TAMABINPO has an excellent post with advice for anyone starting college right now. Some of it is specific to Texas A&M, but a lot is universal. Some of my favorites (I've rearranged things a bit for related groupings):
In general, establish good habits early. It's far easier than trying to change them later. I have heard from more than one source (and can also back up from personal experience) that the single biggest factor in how well you do in a class is how often you actually show up. You can borrow somebody else's notes when you miss, sure, but nobody takes notes quite like you do and it's a guarantee they missed something important that you would have written down. Data lost in this way has a distressing tendency to show up on exams.
- DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE
- Don’t skip class. At A&M each class session breaks down to something like $20 so think about taking a $20 bill out of your wallet and lighting it on fire…plus some professors take attendance for bonus points at the end of the semester.That made the difference between an B-A and a C-B for me in two of my classes…
- Try to make your best grades at the beginning of the semester (first couple rounds of exams) because you don’t know when your schedule will get rough down the road…at least you’ll have something to fall back on…
- Try to make your best grades at the beginning of the semester (first couple rounds of exams) because you don’t know when your schedule will get rough down the road…at least you’ll have something to fall back on…
- There will be nights or even entire weekends when you won’t be able to chill or go out with your friends…deal with it…
You may not realize this, but you will spend less than forty hours per week in class and studying. If you can train yourself to study as soon as you get out of class, you'll be done for the day by dinnertime and have All. Evening. Free.
- TIME MANAGEMENT, TIME MANAGEMENT, TIME MANAGEMENT
- Don’t study in your dorm room…
- Get your studying done by 5pm…So many more temptations occur after that time…Think of it as a 9am-5pm job…
- Don’t live your life pushing your limits (limits on sleep, studying, free time). If you live in a constant state of pushing you will eventually just break down like a car…
There's one more thing I'd like to add: if you're someone who does not use 'creation' and 'science' in the same sentence, you will be challenged to a debate over the origins of life by someone who does.
Do. Not. Accept. No amount of good science from a peer at this stage of a Creationist's life will change his/her mind. Later in your career (but only if you're a Biology or Geology upperclassman), feel free to go hunting for frosh Fundies, but not now.
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