Blog Advice to students entering their first semester in college

So I'm pretty much done and dusted with my first semester and am sitting at roughly a 3.0 out of 4 GPA wise. I write this thread not for pity but because I've never had someone older than me be able to give me tips for this new chapter in my life and it angers me sometimes because I'm making mistakes that I can't fully rectify so here goes; some advice for future first semester college students so you never have to make the same mistakes as me

To give you an idea of where I stand: I'm behind on pre-requisites (class you MUST have to get into a certain major) to get into my University's business school and more so, my first semester GPA pales in comparison to the Business school's median of 3.50. I have 1 more semester to raise my GPA to give myself a competitive shot at applying.

Tip 1 - Classes to take
If you know what you want to be/what your major is, talk to an academic advisor early on and figure out what classes you HAVE to take to to be on course. Then take those and surround them by GPA boosters (classes that are easy As). I know college is supposed to be about exploring material you're "interested" in but I did that, didn't get As in them and now my GPA is tanking. As nice as it is, graduate schools are more interested in your GPA so do what you can to buff it up. That said, take easy classes but make sure they have some real world/modern relevance.

Tip 2 - Go to class
Seriously, if you need a day off...Suck it up. I missed a bunch of classes this semester because I needed to recoup from a tough week and the thing is, teacher's don't care (at least not at my university). Find ways to build relaxing moments in a day and use that time effectively. Don't be like me and take a whole day off (repeatedly) because it only hurts you in the long run.

Tip 3 - Be the professor's pet
Like seriously, professor's have the power over you here so sit at the front, answer a ton of questions, ask good questions (even if you know the answers already), go to office hours, talk to them routinely, pay full attention in their lectures and so on. It works wonders for your grades and some teachers will even bump your grade up a bit cause they've enjoyed you as as a student. In a perfect world, this kinda sucking up won't be necessary but a lot of teachers will short change you in grades for "class participation" and so on if you don't so save yourself here.

Tip 4 - Be organized
Planners, wall calendars, whiteboard, blackboard, pink board, forum board... bottom line: Organize yourself whatever it takes. I can't tell you how disgusted I feel knowing that missing a couple assignments due to sheer forgetfulness actually is lowering my grade with a really bad cumulative effect. Even in some classes where I know the material well but forgot to due a redundant assignment, it still hurt me. So DO you work and DO be organized.

Tip 5 - Get help if you need it.
You're smarter if you ask other students, professors, teaching assistants, tutors and so on for help even if it's a stupid question. Be the person that asks a thousand stupid questions and then doesn't get them wrong on tests. Even if you have to ask the equivalent of 1+1 for your subject, ask it and THEN ask why it equals 2 so you never forget it. It helps in life.


I'll be honest. I've been so stressed due to first semester of college (I've even been less online here) but in the end, I made a ton of mistakes. No matter what, you can still learn from them and you should so you don't repeat them. I urge you all to see if you can learn from mine. If you'd like to share your experiences, feel free to do so below!

some of what I wrote might sound a bit extreme and may vary based on how your personality is/where you're studying and what you're studying. My advice that I'm offering is based off my experience so just keep that in mind haha