Your first semester of college is a huge change. Even if you excelled in high school, it’s important to understand that college is completely different. Yes, you spend less time in a classroom, but you’re always working. In addition to the heavy workload, you may only have three to five graded assignments and exams per class. Meaning that each has a significant impact on your final grade. I have put together some things that I have learned about how to set yourself up for success.
Find your classes before they start
Campus is big, and your first week will be stressful. Do yourself a favor and map out the locations of your classes. Walk through your days and figure out the best ways to get to certain buildings. This will be a huge help especially if you tend to be late to things. Doing this will allow you to walk around with confidence on your first days.
Write everything down
A planner is essential. After your class, find a place to sit down, go through the syllabus and put everything into your planner. It’s also a good idea to put larger assignments and exams into your regular calendar on your phone and computer. Nobody will remind you about these, so you need to keep track yourself. For things like essays, I like to write them down a few days early so I can get a head start. This gives me time to go to the writing center if I want someone to look it over before turning it in. Having everything written down will make it impossible to forget an assignment.
Go to class
In some larger classes, no one will be checking attendance, so it’s extremely tempting to stay in bed. But this is a huge mistake. GO TO CLASS. If you want to be as successful as possible, you need to go to class. Some smaller classes will usually allow you to miss up to three before your grade is affected. Don’t waste these days because you just don’t want to go. You’ll get sick and need those days for actual illness. Be a grown up and go to class. End of story.
Keep up with the work
Like I said before, you’ll have very few graded assignments so make them count. You may not get a lot of assigned homework, so assign it to yourself. Find some practice problems online or in the textbook, watch a documentary on a current topic or get ahead on some readings. Also, don’t be afraid to go to tutoring on campus. A lot of professors expect you to get help on your own so make sure you don’t let yourself fall behind. There are so many resources available, and so many excuses won’t slide.
Time management
Start out by giving yourself more time than you may need to complete an assignment. You’ll eventually figure out what timeline works best for you, but in the beginning don’t be afraid to start something a week early. It’s also important to balance work and social life. College is a lot of fun, but at the end of the day you’re there for an education and you’re paying a lot for it. If you aren’t done with all your work, maybe wait until the weekend to go out. The FOMO will be hard, but everybody has to do it and your friends will understand. Try to get everything done that you can by Friday afternoon so you can have fun and not stress about what you didn’t do.