not required in any way.
If you do know what you want to major in, try to get internships or summer jobs in that field. It may seem obvious, but you'd be surprised how many college grads have zero job experience.
First, give yourself a year to feel comfortable. It ain't easy making a transition anywhere. I find it take about a year to start feeling like it is a home.
Don't go to the poster sale and buy a bunch of clich?college posters to stick on your wall to fill space. I did that, and now post-college I am pissed because I have no wall-art to show for 4 years of my life. Wait and slowly accumulate things that you actually like!
Study outside your room, schedule some time to do so if you can. Make it a routine to stop by somewhere to study after your last class or between classes to review notes and read textbooks. Even if you have a computer, go to a lab to work on essays occasionally. I found it motivating to work in a room where other people were also working, even if it was on different classes. If you're working on a laptop, go somewhere secluded in the library.
Make friends outside your chosen subject area. This is essential to avoid constantly talking shop with your mates. I did a Computer Science degree, and virtually all my friends were in the arts faculty and I loved it.

Articles to Take You Further (or is it "Farther"?)

Getting the Most out of College

Hot Tips on How to Get the Most out of Your College Experience and College Degree (Or, Things I Wish I Knew When I Was in College), by Joseph B. Cuseo, Ph.D., Marymount College. Nine pages, referencing helpful studies of students to see what gave them success, particularly with academics, but includes advice on activities, job experience, etc. . http://www.fye.uconn.edu/mostoutofcollege.pdf

How to Pay for College

Frequently Asked Questions about paying for college. A very brief, but understandable introduction.

http://www.ed.gov/students/prep/college/thinkcollege/early/edlite-q-and-a.html

"Funding Your Education," a 20 page pdf from the U.S. government. More thorough information about obtaining federal and other aid. Still readable - even illustrated! http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/siteresources/fund_ed_high.pdf

www.fafsa.ed.gov - Another government site on funding your education.

Practical Stuff

http://www.collegefreshmen.net/

Good, encouraging article, including "how hard will classes be?" and what do I do to avoid the "Freshman 15" - (the 15 pounds many gain their first year).

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/diet.fitness/9908/19/freshman.fifteen/