Coming into college I had no idea what to expect at all. I was very nervous as to what classes would be like and how each class would operate. I found a couple of ways that will help you be more prepared coming into your first college class. The first thing to do is to lose all your expectations. College professors are nothing like high school teachers! They are there to help you and want you to succeed, do not be scared of them.
Another thing is that your college classes will probably be a lot bigger than in high school, and will have a big age range of students. It can be easy to get lost in a big lecture or distracted. If you find that you are getting distracted easily try to sit close to the professor so you can pay attention. Also, professors have office hours where you can go in and discuss the material that you don't fully understand. There are also a lot of smaller classes on campus if you feel that a large lecture is too hard for you to focus. You can try to get into all the smaller classes first to get adjusted to college classes.
Finally, your classes may have a much heavier workload than you have experienced before. Remember that time management is extremely important if you want to succeed in classes that have a lot of homework or readings. You will need to find a way to space out time for school work, but always remember to include time to just relax and socialize. It is important to have a good balance otherwise you will get overly stressed and burnt out quickly if you don't give yourself a break from only doing schoolwork. Your grades are important, but so is your mental health.
