The Honest Guide on Preparing for College
I thought itâd be cool and useful to give you guys an âHonest Guide on Preparing for College.â It has all the things you may already know, and then also some things you perhaps donât. And a bunch of tips that are helpful for preparing for college, but also during college. Iâve been working on this post for months, adding few new tips every now and then so hopefully you guys like it and find it useful! :) I may add more tips from time to time, Iâm not sure.
Suffer from acne? Visit a dermatologist to get it under control ASAP. The earlier you start, the earlier youâll see results! And trust me, youâll be going bare-faced a lot in college. At least twice a day- morning & night. And youâll always want to look and feel your best! It sucks to be self-conscious.
Figure out a rough guideline of your morning/ night routine. Your college routine is usually not going to be the exact same as your home routine. Ie: Make up will probably be done in your room, not in the bathroom. If you use makeup often, consider buying a vanity mirror! Very useful.Â
You wonât need binders. I brought 3 (1-inch) in case and I hardly use one. Itâs more useful to have individual folders for each class. Or even those notebook with tabs inside to hold papers. Or if you really want to use a binder, Iâm using a half-inch binder for this semester, for all of my classes. The point being, the way you organize your work is different in high school. Youâre not going to the same 5 periods everyday in college. You have classes that meet MWF, and TTh, etc.
Donât forget to bring college essentials! Refer to my two posts here (âCollege Essential Hacksâ) and here (âThings I Forgot/ Nearly Forgot to Bring to Collegeâ.Â
Invest in make-up. In high school, I never wore make-up but now I often wear mascara and light lipstick! I spent countless trips figuring out what shade was best for me and trying out different products. Wouldâve been easier to just do this in the comfort of my own home than in college! Iâm still a make-up noob though, haha. I canât even figure out how to apply eyeliner confidently!
Bring clothes youâll actually wear. 1/3 of the clothes Iâve brought to college were never worn⊠They just took up closet space!
Bring formal clothes too. You never know what events youâll go to (including sorority rush, galas, etc). Donât forget a good pair (or two) of shoes for the outfit!
Realize that the first month-ish of school is the prime time to make new friends. People are more open to making new friends and are more friendly and receptive. Make the most of this!!! I can not stress this enough! Remember that first impressions can stick, so be especially graceful during this period. I would even go so far as to say that you should try to go out to a party in the first few weeks of school for two reasonsâŠ. 1) You can see if you fit with the party scene and if you enjoy it. 2) When you attend events early on, people will assume youâre down to go for the rest of the semester and youâll get invites. (Which you can turn down, of course.)
Keep in touch with old friends! Seriously. Donât just make new college friends and forget about your old high school friends. Keep in touch! Message them regularly and keep them in the loop! It might seem like a lot of work to message them all the details about something, especially when they are unfamiliar with the people so you have to describe it a lot (Wait, whoâs Jim again? Whatâs your roommateâs name again? etc), but itâs so rewarding to have an old, familiar friend with you as you both experience college together, but separately.
Know your schedule and be on top of this. Be organized. I recommend a planner and also having a print out of your weekly schedule that has your classes and other time commitments. I actually drew my weekly schedule and hung it by my desk. It not only helps me visualize my week, but also lets my roommates know when to expect me. I also use a calendar app (Sunrise on my iPhone) very diligently. Whenever I commit to an event, I immediately put it into my calendars (the app, and also my physical calendar in my room). I also inputted the dates and times of my exams/ important assignments from the get-go so I wouldnât be surprised about when they were. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND INPUTTING THE DATES OF YOUR EXAMS AND DUE DATES OF PAPERS, ETC INTO YOUR CALENDAR ASAP!!!!!!!!
Keep in touch with family. Similar reasoning with #9. But basically, your parents and siblings have lived with you all of your life. Theyâll miss you. Text them, call them, facetime them once in a while. Send them a postcard. Buy them college gear. Do little things like this; theyâll really appreciate it!
Donât be so uptight and remember to be grateful. I feel like Iâve matured greatly in college. I used to have these crazy-high expectations about friendships and stuff, and now, itâs not that I have absurdly low expectations, but I just donât take everything for granted. I am grateful for anything and everything my friends do for me. They bought me Chipotle? Aww. They reminded me about the review session? So sweet. Basically, donât take things for granted.
Donât be that one annoying friend. You know who you are. College is a time where you can really âreinventâ yourself and you should really try to be a âbetter youâ during college. Here are some traits I find annoying, personally⊠An annoying friend is one who does any or all of these things:
âForgetâ to pay a friend back for spotting you. Seriously, we all hate that person who does this and we all really respect that person who is really diligent about paying back someone. So take note. Everyone is on a tight budget in college.
Rants all the time. If youâre ranting all the time and your friend is just listening, you have yourself a freaking awesome friend. Just remember that friendship means you can rant, and your friend can rant back. Itâs a two-way street.
Tries to peer pressure others into doing something they like. Okay, I get that you drink and smoke a lot. But you donât need to feel the urge to âconvertâ me to doing the same. No means no.
Always bails or is flaky. Freaking annoying.
Takes things too far. We all have that one friend who takes things too far and doesnât know when to stopâŠ.
Too sensitive⊠But we also may have an uber-sensitive friend who always holds grudges and is a grumpy cat.Â
Donât skip class. Seriously. It doesnât matter if the lecture is posted online, or if youâll just get notes from a friend. Or if you already âknowâ whatâs being taught. Just go. Skipping class = lower grades = lower GPA = unhappy you.
Be willing to try new things. This can vary to an extent from person to person. It can be as crazy as asking someone out or trying new food. College is a time of growth, new experiences, and fun times. HOWEVER, donât do anything that will harm yourself. None of this âyoloâ mantra please.
Bring a lot of undies. Shirts and pants can be reworn more than once (within reason), but undies canât. So save yourself from doing laundry all the time and bring a lot of undies.
Learn to let things go. I used to be that person who held onto grudges. But since starting college, Iâve really begun to realize that life is so much more fun and enjoyable if you donât let the little things faze you. Learn to let it go. Donât let what that rude guy said to you this morning stick with you for the whole day. Who cares if you asked someone out and it failed? You donât need them anyway! Youâre too fabulous for them to handle!Â
Learn to be confident in yourself. âToday you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You â- Dr Seuss.Â
Learn how to socialize and be a great conversationalist. Smile and actually pay attention to what theyâre saying. Remember what they said and bring it up the next time you see them. Hey, how was your lunch at Gypsyâs with John? It makes people feel special and nice. Use their names in the conversation as often as you can (without it sounding totally awkward and weird). People like hearing their names in conversation. [Btw, I read these facts on a Time article somewhere so its legit.]. People donât remember what you say, but they remember how you made them feel. So make them feel loved and appreciated. Laugh.
Live and learn through your mistakes. No oneâs perfect. So what if you bombed your first midterm? Itâs the first of many. Pick yourself up and study harder for the next one. Donât get all beaten up.
Consider bringing your AP study guide books to college. I canât tell you how many times Iâve opened my AP Calculus review book from Princeton Review to review and look up things.
Keep track of your meal points. I frequently hear people saying they always have leftover meal points at the end of the year, but maybe itâs because I like to buy a lot of snacks, but I was actually behind on points for half the semester. Itâs no big dealâI can easily add more pointsâ, but just donât be under the illusion that you have unlimited amount of points and can buy whatever you want. Be smart about rationing off your points.
Donât let one midterm grade affect you. Yeah, you failed that midterm. So what? Just do well on the next ones. Thereâs nothing you can do about your midterm gradeâyou can only improve yourself for the future. Have a good cry, rant to friends, watch some Netflixâand then realize the changes you have to make and enforce the changes.Â
Pick classes that youâll enjoy. Donât pick morning classes (if you can help it) if youâre not a morning person. Donât take a Drawing/ Painting class if youâre not an artsy person for your Visual Arts requirementâthereâs classes like Art History or stuff like that.
Go see your adviser from time to time. Just to make sure youâre on track! Work out a 4-year plan. You donât want to have any surprises later down the road!
Be careful with labels. Like âbest friendâ or âfavorite personâ. Sometimes, these can lead people on unintentionally and youâll get yourself in awkward and uncomfortable situations where they like you but you donât like them or something. I learned that itâs just best to call people your âfriendsâ and unless you are really bonded with a person, then call them your best friend. But honestly, if you two are best friends, you kinda just know you are each otherâs best friendâitâs a mutual feeling and it doesnât really need to be said or labeled. I think itâs just best to rid yourself of using labels, honestly. Terms that imply exclusivity can sometimes lead people on. I think you should have a self-check with yourself every month or two and go like, âOkay, where am I at? I really like where I am right now. I could improve on this⊠etc etc. Letâs see the friends Iâm close to⊠Do I think any of them likes me? I donât want to unintentionally lead them on.â Just stuff like that.
Understand your finances for college. Including scholarships, how much youâre paying, how much youâre working (if applicable), etc. Just be on top of all your money stuff!Â
Donât go out and eat out a lot. I ate out a lot during freshman year. Too much. I had no regrets during the moment but now looking back, I just imagine all of the money I couldâve saved if I didnât eat outâŠ. :(Â
Be financially conscious and be mindful of how much you spend. There are plenty of hangouts you and your friends can do that donât require money or that much money. Examples: movie nights, picnics, checking out the campus botanical garden, going sightseeing in the city, etc. Just because it costs money doesnât mean it will always be fun, memorable or worth itâsomething to remind yourself of! In addition, shoot for quality over quantity. Buy a $50 pair of Rainbows sandals that will last for years, instead of flimsy, cheaply made sandals that will break after a couple of uses. Splurge on that North Face jacketâyouâll be wearing it a lot and itâs versatile and will last you years.
Realize how small the world is and how connected everything is. Donât talk shit about people. Seriously. The person youâre complaining about may have a friend who is taking a class with the person youâre telling to. Or the person youâre telling it to may have a friend who has a friend who knows the person. If itâs one thing that keeps coming up in my time here, itâs that everyone seems to know everybody (or is a friend of a friend). So limit your shit-talking, secret-sharing, gossip talk to only your trusted confidants. Seriously, though.
