College requires a lot of decision-making. You have to choose your housing, your meal plan, your classes, your major, your work hours, and basically anything else you can think of. Several of these decisions tend to happen at the same time; you have a week or two at the end of a semester (or over the summer) to plan the next four and a half months out in advance. While a lot of these decisions will heavily depend on what university you’re attending, here’s a general guide to some of the larger decisions you’ll have to make before and during your time in college.
- AP Credits
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Unfortunately, not all AP classes are going to transfer to your university. Colleges typically have a list of what exam scores they accept, and whether they transfer in as blank credits or substitute a specific course. If you have the ability, I highly recommend taking your foreign language AP course and exam; it’s usually the one that can exempt you from the most courses. If you know what field you want to go into, try and take the AP exams for that subject, because most of the time they can get you out of taking the general education equivalent at your university.
- Major Declaration
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First, there is nothing wrong with not knowing what you want to major in. The best way to figure it out is to take courses in a wide range of subjects. Take this time to complete some of your general education requirements. If you can, take as many cross-listed courses as possible so you can explore more fields in a shorter amount of time. If you already know what you want to major in, make that known to the adults around you. Declare your major as soon as possible so you can start working with people in your department. If you have to wait to declare (I wasn’t allowed to my freshman year), make sure you start attending department events and talking to professors to familiarize yourself. This is especially important if you want to double major; you’re going to need to thoroughly plan out your course load to make sure you’re meeting all of your requirements.
Once you’ve found your department, it’s important to diversify the professors you’re taking courses with. It can be tempting to stick to your favorites, and if you can take multiple classes with the same professor it can really help to strengthen your relationship, but most of the professors in your department should be able to recognize you. This might be difficult if you attend a large university, where there can be 50 or more students in a class, but attend office hours for one on one time with your professor. If a professor has an interest or specialization in the career field you want to go into, take their classes. Their letter of recommendation can help you stand out once you start applying for jobs and internships.
- Graduating Early
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If you even think you might want to try and graduate early, talk to your advisor about it. Multiple factors come into play when accelerating your graduation date: AP/IB/Dual Enrollment credits, your desired major, your college’s credit system, and how large of a course load you feel comfortable taking. Most colleges are going to require you to take the maximum amount of credits allowed during a semester or quarter to meet the same credit requirements in a shorter amount of time, but this is specific to your university and your advisor will be able to help you figure it out. If you’re a STEM major (or any major that has a lot of prerequisites and paired courses) you’re probably going to have to plan all of your courses out in advance to make sure you can take all of your classes in the correct order. Admittedly it’s easier for humanities majors to graduate early, as only a handful of classes have prerequisites so there’s more flexibility in scheduling. It can be helpful to take a few summer classes (if possible) to lighten your semester course load, but depending on your program and the number of credits you enter college with it isn’t always necessary.
- Clubs, Internships, and More
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I know everyone says this, but it is really important to get involved on and off-campus. You don’t need to join every club your college offers. Pick at least one club or organization that interests you and get as involved as you can. Join the executive board, because showing time and dedication to one or two clubs, as well as your ability to rise into a leadership position, can be just as valuable as packing your resume with multiple different things.
Internships are a little trickier. A lot of them are unpaid, which makes the handful of paid internships highly competitive. If you can’t get a paid internship and can’t afford a fully unpaid one, my best advice would be to take on a smaller, part-time unpaid internship that still allows you to work another job over the summer. Also, check to see if your school provides any funding for unpaid internships, because sometimes there’s a scholarship or program you can apply to that will fund unpaid or underpaid internships. As important as internships are, don’t discount your other jobs as experience. Any job you have has transferable skills, and if you worked in customer service in any capacity that proves a lot about your work ethic all in itself.
In summary, utilize your college’s resources to the best of your ability. Advisors, counselors, professors, teaching assistants, and tutors, all of them are there to help you succeed.