Quote:
Originally Posted by Stargirl  In the spirit of Steve's entry "10 Tips for College Students", what would college students/graduates advise us incoming freshman/future college students?
Some general areas for advise
1) choosing classes and major
2) dorm life
3) time management
4) how to get to know the profs
5) getting a job?
6) realizations after graduating
7) tips for getting good recs, getting into grad school, getting a good job
Any advice would be appreciated  . |
1) I don't know how I can help you pick your classes and major because this is pretty much your job. I have no idea what you like and what you aspire to be, but I would say the same thing that other people say, try to learn as much as you can your Freshmen year and get into a major by your second year...unless you want to prolong your stay at the university.
I made a huge mistake of not doing this....I didn't slack off or anything like that...it was just I was taking classes that I had nothing to do with anything because I had no idea what I liked. Now I know that I'm only interested in classes that are hard and challenging (computer science, econ, math classes that sort of thing). So the only reason I'm in my major is because I find it challenging, not because I love it.
2). I would advise you to move into an apartment right away, because dorms are a hassell. You have to re-apply after every year and move yourself stuff out after every year. In an apartment you live there as long as you like. I lived in a dorm my first year and it was great because I had great roommates. But there was a some problems because they were White...and I grew up in a place where minorities were abundant...it just felt wierd. Sometimes they would go out together and not invite me/not let me know....and sometimes when I was hanging out with them, it felt awkward because I was of a different race, it wasn't because I was lacking social skills or whatever it was just because different people do different things/different interests and none of the stuff they did interested me. But other than that, we had a lot of fun in the dorms.
3). Do not ever slack off....ever. That was my biggest mistake. You can take some time off like a Friday night but the other days you should get to it....of course this determines how hard your classes are. If they're easy then yeah you have more free time. And another thing is to have discipline is if you live in a dorm there are people that's going to want to bother you or hang out with you.
4). There's no point in this unless you're having problems in the class. If you feel that there's a problem or you don't know how to do the homework, then go see them right away.
5). Good idea. They have easy jobs at the university. Like being a janitor, you can sign up for these types of jobs right away and they will pay you 8 bucks an hour. Or you can get a job at the library sitting there and not do ANYTHING.
6). Focus on the now. Forget graduating, that's when you either do postgraduate or you get a job. If you like studying and learning more, then you should go to grad school, or you can just get started. Isn't that how it works?
7). Read above...