I'm going to college!?

carlymcqueen

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 16, 2015
Today is my last day of high school, and in 84 days I move in for the start of band camp. Time goes by too fast. Please, fellow adults, give me your best college advice before I'm off to school! :lovestruc thank you!
 
I work at a University, and my biggest advise is to go to class. So many kids skip because they can, few instructors take attendance. They skip one, then another and get into bad habits. Much of the material you need to know is conveyed in class only.

Also, make us of instructor's office hours. Form relationships with your teachers. It helps.
 
Congratulations! The best advice I can give is to look at college as the means to preparing you for your future career. Take classes that will help you in the future, not necessarily the ones that are easiest or ones you think you'd enjoy. Most important is to take advantage of any internship or work opportunities that are available. Employers look for new college grads but they also want people with some real world experience. Learn about financial independence and what it takes to get there. That means really understanding the cost of your education and knowing how much debt you will end up with and what the repayment terms will be. This will help you understand why getting your degree in four years is more important than taking it a bit easier and doing it in five. Have some fun along the way and make new friends but look at the next four years as setting the stage for the rest of your life. Best of luck!
 


Make the most of it - go to class, and take classes that will prepare you for what you want to do in the future, but also one or two out-there ones that interest you, if you have the time (I still regret a few that I didn't get to when I was in college that had nothing to do wit my major). Get involved in groups that interest you (great way to make friends, though you'll likely have built-in friends being in band). Seek out internships.

Be safe and have fun!
 
Congratulations! Very exciting and I'm a bit envious. I loved my college years.

I graduated in 2005 so it's been awhile but my advice is sit in the FRONT of the class! I went to a huge university and a lot of my classes the first few years were ENORMOUS. I didnt figure this out until my 3rd year or so and I wish I had done it sooner.
 
Learn about financial independence and what it takes to get there. That means really understanding the cost of your education and knowing how much debt you will end up with and what the repayment terms will be.

along the same lines-learn about budgeting and apply it. too many graduate with credit card debt-just b/c a credit card company says you can afford to be a card holder doesn't mean you can (soon to graduate dd's mail comes to our home address and she has been getting flooded with offers for most of her years at college despite being a very minimally employed student). even if you are fortunate enough to have parents who are paying your entire way through including living expenses-educate yourself on the costs so you are better prepared when it's all on your shoulders. things like health/auto/renter's insurance, cell phones, car registration/maintenance, internet, utilities let alone rent can come with a real sticker shock if you have no idea what they run monthly. likewise food-if you are doing college with a meal plan it's easy to lose sight of what it costs to eat in the manner you prefer to. take the time to walk through a grocery store and look at all the cost of all the items you personally consider to be 'basics' or staples-the cost will be very edifying.
 


It's fun to party and pull all-nighters once in a while, but if overdone it can cause grades to slip. (That was from me.)

Group study doesn't work for everyone. Sometimes you have to pull away from the crowd and study on your own in order to really learn the material. Good friends should understand. (That was from DD20, who just finished her sophomore year.)

Congratulations and good luck!
 
Remember that these four years fly by! So, if things are not exactly going the way you had hoped with living arrangements, a certain class, friends, etc..... don’t get down! It’s not the end of the world and hang in there because things will change year to year if not semester to semester. Example...My dd was a freshman this year and lived beside a party guy, he was loud, sexually harassed the girls, etc....She was so stressed by this kid!! We told her don’t worry he won’t last long. Sure enough he was out by Christmas. He ended the semester with a .8 GPA and if he wasn’t gone by then their living arrangements would be over end of April. This period of life is very fluid.
 
Step away from the fridge and you'll find it easier to not gain that 15 lbs so many freshmen find.

Remember, it's official, you are going to school for yourself, not your parents;).
While there you'll learn not only from books but from and about new people, ideas, surroundings; be a sponge and keep the good and discard the bad.
Remember to keep your eyes toward the future no matter how hazy it seems at times.

Congrats!
 
Have fun! Get involved! Study hard! My college years were some of the best of my life!!

Make good choices because the bad ones have a tendency to follow you thru life!!
 
I work at a University, and my biggest advise is to go to class.
This is huge. With most classes a good portion of tests and exams comes from the lectures not the book.

  • Get on top of your time management early. Get a day planner or a giant whiteboard calendar, or whatever. It seems silly but you'll settle into a routine and then forget what the date is. I went back to school as a full blown growned up and would walk into class only to find out that my paper is due this week instead of next.
  • Sit up front, ask questions when appropriate, show up early, make a point to talk to the prof. every now and again. Being a human face s/he will remember makes asking for a favor, like an extension, easier.
  • Make a couple of good friends and then make a couple of bad decisions. The one will help you through the other.
  • Take a foreign language, or a computer language, but probably not both.
 
Today is my last day of high school, and in 84 days I move in for the start of band camp. Time goes by too fast. Please, fellow adults, give me your best college advice before I'm off to school! :lovestruc thank you!
Keep up with the required reading, and don't wait until the night before to write papers or cram for exams.

Remember that your education is your future, and the better you do, the more doors will be open to you. So stay on track and take your performance seriously.
 

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