As the time nears for me to leave for college I have begun seeking advice and tips from those around me - hoping to avoid mistakes and learn life intravenously. So please, my fellow Dopers, share what nuggets of wisdom you have for this budding youth.
Or just tell me some good stories about the college glory days 
Go to classes.
Most people think that might be a bit obvious, but it isn’t.
I second “Go to classes.”
If you’re living in a dorm, get used to constant noise. And an occasional burnt-popcorn stench spread via the air ducts.
Unless you’re lucky enough to be living in an apartment with its own washer and drier, you’ll need quarters. Lots and lots of quarters.
I thankfully never had to deal with communal showers, but I’ve heard flipflops are a must in that situation.
Don’t set the volume on your phone or answering machine on high. This will keep your roommate, suite mates and neighbors from wanting to beat you when you get repeated calls at one in the morning.
Another vote for going to class. And if you’re having problems, go talk to your advisor.
Throughout the semester, you will probably find that cell phone vendors and various credit card company representatives will set up tables in high-traffic areas of the campus. Ignore them.
Consider investing in a small refrigerator.
Get a small toolbox and stock it with the basics–hammer, set of pliers (needlenose and channel-lock especially), screwdrivers (Phillips and flathead), WD-40, duct tape, measuring tape, etc.
Even if you’re in a class of 200 people, don’t be afraid to go talk to the professor.
Get some kind of day planner–either paper or electronic.
If you’re living in a dorm, you’re going to need wall decorations. Posters are the most popular, but you can also check your local fabric stores for some cool-looking fabirc to make a wall hanging.
A small photo album with some pictures from home.
Everything these guys said, plus:
If you hate your school, it’s OK to transfer. I’m glad someone said that to me. 
And posters - you may be the kind of person who thinks “Nah, I don’t need posters” - but a dorm is basically a neural isolation tank. You’re going to need something colorful on that bare wall while you’re writing your third Dumb Essay of the night.
Dry-wipe boards are great for both messages and humorous insults.
If you live in a dorm (some of these are still good if you don’t, but hey):
That should suffice for now. I’m sure I’ll think of more, at which point I’ll be back.
Go to class. It’s a lot easier to coast on a good GPA than it is to fix a horrible GPA. If you go to class and do the homework, that’s half the battle right there.
Do not own a credit card. Wait until you have graduated and have a real job. Credit cards are way too tempting and you can get into big trouble that way. I am speaking from personal experience here.
If you’re in a lit class that requires many different books, see if you can get some of them from the library. Obviously you don’t want to do this with your bio textbook, but if you’re in a class that requires you to read three novels by William Faulkner and two novels by James Joyce and a collection of short stories by Eudora Welty (or whatever), you can probably get away with just checking them out from the library. If the university library doesn’t have any copies, check with the local town’s library.
College usually means easy access to a lot of alcohol and drugs. My advice here would simply be, know your limits. I know more than a couple people in college who wound up in the ER because they thought they could do 20 shots of whiskey. If you’re not a big drinker, it’s easy to get really out of your depth really quick just because the alcohol takes a little while to hit your system and you think you’re doing OK, and then wham, it all arrives at once and you pass out on the floor. Again speaking from personal experience, sadly enough.
Ask questions. Don’t worry about the question sounding stupid. Most professors are thrilled to death when someone is actually interested enough in the material to ask a question. Make use of your professors’ office hours. TAs too. More often than not, especially early in the quarter/semester, you’ll be one of the only people going to office hours, so you get a lot of the prof’s undivided attention. This can be very useful in classes you’re having trouble with.
Hm, that’s all I can think of for now. Except, have a good time, and don’t stress out too much!
IF your school has a Homecoming program…you can say goodbye to using public transportation that day (unless the city/town is big). That is the only thing no one told me and I found out for myself. Shudders Of course, I go to one university who is apparently famous for its Homecoming, UF.
I hear fungacide is also an option.
Since I’m in the same predicament, keep it coming.
This is EXCELLENT advice. It really will save you a lot of headaches later if everyone is on the same page.
My advice:
(1) Always try to nail the first test in a class. You’re always better if you’ve put yourself in a situation where you can coast on finals instead of trying to play catch-up.
(2) Practice safe sex.
(3) Don’t be an easy target for criminals (ie, don’t go walking around campus drunk at midnight by yourself). Campuses are often in urban areas, and a lot of students fresh in from the 'burbs get mugged by criminals who know exactly what easy targets students are.
(4) Get to know your professors. You’ll need recommendations if you want to continue on to grad school.
and finally:
(5) stay in college as long as you can without assuming too much debt. Seriously, kiddo, the college years are the best years of your life - this may be the last time you’re free of any “real” life and death responsibility. Take advantage of them!
Moodtobestewed (proud university employee since graduation in '95 )
-Make excercise a priority – whether its joining a club team, going to the gym, or just a pick-up game of football or ultimate with your dorm. Excercise is good for your brain.
-don’t eat crap all the time. This can be a challenge what with dorm food. Do the best you can with the options that are offered. You may want to pack multivitamins. I didn’t eat any meat my first semester cause it looked way too scarey at the caf. I ended up slightly iron-deficient and tired all the time. A multivitamin cleared that up.
-You do not have to be your roomate’s best friend. You two have sort of a business relationship, when it comes right down to it. So, don’t be concerned if you aren’t best buds. Just be considerate.
This is really excellent everyone - please keep it coming
Try harder than you think you need to the first semester. Most of the people around you will be bombing courses left and right and bragging about it. They will pay later if they want to go to a good graduate or professional school. College is not like high school. If you picked a decent one, it should be MUCH harder than high school if you want to do well. Just passing is not super difficult but doing really well and keeping up a high GPA the first year is not something that most people manage well.
Definately go to class, and definately take advantage of office hours. The profs LOVE it, and you’ll get to meet and know some really interesting people.
Take notes. Especially in classes that you tend to sleep through. They will save your butt during midterms and finals.
If your classes are spread out, use the daytime to do work rather than hang out with your friends. Then, when everyone is goofing off at night, you can too, with a clear conscience.
Call your siblings. Finding out four months worth of their lives at Thanksgiving makes you sad.
Upon rereading the OP - if you want some good stories, I have a five-page text document (obviously wayyyy too long to post here) about all the horrendous and sadly funny stuff that happened in the last dorm I lived in. If you want, I’ll e-mail it to you.
Keep in mind that my experience at college was not even remotely normal.
Intravenously? I guess you’re just going to lay back and let it all sink in?? 
Get to know your professors. They are great references, can get you internships and are a nice base to start your professional associations.
Meet everyone you can! Don’t go and become a party animal. But this is the place where you have the opportunity to meet a large group of people from varied origins and cultures. Who you know is very important.
I posted that this morning and was not clear minded, I could go either with the osmosis style of learning as stated above, or as I meant to say “vicariously” and thus learn through others.
Thanks for pointing it out to me.
I’ll second or third all of that above.
I often lived “exam to exam.” I’d study all week long for a biology exam and then study all of the next week for a physio exam. (This was generously assuming that they were scheduled a full week apart - not very likely.) I enjoyed class much more when I was doing a decent amount of studying regularly in each class, instead of cramming like mad.
Don’t forget to eat right and exercise. It SUCKS being sick and having to go to class. (Sometimes it sucks to be healthy and go to class but that’s another story.)
Avoiding the credit card mess is pretty darn good advice.
Keep a datebook - it is your bible.
College is a great time to expand your mind and hear different view points so keeping an open mind is a good idea.
If you find yourself getting behind in a class, don’t get so discouraged that you avoid thinking about and tackling the work in that class. That’s such a slippery slope. If you’re one day behind or even one week behind, that doesn’t mean that it won’t matter if you’re 3 weeks behind - plug along, push yourself and don’t give up. The overwhelming fear that will engulf you come finals time will more than make you swear off this practice.
Get a robe and flip flops…a shower caddy…
Oh! One last bit - know how you work. Learn when you’re most alert and use that time to your advantage. I’m a complete wreck at studying around 1-3 in the afternoon or from 6-8 in the evening. Why? I’m sleepy after eating. I’m wide awake and alert at 6 a.m., though - and ready to read up on things. When I finally gave up on forcing myself to sit at my desk during these hours, accomplishing nothing but getting frustrated from my head nodding and bonking the desk (along with random pen marks all over the place), I absorbed more and enjoyed it more than I thought. I studied in the morning, ate late lunches and exercised in the afternoon. I studied before dinner, relaxed a bit after and then hit the books again, refreshed.
Best of luck to you.
Tibs.
Ask questions when you don’t understand what’s going on in class. Professors like questions (with the possible exceptions of “Will this be on the test?” or “Why isn’t this an A?”). They won’t think you are stupid, and neither will your fellow students, who will probably be wondering many of the same things.
Remember that learning is an active process. Your prof is not going to come down from Mount Olympus and give you all the answers – you and your classmates will have to figure some of 'em out for yourselves. Whatever you do, don’t tune out when other students are speaking and tune back in when the professor takes over – you’ll miss the most valuable part of the class if you do.
Read the syllabus and all assignments carefully. Again, ask questions if you want something clarified.
Look into study abroad programs ASAP, even if you think you can’t afford it. It’s an awesome experience, and financial aid is often available, but it takes careful planning.