Dear Incoming College Freshmen,

Congratulations! You survived high school. You’re ready to move on with your life and take that next step toward adulthood…heading off to college. Your tuition payment’s been mailed, your bags are packed, and textbooks have been ordered. You’re ready to go.

But before you go, there are some things you should know about college. Usually you wouldn’t find out these things until you actually arrived on campus. But since I remember how exciting and scary it is to start college, and since I’m the first child in the family to go to college, I would’ve really appreciated a heads up on what to expect. Now that I’m entering my junior year, I can say with certainty that my freshman year experiences made me a stronger, more confident person.

Here are some tips on what to expect when you arrive at college.

First off, college is nothing like the movies. It’s not one huge, never-ending party. There are parties on campus, but they’re not up to the level of “Animal House” or “Neighbors.” Most “parties” consist of watching movies, eating food, and just chilling. College students are stereotyped as being partiers and drinkers, but most college students aren’t like that. If you’re not a partier, don’t sweat it. There are plenty of people on campus who share your interests. You don’t have to get wasted to have fun.

Second, college is hard. No really. It’s hard. In high school, you had seven or eight classes a day, bells to signal the beginning and end of classes, homework that was due the next day, and you went over all the material in class. In college, you’re responsible for learning all the material on your time. The professors do cover a lot of material in their lectures, but they don’t have time to cover everything. So it’s really important that you keep up with the material so that you already understand the lecture when you come to class. And spoiler alert: professors will put concepts they haven’t covered in class on the tests. So, don’t let your textbooks gather dust in your desk.

Thirdly, you have a lot more free time in college. You don’t have as many classes a day, and you may not have class every day of the week. It’s easy to get distracted having fun and not spend as much time as you need to on your schoolwork. I encountered this problem when I first started college. What helps me stay focused is I make a to do list every day. I write down all my homework assignments, appointments, meetings, and other things I have to do that day. I also enter due dates, meetings, and appointments into my phone calendar and set alarms. This has been a life saver in helping me remember all my commitments, and being on time to those commitments. If you have a smart phone, take advantage of it! It’ll hopefully save you a lot of stress and unnecessary hair pulling.

And last, but certainly not least…have fun! Most of your college experience will happen outside the classroom. And if you live on campus, your college will be your home for most of the year. Take advantage of all your school has to offer. Join clubs. Talk to people who share your interests. Get a job on campus. Try something you’ve never done before. There’s no shortage of opportunities to get involved. It’s normal to feel excited and scared at the same time when you go to college. And it may sound cliché, but it’s true: your college years will fly by. So make the most of them. Get out there and make some memories!

Best regards,

Sarah