7 Things Every College Freshman Actually Needs To Know

Going away to college is a whole new journey for a lot of us. But- there are some things every college freshman actually needs to know before stepping foot in the door. Good luck!

1. Don’t room with someone you already know.

It isn’t the worst thing in the world, but sometimes it can ruin your friendship. You never had to live with them before now, and there will be times when you realize that living together isn’t what you expected. You realized that they like to sleep naked or they snore, they may even find themselves doing one of your pet peeves. You never knew this before. Don’t live with someone you know, at least not for the first year. Keep your friendships intact. I know it’s scary to get a random roommate, but that is what life is about, taking chances. You may end up rooming with your new best friend.

2. It’s not like high school, at all.

Did you have those teachers that said, “they won’t spoon feed you information in college”? Yeah, well depending on your professors, they do. Here me out, there are some professors that are tough and they won’t give you everything right off the bat, you’re going to have to work. But there are also those professors that are like, “if you take this paper to the professor across the hall, I’ll give you three points extra credit.” It’s all about luck.

3. RateMyProfessor is a must.

It’s a website where you can put in the name of the professor you are looking to take to find out what previous students said about them. It’s literally the best thing ever, because that professor you want on Mondays and Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. versus that professor that only teaches at 10 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursdays can be determined by one little website. Be sure to check the year the comment from the student was posted, teachers evolve just like we do. Good and bad evolving, but they do evolve.

4. The food sucks.

Yeah, when you get here, you’re stoked because you have access to a buffet every day. Cool. But in the middle of October of freshman year, you’re going to miss your mom’s Sunday dinners, her casserole, potato salad, and/or macaroni and cheese. (I know because I miss it right now too.) Although most of the time the food isn’t that good, the cafeteria does have its good days. I can’t figure out the pattern, but I have noticed that on tour days (when high schoolers come to visit) the cafeteria is seemingly better. No, it’s not fair. Yes, I do hate it. Don’t take advantage of your mom cooking for you every day because once you get to college, it’s not all unicorns and roses.

5. You will get overwhelmed.

Yes, it’s your first time away from home and you’re alone, it will be hard, I can’t lie. I’m reminding you again that I am not trying to scare you, I just want you to know that I went through it because I didn’t know what to expect. There will be weeks when you have three exams on one day or one exam every day for that week, just breathe and try to relax. There may be times when you and you roommate have an argument, just breathe. Call your family as much as you can, do what you can to stay grounded and calm.

6. Go to office hours.

Office hours are the times professors are available for you outside of class. Take advantage of them. Most of the time when they see you are trying, you will see a bump in your grade at the end of the semester because you got the help you need and they see that you really care about your grades. Even when you don’t feel like going, go. Don’t wait until the end of the semester to go because then they will see that you are rushing and you waited until the last minute to “care” about your final grade. At that point, they will turn you away at the door, so don’t wait or procrastinate. As soon as they give you the syllabus, make your way to their office.

7. Have fun!

Despite all of the new information you have just be informed of, college can actually be fun, I promise. College isn’t all about academics. Employers don’t just take an interest in your academics and your grades, if there is something you find interesting or something that pertains to your major, just do it! Trust me, you will regret going through your collegiate career just worrying about academics even though that’s a huge factor too. Get involved, join Greek life (sororities/fraternities), go bungee jumping or skydiving. Sometimes you have to put the books down and walk away, why not go jumping out of a plane? (Safely, of course!)