Listen college is scary and stressful if you choose to make it that way, its all about your mindset. Im going to help you out as best as I possibly can! Give you tips and tricks that have either worked for me or my friends.
Books:
The dreaded first week is always a lot, you have new classes and teachers. My BEST advice that I have ever got for books is do not order them ahead. I always heard “I bought this book and we didnt even use it” or “I didn’t even need to read the book”. Books are expensive for college but ill give you tips!
1.) Check the class syllubas and see if it says “read” probably need one especially if it is an english class
2.) Check Rate My Professor! I can not say this enough. People who have taken the same class that you are in are letting you know what to expect. One of the questions is asking whether they needed a book.
3.) A cheaper way to get books is going on Amazon and using pre-used books.
4.) Some classes will have you buying Cengage for their class, DO NOT just buy the book buy unlimited and over half the time its cheaper to buy unlimited. PLUS you can also find other books on that website and get the free with unlimited.
College life:
When I first went to college I went in not knowing anyone. It was scary but I was able to branch out of my comort zone and get new friends! Its truly easy to make friends in college you just gotta stop over thinking. Majority of these people are wanting new friends or to meet new people. If you feel that way majority of others feel that way.
- There are colleges that party and you just need to be safe and make sure that you go with trusted friends that you make along the way.
- Talk to people in your class! best way to do it is ask about making a groupchat! I have groupchats with people in my class because if you cant make it to class one day you can text them and ask if they got homework or if there is news that you missed. Another plus is finding studying partners that way.
- Introduce yourself to your neighbors as for their social media and get to know them! I mean guys youll be living next to each other you never know when you might need help or them!
- If you are in the dorms you can hang a white board up that always starts funny conversations, or just say hi to people while passing by, or even just ask to sit with someone at the dining hall.
Studying:
I know this is a hard topic none of use truly want to! I’ll try and help you out! There are multiple things that you can do but you are going to have to try because everyone learns differently
- Quizlet is a really good help, but when you are studying with flash cards or “as fast as you can game” those are used for a short term rememberance of the information. As soon as you take a test you will not be able to remember anymore. Now if you do the mock Exams that they come up with that is more long term memory if thats what you need.
2. writing down notes in class is very hard somethings because you can miss things the professor says or just can’t keep up with it all togther. I personally really like to type it up on my laptop and then I can add if the professor says somthing that i think I need to add to help me in the future. After class or that weekend I take my notes on my laptop and write them down and color corrdinate. (you retain information better when writing it down than typing it on a laptop).
3. This is a really important step. The LOCATION, is one of the biggest. My roomates loves to go to the library because its not at the house and its quite. I love studying or doing homework in the living room. When the weathers even nice then we will sit outside. It all is baised on your preference, you just gotta find your spot.