Here are the Tips:

Check books out of the library that are interesting and tangentially related to your classes, and read them in your spare time. And yes you will have spare time. You can still go to parties or whatever, but just do this. Read about what interests you. Maybe even write an independent research paper - your school will undoubtedly have some way of supporting you for doing that. It will deepen your education so much. Talk to your professors about what interests you about their subject. And yes, go to class.

In terms of social life, just be nice and laid back and don't fuck anyone over, though it's fine to fuck someone, as long as they ask you to and you do it safely.

Where are you going that starts this early ERAU?

Take courses that are fun/interesting but not related to your major. College is a great opportunity to learn about anything you want. Take some time to diversify yourself.

Treat college as a 9-5 job. Do schoolwork during the day and party as much as you can at night. DO ALL THE THINGS.

Get your school work done early so you have time for other things.

Take advantage of the Internet so you don't have to go to the library and find someone else has got the books you want. Even if the book is still in the library, there is a good chance it's sitting on a cart waiting to be place back on a shelf.

I don't know if these count as tips so much as what I did...but they worked out pretty well for me imo (disclaimer, I was Chemistry and before, during, and after college mostly worried about on a personal and professional level academics).

-Take a full load of classes every summer. Assuming you're moving away from home/family, you'll probably still get to see them for Holiday so don't worry about it.
-If you can't sleep, study more
-Get two minors, one related and one unrelated, to your major.
-Start taking grad classes in 2nd half of your undergrad to push yourself
-Take more Math than you think you'll need/want

Possibly the most importantly: Actively fight with the passion of a thousand burning suns the bureaucracy and Sisyphean weight they will try to put on you from unlocking your potential or learning what you want to learn. Not always brute force, sometimes subterfuge, sometimes negotiation, sometimes glib charm, but do whatever it takes.

Always happy to talk if you want to PM me.

Oh, one more tip: don't listen to Valis : )

I wrote another 260 words but I'm afraid I'll get -1'd to death...
maybe I'll wait for the OP's reception first ;)

OK, to be fair, most of Valis' advice is fine. My main issue is with this one:

"-Take a full load of classes every summer. Assuming you're moving away from home/family, you'll probably still get to see them for Holiday so don't worry about it."

In my opinion, you'd be infinitely better served taking an internship over the summer to gain experience outside academia, boost your resume, and make some money. If you can't do that, travel, or do something else memorable so you don't feel compelled to take a gap year after college.

Don't listen to me either, but if you are going to school in or near Chicago, hmu <3

+1 for Go To Class. Actually +100.

Alcohol isn't a substitute for Self Confidence. Don't let anyone pressure you into doing anything you don't want to do. You'll find friends who like you for you, not for drunk you.

Treat people who you are attracted to with respect. Get consent, you'll never have anything to regret.

Get involved. Find some people who like what you like.

Talk to your professors. When one of them has something really interesting, they'll remember you, and that could change your life.

Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Go to class. Do you work. Take lots of math, but at least take one accounting course as well. Incredibly useful to know.

Oh, if at all possible, take one programming course. If you end up liking it, it will open an unimaginable amount of doors in almost any field you choose.

My biggest regret of my college years was not knowing about webDip, take that how you will.

Ah yes, leaving early from frat parties so as not to CD. Those were the days.

no comments here.

Most of this advice is great; some essential. But make time for a couple of social streams - join the debating society; join a cooking club - those two are brilliant for life skills, but more critically they will give you a sense of perspective. And you will need that. If you do forget, duck the mantra 'Do your work.' then remember that you can only work 24 hours in one day - the following day will be lost. If you do fuck up; don't hide it, face up, be a man and deal with it - if it's not getting some course work done, go to the course leader, apologise, ask for a specified amount of time and get it done. Most of all ENJOY IT. And play Diplomacy ;¬))

Yes, don't leave college not knowing how to cook!

if you can, get on "college girls gone wild". Then you can say you graduated

credit cards are not evil, but you are now a freshman, which means you're stupid. stupid+credit cards equals debt. better safe than sorry, stay away from those little hidden fees

Just have thucy tell your creditors that you should not have to pay them back. That should work, right!

This is all great advice. Also, make sure you have that Bob Marley "legend" album.

and be a simple kind of man. Be something you love and understand.

Beer bad

stop watching TV

Ignore most of this advice. A lot of people learn in different ways. Figure out how you learn and make sure you do it. Otherwise gave as much fun as possible and seek out like minded people. University for the degree is important, leaning is more important. Living is the most important.

Actually some advice here is good. Ignore the class one unless that's how you best learn. For sone people an hour of self directed study is as valuable as 10 hours of class.

What college starts in early July? I don't go bac for RA training until the 19th of August. But anyway, take morning classes and force yourself to get out of bed. So many students waste half the day sleeping till 10:30 because they don't have class till 11. If you can be done with class by 1 in the afternoon, then awesome. You have hours to study, hang out, do whatever. As long as you actually GO to yourkrning classes, everything works out great.

What's so bad about sleeping till 10:30? You need sleep!

I guess it might be bad if you're lazy v tired though.

If you have any kind of student loans, DON'T SMOKE MARIJUANA.

College librarian here. The library *can* be your second home. Some suck, but if staffed well it can be just a wonderful place where climate is controlled, computers are available, online resources are decent and hopefully better than "the internet". We license access to just shit tons of academic resources online, we ensure that tools like google scholar are aware of what we have access to fulltext online, and generally want to help you.

Also I would mention that student groups and clubs are great ways to meet like minded people. I have been the advisor for both student queer orgs and student gamer clubs, both excellent routes to meet others socially.

Join a club!! Something like debate or model United Nations. I'm part of two clubs and it's made my university experience wonderful.

Worst advice I've seen mentioned so far is to only associate with like-minded people. That can make for an insipid echo chamber and you will really hold yourself back. You can learn a lot from your peers, especially at a top university and you will learn a lot more from being exposed to a diverse set of opinions than you will surrounding yourself with a bunch of people who agree on everything.

Above all else, remember that college is costing you a shitload of money. As such, take advantage of every possible avenue for bettering yourself while you're there.

- Use the library to its fullest capacity. They can literally get you any paper or book ever printed. Use the gym.

- Go to professor office hours when its not exam week. You don't even need a question. Just discuss something interesting from class. Or not from class. Doesn't matter. Ask him/her about their research and figure out what you want to do with the major.

- Don't put money on your college ID. Aside from student loans, this is the biggest scam perpetuated by colleges.

- Take full advantage of your cafeteria's waffle bar.

- Try new things. Audition for a play, join an intramural team, get politically active, eat the worm.

- Don't spend every night on webDip. Better yet, start your own Diplomacy club on campus.

"eat the worm" - I did that once after a night of beer drinking :)

I don't always +1 2wl. But when I do, it's because he's spot on.

+1 to 2WL

@Yal No one said "Only associate with like minded people". it was "Find some people who like what you like". That's a very different thing, and feeling isolated because you just hang out with the random people who happen to live on your floor can leave you feeling very lonely and isolated if you're a gamer and they just want to drink and rush frats.

My begged recommendation that hasn't been listed:

Don't take homework home and say you'll do it later. Stay on campus until you're done. The moment you "work on it at home" is when you find yourself going home and watching TV or sleeping, but homework is never done there.


Also, DO the homework. Even if it's not graded.

Thanks everyone for the advice! I can see tons of it here. And fir the few wondering why my classes started this early, it's because I'm taking a free summer class that is worth 3 credits

@Tru Ninja: That's quite personal. If you have the discipline to finish it later, you can choose to not do it now.
Yes, there are people who have that discipline :P

For example, I try to do homework in the boring moments, when you need to go somewhere in 30 min or when commercials come on tv again. It's a win-win: I do my homework and I'm not bored because I'm doing something. I also don't need to do it at a time when I could be doing something fun.

Of course you can't do all your homework all the time like that, but it's an example of how always finishing at campus before going home isn't always wise.

Eh, it depends on how you work. Personally, I don't get shit done when I go home for the day.

@steephie,

You may find, though, that as your work gets harder, your approach doesn't work so well, which is why it's good to practice good study habits before you actually need them.

I do 99% of my schoolwork/studying at home. I don't work as well with a ton of other people around, and I like to just sit in my room, listen to music, and power through things.

Tru, gold, et al. have a valid point, but the better advice is just to experiment early and find what works best for you.

I lived on campus, so home/school distinction was a bit blurry. But doing homework in the library or the department's break/study room is always a good idea.

If you have the discipline to finish your homework at any time, do it on campus 9-5. The most interesting random fun stuff happens in the evenings so you want to be prepared to jump at those opportunities.

Or sleep at that time so you can actually stay awake in the evenings without building up a lack of sleep :-)