In my continuing series on basic college study tips, I’ve decided to concentrate today on college freshman and the classic mistakes they make in their first semester of college. I have gotten quite a few stories from students who got straight A’s in high school and in their first semester end up with C’s and B’s (they are actually my best customers in my tutoring program). Now I feel for you freshman as it is a hard time to adjust to a new chapter of your life. Therefore, please take these points into consideration when you start your first semester and review them if you feel you’re starting to fall behind.
1: Yes Socializing is fun but don’t do it everyday:
Take one day off a week to simply study. For college freshman I would suggest Wednesday as it doesn’t add to the depression of Monday but also isn’t Thursday or Friday. On your schedule whiteboard just lock that down as your study day.
2: Get a semester whiteboard:
EVERY truly successful college student I have interviewed for my book and online college tutoring system has had a semester whiteboard. It is so incredibly important for college freshman to set up a good schedule at the beginning of their semester as it gives them an overall map of what assignments they need to do and when. Do NOT be an idiot and think that you can keep your assignments straight in your personal daily planner or worse yet your head.
You won’t remember this stuff; you will need a whiteboard planner, just trust me on this one.
3: Be a college freshman not a college drunkard:
Although drinking is not necessarily a study tip, not drinking to excess will really help your college career. Remember one drink an hour, if you can’t get up from your chair, have taken off various pieces of clothing, made out with a weird man/woman, started telling random friends that you love them, or have felt like, alluded to, suggested, discussed or have actually puked… you’ve drank way too much. Slow down, booze keeps! Not only will this help your academic standing as you won’t be hung over half the time, this will also stop you from burning off valuable brain cells and you’ll be able to hold off on that expensive liver transplant.
4: Embrace the opposite sex only if it doesn’t impact your college success:
College freshman do this all the time. They fall madly in love and throw caution to the wind as they sacrifice everything for what they feel is their new soul mate. Let me give you a reality check, you are 18 years old and the chances of you marrying this person is below 10%, secondly if you do marry this person the chances of the marriage surviving for longer than 5 years is below 20%. DO NOT sacrifice your college career for this person.
I know those tips seem to be somewhat random but they are the most popular mistakes I see college freshman making. If you’d like to add a point please do so in the comments.
Also if you’d like a free chapter of my book, please just go to my study skills page and you can get a free copy, the chapter has a guaranteed technique for any college freshman to get an A on any paper.
