tips on first semester of college

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i'm on my 3rd semester of college and this is what i've learned in my 1st semester.

1. please let your professor immediately know if you have disability accomodations.

2. if you missed a due assignment, DO NOT skip the next class to avoid being chided. it will be a mark against your grade, you will be more behind, and usually, it's only an hour or two of your time, and attending the next class is not as bad as you fear it to be.'

3. if you are behind, and your professor sends you an email, reply to your professor's e-mail immediately. don't let it sit for 3+ days.

4. you can learn a lot by developing a rapport with your professor. and at the end of each class, ask them a question. also, it feels good not to be a nobody.

5. participate a lot in class discussions. this can help social interactions. it gives the other person the opportunity to approach you by saying "you feel strongly about..." "i agree with your statement..." or "you know a lot about...". Also, you can approach other people who participate frequently with these lines.

6. be serious about what you want to major in. having the attitude of "i have plenty of time" or "i can take whatever classes and i'll have law school to fall back on" is not helpful to you at all. look on the campus website list of majors. out of 100+ majors, pick 10-15 you may be interested in. research each of them: the subject matter, the jobs available, and the requirements for the major. talk to the people in the departments. keep an open minded, and approach your required gen ed classes seriously. i thought i wanted to major in education or psychology, but once i completed natural sciences requirements, i realized that they were my real interest.

7. use college to approach people and make strangers. if the person looks unoccupied, then start a conversation.

Before classes start, get your class schedule and a campus map and work out where you need to go, how long it'll take you to go from one class to the next, and anything else you think you might need, such as restroom locations. If necessary, mark your class locations on the map and their start/end times. It'll take some of the stress off if you're worried about finding your classes or being late.

Don't cram. It's generally better to study in smaller sessions over a longer period of time than to try and cram it all in at once.

Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

Eat a sensible diet, have some fruit everyday to get vitamins !

Do not drink to excess

Don't start assignments late the night before they're due. (I really, really wish I followed this bit of advice more.)

Don't stay up all night cramming for an exam. You'll feel miserable, you'll be tired when you're taking the test, and if you had studied for awhile the previous night and slept on it, you would retain the information better, as well as being rested for the test.

When taking a test, don't panic. Relax as much as possible. You either know it or you don't, the only thing you can do while taking the test is to make sure everything you do know gets written on paper. Don't be afraid to skip around on the test. Some questions are harder than others. Do all the easy ones first. You don't want to get so stuck on a really hard question that you don't have time to write down all the answers to the ones that are a piece of cake. If you know part of the answer, or how to start a problem but not finish it, put that down.

Caffeine =/= sleep. Sleep is good. Caffeine is good, too, but it is *not* a replacement for sleep.

If you can't get enough sleep the night before an early class, then nap between classes. Drink JUST enough caffeine to stay awake in your morning class so that you'll be tired enough to nap.

Don't drink caffeine too late in the day just because you have an assignment to do. It will interfere with sleep.

If you don't have classes in the morning, a late sleep schedule is better than chronically not getting enough sleep.

Professors have office hours for a reason. They're usually wishing for more students to come to them, so do NOT be afraid to come to them and ask for help.

If you're worried your work won't be good enough, forget about doing a perfect job. Get SOMETHING out. A zero is twice as bad as an F, and four times worse than a C.

You CAN make things worse by grade-grubbing. If you're just desperate to get an A instead of an A- for B+ work, your grade will likely drop to B+ instead if you grade grub. Save the arguments over grades for when you have GOOD arguments as to why a grade should be higher.

If your symptoms are such that you will have serious trouble with group work/presentations, then disclose any diagnoses you have to the professor early in the semester, if not on day 1.

I'm in my first semester and I've found these very useful. In fact, I wish I had known to go to office hours BEFORE I failed that physics test instead of after. Anyways, my #1 tip:

Wear a watch. You should always know what time it is so you can get to class on time. On a related note, make sure your alarm is set every night before you go to sleep.