What you wish you'd known when you went to college

I’m leaving for a college that’s about 3,000 miles from home in less than 2 full days, and getting pretty nervous! I’m just wondering if anyone has any handy advice.

I’m going to a conservative Christian university and I’m not into drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. (yeah, yeah, I know, I’m boring,) so any horror stories about what not to do the night before a final won’t be too awfully relevant, but I suppose a couple anecdotes wouldn’t hurt.

Mainly I’m looking for some tips about getting along with the roomie, putting off laundry as long as possible, making sure professors don’t hate me, making friends (I don’t know anyone), pulling off an all-nighter, etc.

Thanks guys!

LifeInHIM86, who is anxious enough about the big move to quit lurking and ask!

Basic personaly hygeine and a set of headphones are a must for getting along with your roommate.

Make a point of try new things. You’re going far away, so no one knows who you’ve been for the past 18 years.

Go to class, even if they don’t require attendance.

Don’t schedule a class for early in the morning.

Have fun.

thanks, ultrafilter!

Guess that I didn’t mention that I’m only 17, and a new 17 at that… I’m debating whether I should keep that as my own little secret until I do turn 18, and maybe even then. Opinions, anyone?

I already know that I will have an 8am class MWF, and possibly a TT as well (hopefully not). Any tips on getting there alert and staying that way?

Nah, no reason to lie. I knew a few people who were 17, or even 16. They didn’t have any problems as a result (well, except that there was this one girl who was just fucking crazy, but that’s a different story).

As far as the 8 AM goes…well, if coffee’s not your thing, make it. Having earplugs to sleep might not hurt.

What kind of classes are you looking at right now, and what are you planning on studying?

wow, 16… and I thought I’d be the only one faxing home permission slips! (oh, and so I don’t sound like a hypocrite, I wouldn’t lie. I wouldn’t bring it up, but I’d be honest if asked)

I think I can manage the 8am as long as I can force myself out of bed on time… that seems to be the hardest part for me!

As of right now, I’m planning on double majoring in Psychology and Bible, but that’s not set it stone. I am also planning on taking some more Spanish classes, as I’m trying to become fluent and will be living in Chile por un semestre in Fall 2004.

I don’t entirely know what classes I’m going to be in this semester, and won’t until registration day, but I do know that I have two required classes for the Honors College that I’ll be in (a New Testament survey and an English/Comm type class), and I know I need to go ahead and take my first general psych class, but beyond that I’m all screwy what with having a whole bunch of AP credits, a double major, and a semester of international study. I’ll probably go ahead and take either chem or bio (not my favorite areas) and art or music appreciation (both required, though I don’t understand why I need to take music appreciation in spite of my AP music theory credit! oh well.)

wow, that got long fast

As far as making friends, in the first few days of classes (or if you’re going to have orientation once you get there) there will probably be a lot of information sessions on various clubs and departments. I made a friend during orientation (which was right before classes started) at a tour of the theater department, and he turned out to be in my math class the same semester.

First week of classes, I went to audition for a play. I was chatting with another girl who was waiting and I mentioned I was interested in doing improv, and she said she’d seen a sign up sheet for an improv group that met weekly. I signed up, joined the group and made a bunch of friends from it. From that group, I did a student play and made friends through that. A bunch of people in the play were on one of the school newspapers and I met even more people!

Get out there! Try the basketweaving club if you’ve never done that before and always wanted to!

AND MAKE A FRIEND IN EVERY CLASS! It is very very helpful to have at least one person’s phone number in case you need help with homework, want a study partner, etc.

Really, don’t take the 8 AM class if you can avoid it. It might not sound that hard, but when that class turns out to be taught by a professor who speaks in a monotone AND who uses the overhead projector in a darkend auditorium every class, you might make it. (I swear I made it to most of them - I just slept through the ones that I made it to.) Since I scrolled back up to your post that says you already have an 8AM class…make sure you get there. Get a good alarm clock and be aware that as long as the school doesn’t have a problem with you showing up in sweatpants, you can roll out of bed, put them on and get there on time even if you wake up 10 minutes before class.

Just because you get an offer for a credit card, that doesn’t mean you have to have it. Sure, one is fine - but don’t over extend yourself on credit. It’s easy to get into debt while you’re in school and hard to get out.

Take lots of underwear, especially if postponing laundry is a goal. Count how much you have now and double it at a minimum. A bathrobe the covers you is good, especially if you have to walk down the hall to the bathroom (or downstairs) for a shower.

Making friends? Try things that simply sound interesting. You can always go to the first meeting and figure out that it’s not something you want to be involved in. Intramural sports are good, even if you’re not great at them. Take classes outside your major, just because they sound interesting. Basically, don’t forget to have fun.

I was a young 17 when I started college too. No one is going to know - you don’t have to tell them if you don’t want to, but if you decide to tell someone, then do it.

Assuming the school will have an Activities Fair or something similar in the first week, attend it and browse around.

Don’t assume life will be hell all semester if you and the roomie butt heads early. And remember, you can probably change rooms at semester, but prolly not before.

If you have a mullet, get rid of it.

The most important thing, especially for someone going that far from home, is to realize that during the first six weeks of college, many students at one point or another feel an overpowering urge to pack up and head home. Fight that urge and if you make it through, great - if you still feel that strongly at the break, transfer.

Don’t feel compelled to pack everything you’ve ever owned - I work at a college and every year, at least one freshman shows up with a U-Haul trailer filled with so much crap the RA’s about fall over.

Well, I don’t have a whole lot of experience with conservative Christian universities, and I suspect that they might be more homeogeneous than most colleges, but all the same:

– Expect to meet people whose backgrounds, values, and ideas about how things “should” be are VERY different from yours. (This will probably include your roommate – for some reason, everybody seems to end up living with their polar opposite.) Resist the urge to assume that your way is better, and try to make friends with as diverse a group of people as possible. (This goes double for study abroad, which will probably be one of the great experiences of your life and also one of the most difficult. It helps to be very openminded.)

– If you’ve got roommate conflicts, talk the problem out with your roommate in private, or take it to your RA if things seem unsolvable. Do NOT, under any circumstances, complain about your roommate to others behind her back.

Those are the two main things I wish I’d known, but I’d like to add a few others that I wish my students knew. (I’m a grad student who teaches freshman English at a large state university.)

– Read the syllabus and assignments carefully, and make sure you’re doing what the prof asks.

– Don’t be afraid to ask questions! Most professors love questions, especially the sort of questions that suggest the student has a genuine interest in the subject. (Perhaps the only question that shouldn’t be asked is “Is this going to be on the exam?”)

– Go into required courses with an open mind. Think of them as free samples, rather than obstacles you have to get past. Most students change their intended major more than once, so you may very well end up needing the class that you initially thought was useless.

– Take control of your education. Look up the requirements for your major as early as possible and plan how you’re going to meet them; get to know your professors outside of class; go to guest lectures and other cultural events, even if it’s not required.

Don’t take early AM classes if you can avoid them (unless you’re a morning person) and don’t take Friday classes if you can avoid them.

Remember that in any class (unless it’s a class of 2 people) there is probably someone at least as nervous as you.

You’re planning to be some sort of youth counselor or something like that with a double major in Psych and Bible? (just how do you major in Bible, anyway?:))

Be honest and forthright with your professors. If you can’t get an assignment done, be honest about it and take responsibility.

There is no hurry in declaring a major.

Phys Ed classes, if offered, are great–take a .5- or 1-credit course; or become a regular visitor to the gym. You will never get free fitness opportunities like this again in your life, so this is a good time to get yourself into the habit of participating in some form of recreation or sport.

It’s always an adjustment sharing a small room with a new person. Try not to take differences personally.

If anyplace offers an orientation (library, career center, gym) go to it. You will find out about all kinds of things that you wouldn’t discover on your own.

I don’t know where you stood in your high school, rank-wise, but in college you might be in a different place. However, you can learn from everyone, not just the people who seem smarter than you. Everyone has gifts.

As far as making it to morning classes - don’t stay up too late. Yeah, I’ve always been a morning person - what of it?

Don’t procrastinate, and you probably won’t need to pull the infamous all-nighter. (I did that just once, and I learned my lesson.)

Don’t hide - get out and try stuff. Explore the area. Get off campus once in a while.

When you write or call home, don’t just do it to ask for money! :wink:

And no matter how long you wish to avoid doing laundry, don’t wear smelly clothes. Dousing with cologne does not equal laundering. The noses of your classmates will thank you.

Good luck!

Quarters might as well be made of gold, they are essential for all laundry and late night vending machine raids.

the Freshman Fifteen is for real. for the first time in your life you will have the option to eat french fries for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it’s already paid for! just keep tabs on how much junk you consume.

Otherwise, you sound like you’ll do fine. for me, and most of my friends, alcohol and parties were the biggest culprits in failing grades.

Anecdote Alert
One night before an 8am final i was persuaded to go to a frat party. (i was easily swayed) anyway, had great fun at the party came back way late and quite tipsy. Miraculously woke up in time for said final and totally aced it. I’m feeling super good about myself walking all the way back across campus. I look down. . . Awwww Man!

Did i neglect to mention the reason i was on time for the final was because i literally rolled out of bed wearing last night’s clothes? Anyway, I have huge grass stains all up and down my legs and have been out and about campus for hours. I look like some kind of vagrant. Evidently, I fell down a hill or something the night before. So another tip–bring a full length mirror.

Wow guys, thanks for all the helpful advice and uh, interesting, anecdote! It’s very reassuring to know that other people worried about the same things I am worrying about now.

ha! Sad thing is, this university is in the middle of nowhere in a Southern state and I could very well be MORE popular if I had a mullet… scary. I’m sure if I go ‘hunting’ I’ll get some classic mullet shots…

(Did I do the quote right? I don’t think so. Sorry!)

So how much stuff is too much? We’re flying for part of the journey, so I kind of doubt I will take too much, but here’s what I have so far and will reduce a bit if you all think I ought to. two average to medium-large suitcases of clothes and shoes, a couple of outfits and toiletries in my “needed until I get into the dorm and unpacked” suitcase, a box that has some bedding, towels, and stereo, my laptop, i will have a little square table-top fridge. I’ll buy my bedspread and another set of sheets, a rug (no carpet in my dorm) and curtains with my roommate when we get down there. Sound okay?

iampunha I am thinking about going into marriage and family counseling or something along those lines, but that’s one of many many things I’m thinking about for the future. Basically a Bible major gets to know the Bible really well, studies Greek and maybe a little Hebrew too, talks about how things apply today and ways to talk to others (willing participants, I’m not the go-cram-what-I-believe-on-those-who-don’t-want-to-hear-it sort, thank God!, but I do enjoy sharing with people who are curious)

Ah, the freshman fifteen… ugh. Well, the cafeteria food was nasty when I visited in February, but they remodeled this summer, so we’ll see if I end up gorging myself on pizza every day because the bananas aren’t ripe and the lettuce is wilted! Hopefully major healthy improvements have been made! I’ll live on the 3rd floor, too - no elevator- so that’ll help at least an eensy bit!

Thanks again for all the tips, it sure is helping!

LifeinHIM86, what school are you going to? There’s always the chance that a doper, or someone who knows a doper, has gone there. Firsthand advice is probably going to be better than generalized advice, affer all:)

iampunha, is it “safe” to give out that sort of thing on a message board? It’s not a huge school.

I kinda doubt that there are many doper connections in that area - there’s probably more jokes about people from that state on the boards than there are people from that state on the boards - but then again, the SDMB is sometimes full of surprises! I’m willing to try if a few dopers say it’s safe to say. Better to be too cautious…

Ok, no matter what you think about the state…don’t say this to the people who are there. Go in with an open mind about it - I’m a southerner and I don’t know anyone who has a mullet. And it would bug me a lot if you showed up all of a sudden and said this.

I know, chances are you won’t…but be careful (and no, it’s not because we’re all inbred and carrying guns :wink: )

On making friends–My first day in the dorm, my roommates and I busted out a box of Chips Ahoy and knocked on every door up and down the hall, introducing ourselves and offering cookies.

We were everybody’s favorite girls on the floor for the rest of the year. :slight_smile:

It is worth the embarrassment to come out and say “I don’t understand/I don’t know.” It’s why you’re there. To learn.

Lsura, hope I didn’t cause you any offense. I know that only a very small portion of the south is hickish and backwoods - my parents are both from the South and I’ve visited every summer, though I’ve always lived in the Seattle area.

I won’t go making remarks like that off the handle though - thanks for the reminder. Lots of people make jokes about this state (ok! fine! it’s Arkansas… see?), and it seems to be true in some areas, but the number of normal people I saw while I visited down there far outweighed the number of Billy Bob characters. (That’s not offensive, is it?)

runs off covering her head to avoid the inevitable barrage of “going to Arkansas to get an education is like going to Hollywood to get morals!” remarks…