If you are in college right now then I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from. After my first week of college I felt like I was not prepared at all. It was all a learning experience for me during that time (and even now) so now I am going to tell you what I wish I knew before going to college, and why it would have helped. 1. Using Rate My Professors Can I just say that I love rate my professors, (I'm sure they don't, but I do ;). Going into college I wish I knew about this website because I could have avoided some (for a lack of a better word) taxing professors. In my first semester of college, my advisor just showed me some courses to take, and asked me which times I wanted to take them. However; I was not told which professor I was getting until I saw my schedule. That would have saved me a lot of stress if I could have chosen a different professor for some of my classes. Since using this website after my first semester, I still consider it to be very helpful in choosing my professors. There has only been one professor that I've had that had good ratings on RMP but that I didn't really like. Overall Rate My Professors has been proven to be very useful to me. (BONUS: a lot of the reviews are hilarious, so you'll probably get a laugh in while reading a review :) 2. I didn't need to buy brand new textbooks For all of you college veterans that are rolling your eyes right now and reading this thinking that's a "no brainer" I will speak explicitly to the novices here. For some reason, in my brain, renting my textbooks seemed awful, I didn't want anyone's used up book with highlighter markings all over it. But honestly, if you have a substantial amount of tuition to pay buying all of your books brand new is probably not a good option. Now I'm the type of person who wants the brand new book to take to the first day of class, but sometimes I need to be realistic, even buying used books is another solution for those of you who are still cringing at the thought of renting another book (I know I am). The perfectionist in me wants the brand new book, but a used one (or rented) works just as well. A semester can fly by quickly, and before you know it you're stuck with with a book on The Economic Systems of America, when you're a Psychology major. Bottom line, you should probably only buy the books that are related to your major or ones that you can genuinely see yourself using in the future. 3. Comparing Textbook Prices Most colleges have their own bookstores, which is where they obviously want you to get your textbooks. BUT, I think it is a very good idea to look at other places like Amazon, Chegg, or Ecampus. By comparing textbook prices you can see whether or not you are getting the best deal. And everybody wants to save money, especially when you are in college. Even though your college may have a book store that doesn't mean you have to buy your textbook from there, if there is a better deal somewhere else it's better to save your money. 4. Being Minimalistic I am the type of person that over prepares for everything, which is a good thing most of the time, but when you are in college you can't just put your back pack away in your locker like in high school, you have to carry it around all day. Which can give you some serious back problems if you are taking more than one class that day. So what I am saying is you probably don't need a notebook for every class (getting a three or five subject notebook works). You probably won't need to bring your whole make up bag to class, or every thing that's in your wallet (smaller wallets that attach to your keys are amazing!). Overall, just try to downsize what's in your back pack if you really can't part with it all together because you are essentially carrying your locker on your back, which can be less painful if you take out things that you don't really need. 5. Making my own schedule It may sound amazing to sleep in till twelve o'clock in the afternoon on Monday when your class starts at two o'clock. Or having a two hour break between classes to do whatever you want, but honestly I really wish I hadn't planned it out that way because it gave me more excuses to do everything else besides homework. If you're a morning person take morning classes (same for a night owl) and put them close together so that when you're done you're done, and then you can go home or do whatever else you want to do, so that way you're not wandering around in the library avoiding doing homework or some other obligation. Now personally I am neither a morning or night person, I function the best in the after noon, so now I plan my schedule to where I can take classes within the mid morning so then I can go home in the afternoon. At the end of the day, just pick a good schedule that works best for you and your lifestyle. These are some things that I wish I knew before going college. (which I have learned from). I hope that you will learn from my trials, and have a more enjoyable college experience. Stay tuned for my next post! ~Steph
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Going into my first semester of college (let alone getting through the whole year) was extremely scary for me because I had no idea what to expect. This was my first time going to a new school. Thankfully I was able to learn the ropes quickly and how to utilize that knowledge to my advantage. So for all the first timers starting college or for some of you that are returning to college, here are a few tips that I learned during my first year of college. 1. Knowing the Colleges resources Colleges have a lot of useful campus resources. Workshops, tutoring, mental health and wellness centers (just to name a few!). And guess what? They were all FREE!! so use them to your advantage. Even if it sounds like something you might not need, try it out, you might be surprised. So how do you find out about all of these wonderful resources? Here's a tip: READ. everything around you. seriously. all college campuses have flyers everywhere talking about events and other things that are happening at the college. And if you are a freshman I recommend that you attend any/all welcome events that are happening in your college, so that you have some idea of what resources your college has. 2. Talking to People This may sound extremely obvious, but if you are anything like me you will not go out of your way to talk to people. Or you may try to avoid socialization as much as possible to keep your social anxiety in check. But stepping out of your comfort zone once or twice can and will help you. News flash: there are a lot of people who are afraid of talking to other people too, you're not alone! A majority of the time, especially with freshman, nobody has any idea what they are doing. So just try reaching out to someone even if just to say "Hey, do you know where this place is?" and if they are by them self ask them to come along with you so that you both have some company, and then you won't feel completely lost. Bottom line, life opens doors when you talk to all different kinds of people because it gives you so many opportunities that you didn't have before. 3. Learning how to Study This is very important because going into college I quickly realized that I had no idea how to study for anything. When I was in high school the teachers just gave me what was supposed to be on the test, so I did well on tests because everything I had to know was on one paper right in front of me. In college, sometimes I got a brief study guide, but there were still other things that I needed to know that were not on the study guide, which I learned after the test. Talk about confusion. I didn't know if I should just trust my teacher and rely on the study guide alone (wrong!). Or try and memorize everything important from the book, which could be anything, (wrong!) So I was stuck, going back to my first point about knowing the colleges resources, my school had a lot of workshops that gave a lot of effective tips on how to study. So that was my saving grace. 4. Being Organized/Time Management Organizing is pretty much in my DNA, but when I got to college I really had to sharpen my organizational skills. I took four classes in my first semester of college, which to me didn't seem like a lot. However, I didn't realize that there was a lot to be done in sixteen weeks, so for me, everything seemed pretty fast paced. Then in my second semester I took five classes which was even more hectic! This is when I learned time management. I still haven't mastered the art of time management, but I do pretty well at managing my time. It's all a work in progress. Here's a tip: GET A PLANNER. I swear it will make you more organized. If you have a hard time being organized just start with a planner (it will help!) ;). Those were pretty much the top four things I learned my first year in college, and I'm still learning and working on those things in my second year. Because let's face it, life is hard.... I hope that these tips help you as you are going into your college journey, as they have helped me. :) ~Steph |
Hi, I'm StephanieI am an undergraduate psych major who enjoys creative writing, collecting stationery, and watching The Walking Dead.
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