If you鈥檙e a current high school senior or a transfer student working on college applications right now, you know how stressful and hectic it is. There鈥檚 so much unknown about the near future: where will you be in less than a year? How will you know which college is the right fit? These are all incredibly valid questions, and I remember feeling overwhelmed at that stage.聽
The good news is, it gets better! You will finish your applications, get into a school, and end up where you need to be, even if there are some bumps in the road.聽
However, one thing that I wasn鈥檛 prepared for coming into college was the transition from high school. The academic, social, and physical landscape of your world abruptly changes, even if you are still close to home or are going to school with friends you already know. When I first came to Scripps, I wasn鈥檛 fully prepared for these changes, and my transition was a bit rocky at first. Here are some tips I wish I was given before being thrown into college life:聽
Stay organized
As you become more and more immersed in the life of a college student, you will start to realize just how much you have going on. Here are my tips to stay organized:聽
- Use a calendar. I鈥檓 partial to Google Calendar, because I like to color-code my tasks to correspond with the class or club they are for.聽
- Use a planner! I鈥檝e been using the notes app this year, but I feel like a physical planner would be better because writing things down with a pen is scientifically proven to help retain information.聽
- Write down your tasks for the weekend. I used to save everything for Sunday nights, which is not productive. Write down everything you have to do and break it into manageable chunks so you鈥檙e not stuck in the library for 10 hours straight on a Sunday.聽
Your classes will probably be harder than they were in high school. That鈥檚 a good thing!
In high school I juggled eight classes plus a sport every season, so I guess I assumed that the four classes I would take in college plus club sports (which is a significantly less time requirement than high school sports) would be easy to manage. Boy, was I wrong. I wasn鈥檛 aware that in college, you鈥檙e expected to spend about three times the amount of time you spend in class OUTSIDE of class on work. So if you have two 90-minute class meetings per week, you鈥檙e expected to spend nine hours outside of class on homework, office hours, and studying. That shift from spending hours in classes and less time on homework in high school was really brutal in a way I didn鈥檛 expect.聽
So here鈥檚 the advice:聽
- Get on top of the assignments before they鈥檙e due. I鈥檝e found myself frantically typing away on a discussion post at 11:50 pm for an 11:59 due date. I don鈥檛 recommend this.聽
- Go to office hours! I go to office hours for my coding class at least two days a week to make sure I鈥檓 understanding the homework and class material.聽
- Ask your peers to study with you! Sometimes group studying can be beneficial if you鈥檙e not with your best friends.聽
Social situations may be sticky! That鈥檚 okay.聽
The first few months of college can be really overwhelming socially. I remember being shocked that everyone seemed to have massive, close-knit friend groups within the first week of school. Those might last for some people, but generally people chill out after the first few weeks and fall into routine with friends in classes, clubs, or roommates. Here鈥檚 some advice to calm your nerves:聽
- Don鈥檛 worry if it feels like everyone has friends but you. You WILL find your people.
- Ask class friends to get a meal after class! I鈥檝e made so many friends simply by bridging the gap between 鈥渃lass friend鈥� and 鈥渇riend.鈥澛�
- Join clubs to meet people with similar interests.