College is a whole different ballgame than high school. You are starting a new chapter in your life. Being a college freshman may not be easy, especially for the first few weeks. Here is some essential advice that may make the transition a bit smoother.
Attend all orientations– While you may think that you don’t need to attend any campus orientations, think again! The sooner you learn how to navigate the college campus, the less anxious you will start to feel.
Get and stay organized- When it comes to things assignments and their due dates, you will soon find that it is much different than your high school years. Most of the time, college professors will post the assignments and their due dates for the entire semester and students are expected to be prepared. So, whether you like to use a big wall calendar, an organizer or a smartphone app for organization, get one and organize your assignments for the semester.
Get acquainted with academic adviser– Your academic adviser is your go-to person for things like adding and dropping classes, course conflicts, deciding on a major and a minor and scheduling future courses. This person will be a key resource for you when it comes to academic conflicts and issues.
Be sure to stay healthy– Many mental and physical problems that college freshmen face can be attributed to an unhealthy lifestyle, like staying up all night, binge drinking and constantly eating fatty foods. Just because mom and dad aren’t around to set guidelines for you, doesn’t mean you can start engaging in bad health habits. So, be sure to eat right, take multivitamins, get enough sleep and exercise regularly.
Discover campus resources- The majority of colleges offer free resources that are at your disposal. Resources such as the tutoring center, the campus health center, the campus counseling center, the spiritual life office and the career services office, can all prove to be valuable assets during your freshman year of college.
These are all great tips for any kid entering college. I wish I knew this when I started college. I kind of had to navigate everything on my own. It was very scary!
College is definitely a lot of work compared to high school and it pays to be organized. These are very good tips. My son who’s going to college next year can really use these.
I have a few years before this is happening but this is some great advice! College is for sure a huge jump from High School and I need to make sure my son will be prepared!
This set of advice is truly so helpful. The most important thing is to stay healthy, specially when you are now living on your own, without parents at home.
My daughter is 2 years away from college but I am already getting worried. She has a good head on her shoulders but there are a lot of temptations, so I will have to give a pep talk or two and show her this post.
Knowing campus resources is huge! There are so many amazing resources available at most college campuses, and surprisingly a lot of them are unknown (I may have skipped that part of college orientation back in the day!). These are awesome tips for those going off to college for the first time!
Great suggestions!!!! I went to all of my orientations! A few of my friends laughter at me for it, but joke was on them lol… I was prepared thanks to the orientations
I feel like we are far away from this, but know this time will be here in no time! These are excellent tips!
This is great advice! Especially to keep in touch with your advisor! They can be so helpful and make sure you are in the right classes pertaining towards your degree.
Great tips! Going into college is stressful enough, so it’s definitely helpful to be prepared and get some guidance.
Great advice especially for those who are quite nervous college freshmen. It would be great if I had learned some tips and tricks when I was a college freshman.
I remember the feeling of walking onto campus for the first time as a freshmen and feeling overwhelmed. These are great tips. Thanks for sharing.
I wish someone had shared this advice when I was starting college. I had no problem staying organized but I really didn’t take care of my health nor keep up with my advisor or use all the resources available.
I remember my first few weeks of college (almost 20 years ago!). I can’t believe my daughter will be thinking about this time soon.
Great advice for freshmen! The first year is so important, it sets the stage for the remaining years. Such a great experience so make every day count!
College is such a transition. I wish I had this advice when I went away to school.
Staying organized with everything in college is so important. All of the deadlines and schedules and quickly get jumbled together if you don’t find a system that works for you.
These tips were really helpful! Staying healthy in college is definitely a must! I enjoyed this post