Survival Tips for Incoming College Freshmen

Go to Class

When it comes to classes, there are countless pieces of advice on how to handle it, but only you can truly know the best way to keep organized and on top of your grades.

Of course, one piece of advice is universal: Go to class!

Even the best students can fall into the all-to-common trap of partying late into the night after a big game and just not feeling like getting up for a boring lecture first thing in the morning. Before you know it, you're missing lectures along with quizzes, you're a week behind in your notes and when you go to the professors for help, they just want to know why they should help someone who doesn't make an effort to show up.

College is not about professors out to fail everyone with impossible exams and completely incomprehensible notes (for the most part, anyway). If you show up and pay attention, you'll find that good grades will follow much more easily than it may seem initially.

Set Up Your Schedule With Care

Setting up when you take your classes can be just as important as what classes you take. Every college will pair incoming freshmen with advisers to make sure you get started out taking the correct courses, but most of the time the student is given some flexibility to choose course times.

Don't just assume that because you had to get up early for high school everyday, suddenly an 8 a.m. class is like sleeping in. Trust me, it doesn't work like that.