Looking back as a 26-year-old adult, I wish someone would have told me about these things before it was too late. If you're reading this fresh out of high school, this is the perfect blog for you!
Start at a Technical College
First things first, start at a technical college and transfer over to a four-year university. There is absolutely no shame in going this route; in fact, it's cheaper and it buys you more time in case you are still figuring out what you want to major in. In my experience, four-year universities are nearly double the cost of tech schools per year!
Just make sure that your credits are transferable and you're good to go!
Never Go To The Campus Bookstore
I hate to say it, but these bookstores are rip-offs. For starters, they charge you nearly $400 to $500 for a book that you're only going to use for one semester. Furthermore, if you participate in the book buyback, which means you try to sell your book back to the bookstore once you're finished with the book, you only get a measly $5 to $10 for a book you spent half a grand on! That literally makes no sense at all to me; perhaps it has something to do with the edition of the book changing.
So how do you avoid these expensive and unreasonable prices?
You simply purchase or rent your books from Amazon or eBay.
I guarantee that the prices you see online will be much better compared to buying them from the campus bookstore. Unfortunately, I didn't know this at first and it took me until about my sophomore year of college to figure this out; I would probably cry if I was able to calculate how much money I could have saved.
Make Great Friends
This is extremely important.
College can get very stressful and it's nice to have friends you can rely on or even better - friends you can study with. Sometimes students are thrilled by how little professors will chase behind them; college is more of an independent experience. You will not have any professors begging you to do your work or begging you to show up to class; they treat you like adults.
They do not inform your parents if you miss class or if you are doing poorly in class.
It is up to you to make sure you pay attention and take good notes; if you don't understand something, it is up to you to communicate with the professor. Please do not get me wrong, if you communicate with your professor and you put forth the effort, they will help you. If you show them that you care, they will care as well and put forth their best effort to make sure you get the help that you need.
This is also why it is important to not only be focused but to have a group of friends that are also focused. If push comes to shove, they can reel you back in and keep you encouraged.
Communicate With Your Professors
If you speak to your professors, this will get you a long way. It may sound crazy, but something as simple as saying "hello" and/or checking in will show that you care to form relationships; this will put you on their good side.
And people tend to look out for those that are on their good side.
Let's say by some odd chance, you don't have any friends in a particular class and you're sick one day, the professors will be more willing to send you a copy of the notes themselves or even stay outside of office hours to make sure you are caught up. The more people you have on your side the merrier. I promise forming good, reliable, and healthy relationships will come in handy.
Also, do not be afraid to ask for help or ask questions.
The professors are getting paid to do this regardless, so ask any questions you may have. I struggled with asking for help for a while and was a little shy in college, but as soon as my grades suffered a bit, I started speaking up more.
That's all I have on this topic for now. Leave any comments or questions below! 'Til Next Time!