Five Tips for the Incoming College Freshman

College is an amazing experience! You get to learn a lot of new things, live somewhere new, meet many new people and make new friends! However, going into your first year of college can be a bit overwhelming. Here's come tips that I have found useful after starting my first year of college.

1. Take care of all your financial aid and scholarship paperwork BEFORE you get there!

This is easily the most important one, therefore I put it first. If you received any scholarships and/or financial aid from either the college or something else, make sure you call or visit your college's financial office to make sure you have everything you need for the money to be applied. Also after you apply to college and get admitted, there could be additional paperwork that you need to fill out and mail in before the start of the school year. If all of this is taken care of before you move in, then it's a lot less stressful on you!

2. Get to know your roommate before you move in.

Having a roommate can either be a great experience, or it can be terrible depending on how well you communicate with each other. If you don't already know your roommate, get to know them over the summer. Find out what their interests are and what their personality is like. Set up some rules and expectations to help eliminate conflict. Doing these things will be very helpful since you'll be sharing a room for the whole year!

3. Get to know the campus well.

While you're unpacking your things before classes start, it is a good idea to walk around the campus and find your classes, good places to study, where you can go for academic help, and where you can just hang out with friends. Colleges offer great services such as tutoring, counseling, job searching help, and much more and most of it is offered for free! Take advantage of any help you can get, especially if it's free!

4. Be Social and join clubs that interest you!

One of the best things about college so far is meeting new friends. I chose a college that no one in my graduating class is going to, so I had to make all new friends! So far I've made some great friendships by becoming active in clubs that interest me. If you don't break out of your comfort zone to meet new friends and try new things, then college will not be half as fun as it could be!

5. Become organized and get into a schedule.

This is a must if you want to succeed in college. You have to be organized! College professors aren't as lenient as high school teachers. If you forgot about an assignment or lost it, they'll either take points off or count it as a 0%. My advice is to invest in a planner with both a monthly calendar and daily planning space. I also put a whiteboard with a weekly calendar on my wall where I write everything I have planned for the week. Having a schedule and being organized also helps balance things such as class time, homework/study time, social life, and taking care of yourself. Also if you have a desk, keep all of your books and supplies organized. Keep everything you need for each class together.