I'm starting college tomorrow...

[Artic_counter]

Yep, I'm officially entering college in engineering physics. Any tips ?

[SKG_Scintill]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

finish it

[Reincarnate]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

Too many to list. What questions do you have?

[Artic_counter]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

What's a good way to succeed an extremely hard program ? Should I have free time ?

[00Razor00]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

doesn't everyone start tomorrow?

[j-rodd123]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

doesn't everyone start tomorrow?

no i start sept 10th

[dAnceguy117]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

Unless you're taking 18+ credit hours and working a job, you should have some free time. Don't miss out on what college life has to offer!

[Xiz]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

use protection, and try out a club.

[Reincarnate]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

The most important skill you can have is time management. I finished two degrees from a top school in four years during undergrad while working full time/paying for my own education -- and I still had extra time to dick around (even here on FFR).

How to do it:

1. Don't procrastinate, ever.
2. Don't procrastinate, ever.
3. Don't procrastinate, ever.
4. Use office hours. Super important. Very few people actually bother to use them, which is dumb because office hours tend to be more helpful than doing a shitload of reading and not understanding it in the end. Office hours are like one-on-one sessions where you can have some custom-tailored explanation, and it's oftentimes a useful way for you to figure out what's important and what is secondary.
5. Sleeping in is great, but if you want to be ambitious about shit, wake up early. Those extra couple hours per day = more time to get a bunch of shit done.
6. If you have to work a job at the same time, find something that will let you have access to a computer so you can get homework done and/or study during downtime.
7. Work out. I'm not kidding. It will help you maintain energy and mental awareness, and keep you on track with your routine/schedule everywhere else. Similarly, eat well so you'll be alert all day.
8. Get a credit card so you can start building a credit history, but use it like a debit card. In other words, every time you use the card, go pay it off as soon as you can so you can have your balance paid in full at all times.
9. Leave your dorm room door open so people can walk in and talk to you whenever. It'll help make you more social.
10. Make an effort to attend social events and maybe a club or two. Having a good set of friends is important.
11. Don't get too caught up in romantic relationships. There's plenty of time for that after college.
12. Talk with any on-campus academic advisers early on so you ensure you're planning ahead correctly.
13. Don't skip class.
14. Don't pull all-nighters. If you are staying up all night to study, you're doing something wrong. There are more than enough hours in the day to do all the studying you need. Wasting an extra 5-6 hours trying to cram more shit into your head is not going to help. Sleep instead. You'll do better.
15. If you have a class that has group projects, it's extra important to sit near the front of the class so you don't get stick with lazy people. Lazy people will waste your time.


Let me know if you want to know more.

[Xiz]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

The most important skill you can have is time management. I finished two degrees from a top school in four years during undergrad while working full time/paying for my own education -- and I still had extra time to dick around (even here on FFR).

How to do it:

1. Don't procrastinate, ever.
2. Don't procrastinate, ever.
3. Don't procrastinate, ever.
4. Use office hours. Super important. Very few people actually bother to use them, which is dumb because office hours tend to be more helpful than doing a shitload of reading and not understanding it in the end. Office hours are like one-on-one sessions where you can have some custom-tailored explanation, and it's oftentimes a useful way for you to figure out what's important and what is secondary.
5. Sleeping in is great, but if you want to be ambitious about shit, wake up early. Those extra couple hours per day = more time to get a bunch of shit done.
6. If you have to work a job at the same time, find something that will let you have access to a computer so you can get homework done and/or study during downtime.
7. Work out. I'm not kidding. It will help you maintain energy and mental awareness, and keep you on track with your routine/schedule everywhere else. Similarly, eat well so you'll be alert all day.
8. Get a credit card so you can start building a credit history, but use it like a debit card. In other words, every time you use the card, go pay it off as soon as you can so you can have your balance paid in full at all times.
9. Leave your dorm room door open so people can walk in and talk to you whenever. It'll help make you more social.
10. Make an effort to attend social events and maybe a club or two. Having a good set of friends is important.
11. Don't get too caught up in romantic relationships. There's plenty of time for that after college.
12. Talk with any on-campus academic advisers early on so you ensure you're planning ahead correctly.
13. Don't skip class.
14. Don't pull all-nighters. If you are staying up all night to study, you're doing something wrong. There are more than enough hours in the day to do all the studying you need. Wasting an extra 5-6 hours trying to cram more shit into your head is not going to help. Sleep instead. You'll do better.
15. If you have a class that has group projects, it's extra important to sit near the front of the class so you don't get stick with lazy people. Lazy people will waste your time.


Let me know if you want to know more.

^ +1

Really though, this guy knows what he's talking about. Go with this.

[bballa48]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

The most important skill you can have is time management. I finished two degrees from a top school in four years during undergrad while working full time/paying for my own education -- and I still had extra time to dick around (even here on FFR).

How to do it:

1. Don't procrastinate, ever.
2. Don't procrastinate, ever.
3. Don't procrastinate, ever.
4. Use office hours. Super important. Very few people actually bother to use them, which is dumb because office hours tend to be more helpful than doing a shitload of reading and not understanding it in the end. Office hours are like one-on-one sessions where you can have some custom-tailored explanation, and it's oftentimes a useful way for you to figure out what's important and what is secondary.
5. Sleeping in is great, but if you want to be ambitious about shit, wake up early. Those extra couple hours per day = more time to get a bunch of shit done.
6. If you have to work a job at the same time, find something that will let you have access to a computer so you can get homework done and/or study during downtime.
7. Work out. I'm not kidding. It will help you maintain energy and mental awareness, and keep you on track with your routine/schedule everywhere else. Similarly, eat well so you'll be alert all day.
8. Get a credit card so you can start building a credit history, but use it like a debit card. In other words, every time you use the card, go pay it off as soon as you can so you can have your balance paid in full at all times.
9. Leave your dorm room door open so people can walk in and talk to you whenever. It'll help make you more social.
10. Make an effort to attend social events and maybe a club or two. Having a good set of friends is important.
11. Don't get too caught up in romantic relationships. There's plenty of time for that after college.
12. Talk with any on-campus academic advisers early on so you ensure you're planning ahead correctly.
13. Don't skip class.
14. Don't pull all-nighters. If you are staying up all night to study, you're doing something wrong. There are more than enough hours in the day to do all the studying you need. Wasting an extra 5-6 hours trying to cram more shit into your head is not going to help. Sleep instead. You'll do better.
15. If you have a class that has group projects, it's extra important to sit near the front of the class so you don't get stick with lazy people. Lazy people will waste your time.


Let me know if you want to know more.

Good advice here.

I wouldn't say that every piece of advice listed is necessary, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to do all of this. I personally never went to office hours and did well. However, you probably should go if you have time. I found it more useful to just prepare well on my own.

12 is crucial, but at the same time don't trust everyone. Advisors leave out information that is pretty damn important all the time (not necessarily intentionally, but they do).

I can't say I endorse 11, although honestly it probably is better to do it that way... especially if your program is pretty rigorous.

Above all, have fun. It goes fast.

[Artic_counter]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

Thanks for the infos rubix, it's helping me out a lot. I have a question about clubs though. How time consuming are they ? I want to leave some free time so that I can learn another language (so that I can study abroad) but at the same time, I'm quite interested in joining a club.

[j-rodd123]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

Thanks for the infos rubix, it's helping me out a lot. I have a question about clubs though. How time consuming are they ? I want to leave some free time so that I can learn another language (so that I can study abroad) but at the same time, I'm quite interested in joining a club.

ur school will probably have a club fair close to the start of the year, so you can go check out displays on all of the different clubs and ask the people who run them questions. every club is different so pick one that you would enjoy and have the time for, as lots can help make your resume look nicer

[Reincarnate]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

I personally never went to office hours and did well. However, you probably should go if you have time. I found it more useful to just prepare well on my own.

It's not *necessary* to go to office hours in order to do well, but they're a good idea if you want an edge over your peers and want more free time in the end.

After doing my assigned reading I'd immediately go to the professor's office hours to ask questions because it was not only better for getting the one-on-one explanation, but it was faster than wasting hours trying to figure out the answers to my own questions whenever I got stuck. It's also good for clearing up misconceptions. Sometimes you'll THINK you understand something when you might be missing some crucial detail that happened to slip through the cracks during problem sets or whatever.

In other words, office hours were great for letting me feel confident that I had mastered what I needed for the time being and could safely move on.

They're also good for getting to know the professor and vice-versa. If you want to apply to a grad school later, you'll need to get recommendations from faculty members who can vouch for you.

It's amazing to me how few people take advantage of office hours. It's like free progress on a platter that kids don't go after because "I attend enough class already." The marginal gains are enormous.

Thanks for the infos rubix, it's helping me out a lot. I have a question about clubs though. How time consuming are they ? I want to leave some free time so that I can learn another language (so that I can study abroad) but at the same time, I'm quite interested in joining a club.

Depends on the club. Clubs aren't necessary at all (employers don't really care) but they're good for doing something you enjoy and for meeting people with similar interests. It's entirely up to you as to how you want to spend your free time.

[Thatskier]

Re: I'm starting college tomorrow...

Join a fraternity