Finally, you graduated high school and you’re free!! It’s very exciting but you’re an adult now, if you’re 18 of course, so now you have to take the next 4 years to prove to your parents you’re ready for the real world, and have fun at the same time. This is a guide for all of you freshman who are new to college or maybe had a bad first semester. If you follow these simple rules and push yourself, you are setting yourself up for success.

Study

You probably rolled your eyes seeing the word study, but it’s true. If you dedicate time to study your material for each class you can easily graduate with a 4.0 GPA. A big part of studying is not studying the night before, the day you go to class and make new notes study them. You will feel overwhelmed by the material you have to study by the time the test comes so you tend to just procrastinate.

Use a planner

Using a planner is key to a successful semester. This one is pretty simple, how do you expect to succeed if you forget when assignments are due? You can get any kind of planner you like, the way it looks doesn’t matter, as long as you can see the date and write what is due that day then you’re doing good, sweetie. I use two different planners, a big one the size of a spiral notebook and a small one that isn’t too heavy for my backpack. The big one I write everything in because it is easy to read my writing, the small one is strictly for school. I would also recommend color-coding your class assignments with colored pens, it just makes it easier to read and see what is due for what class.

Make friends

This one is a given, but it could be a tricky one. You no doubt need to make friends so you can have a social life and have people to talk to, friends can even help you study especially if you’re taking the same classes. The only downfall of having a busy social life is the distractions from your studies. Yes having friends is the key to keeping sane in college but you must balance your social life and school. Choose your friends wisely, if you get into a bad group try to find an out, surround yourself with friends who spread love and happiness.

Join a club… or two

Every university has SO MANY clubs to choose from, so why not join one? You should join a club that has something to do with your major so you can network amongst people you might work with one day and join a club with a topic you’re passionate about. If you’re taking 4 classes and not working it would be a good idea to join two or three clubs because you would have more free time, spend it networking and making friends in a club. Considering club meetings aren’t mandatory, depending on the club, you don’t have to attend every single meeting.

Take 5 classes a semester

It might sound like a lot but realistically taking five classes a semester is key in graduating at a good time, if you don’t fail any classes. The key is not to stay in college forever, you need to focus on the end game because it will come up fast. Five classes are definitely a lot but I have a secret for you, I usually take 4 classes on campus and one class online. When you take one online class you don’t have to really put a lot of focus into it, let me give you an example; I am taking an advertising class online and I have a forum due Wednesday and a quiz due Sunday, I don’t have a final either, that way I can spend all my time focusing on my other full-major classes. If you try this shoot me an email and tell me how you like or didn’t like it!

Rate my professor

Now, when registering for classes it is MOST important to know if you are going to get a good professor or not. Ratemyprofesor.com is what every college student uses, it is opinions about the class and the professor by students. If a professor doesn’t have a green smiley face and they have lower than a 3.0 rating don’t sign up for that class with that professor, try to get a different professor. Chances are if you ignore the bad ratings you will regret taking that professor. One of the key elements in passing a class is having a great professor who cares about his/her students. 

Campus jobs

Let’s say you need to get a job while in college, as a freshman you should try to get a job on campus. Having a job on campus while living on campus is ideal for your first college job, though I hope you’re not planning on making a lot of money, your pay rate will be about $7.50 an hour but starting pay that isn’t bad at all. You won’t need to drive anywhere considering everything you do will involve being on campus which, in your first year, is how it should be.

Safety on campus

I feel like this is one thing many people don’t mention when preparing for college as a freshman. Most crime in a college town happens on campus more specifically is dark areas around dormitories. Texas State University, my school, got in trouble in 2018 for misreporting crime statics in the Clery Act from 2016-2018. They reported 9 rapes when other colleges with a similar student population reported about 28, Texas State then changed it to 26 reported rapes. I am telling you this because you need to be aware that these things happen and as a woman, you need to protect yourself, and as a man, you need to make sure these crimes don’t happen.

Joining a sorority or fraternity

Although, I don’t have any experience with sororities but I am sure they are fun and it is a great way of making easy friends. Joining as a freshman gives you a head start in the coming years as well, if you decide to stay. I wanted to include this in the guide because it is a great outlet to meet pretty cool people.

Sleep, eat, repeat

Sleep is the most important step in surviving your time in college. I know this will be hard and you won’t keep up with this everyday but you should really try. Wake up at 6 A.M. every morning, and I know you’re probably cursing me out right now, but it is key to being healthy and keeping sane. Also, going to sleep at 9 P.M. will help you get up easier the next morning. Shifting gears to food, I understand you are limited when it comes to dorm eating and the food on campus is not the most healthy, but you must eat as healthy as possible and work out to keep a strong mind. If you slack it’s not the end of the world but you will be able to tell a difference in class preformance when you have a good routine going.

That concludes my freshman survival guide for you today, I hope it genuinely helps you get through your freshman year. I wish I knew these things was a freshman so I could have succeeded better in school and life.

XOXO, Maddie.