No matter what school you go to, EVERYONE makes the same mistakes when going to college! Although these four years of our lives are said to be the most exciting, avoiding these mistakes will help you ease through the first year of the rest of your life:
Not Prioritizing Your Time
There are so many activities to get lost in when you get to campus! From morning yoga classes to sorority meetings, you’re bound to find something that you’ll want to consume all your time. However, it’s important to make time for what matters most: your classes, homework, and family. I’m not telling you to not make time for fun activities. However, I definitely suggest keeping a planner to organize your days; so you don’t waste any time! Don’t forget to leave some room for some personal time to do whatever you want, also.
Taking an 8 AM class!
Repeat after me: college is not the same as high school. Whoever tells you “8 AM classes are easy because high school classes were that early” is not your friend! The course load you have in high school doesn’t compare to college. I personally made this mistake during my freshman year. I had suffered from a bad sleeping schedule and felt lost most of the time in class. My only help was stopping for coffee each morning before class! If you do want to take an early morning class, I recommend finding one that interests you and won’t put you to sleep.
Picking the wrong major
Being in college will help put yourself into the perspective of what you truly want to do with your life. Taking certain classes will definitely guide you in that direction, as well. However, the most common mistake I see freshmen make is to declare a major way too early. While I do believe everyone has an idea of what they want to do, they shouldn’t pick anything too specific until their sophomore year after the prerequisites are out of the way. If you do so, you won’t delay your graduation by taking classes you didn’t need. You’ll definitely save yourself from being stuck in classes you don’t want to be in anymore.
Cramming the night before an exam
Likely, your studying habits from high school will not be brought with you to college. Everything is different once you step foot on campus! You can’t expect to study 9 hours the night before an exam and pass. If you want a 4.0 GPA, you’re going to need to work for it! If you know you have an exam in a week, plan out enough time throughout the week to get at least one hour of studying each day! This will help you SO much in the long run. Don’t believe me? Just try it!
College is all about the experiences you have that shape you to be stronger, wiser, and better adults! Although I do say to avoid doing all of these, mistakes are inevitable. Make the best out of it and do better next time!