You get all your college acceptance letters, great! Now you're deciding which university to attend. Will you commute, stay close to home, but far enough away, or go across the country? Whatever you decide, college is a huge adjustment. You grew up with all of your classmates, made friendships and relationships, walked the graduation stage with them, and then suddenly it seems you're packing up your room and traveling to a whole new world.

College is an amazing experience and here are some truths, cures, and tricks to make your college experience a positive adventure.

1. You will get homesick

You're in a new place surrounded by unfamiliar faces, with unlimited freedom to fill the hours with anything you want. Some ideas for when you're homesick are yoga, Zumba, calling your friends and family from home, a workout, face-masks, exploring around campus, making friends on your floor and then branching out further, joining a club, and spending time with your orientation group. To have the best college experience possible, you should spend as much of your time building connections and creating your ideal experience.

2. Buy a planner

If your University is anything like mine, syllabus week should be called chapter 1-8 week. There are no reminders for upcoming due dates. Your reminder will be a sheet of paper in every class with assignment deadlines. On your first day of classes, your homework is to write all the due dates in a planner. You will thank yourself more than a few times throughout the semester if you do this quick easy step! Also, schedule in activities you like to do in your free time there as well. If you like going to the gym, put that into your schedule and you'll feel accomplished when you cross it out. Add groups and club times to the planner... organization is key in college!

3. Balance work and play

College is a time for finding yourself. Find a balance between partying and doing the work you need to. If you have 5 deadlines Monday but there's a party, start the work in advance. If you have no clue who's throwing on Saturday but you know your friends will ask you to go out and you have no self-control, plan for that in advance. Throughout college, my mindset was to do all the homework I could before Thursday night and make sure I'd still have enough time to do the rest well before Monday morning. If you don't party, play could mean other things you like to do such as Netflix or video games. Balance all of it because you don't want to look back and realize there wasn't more to your college experience aside from working hard.

4. Consider rushing a sorority

I am aware that Greek life is not for everyone but that doesn't mean it's not for you! If you're a first-semester freshman you may want to wait a semester before rushing a sorority, until you're used to a fast-paced college curriculum. Each sorority has their own philanthropy that you get behind, you dedicate a lot of your time volunteering, and in the process, you meet a lot of wonderful women that you get to call your sisters and continue the tradition of an organization. Information meetings are perfect for deciding if a sorority is the right choice for you because you learn about the goals of each organization and meet a lot of sisters during the process. Before choosing a sorority, you should make sure that you feel welcome and like you belong!

5. Finals are closer than they seem

Finals are rarely as bad as the panic that surrounds them. No final is worth living in the library and forgetting to eat (no coffee does not count.) Prepare how you're going to study ahead of time by making study guides, fake tests, reading, then study the material a healthy amount before taking a break to get a snack, go to the gym or do some yoga, then go back to the library and study more. Plan study dates with your class members. Bring a coloring book to relax instead of spending that ten-minute break on twitter. Society has made it seem like spending 16 hours in the library is necessary to do well on your exams, it isn't. Start a week in advance and give yourself an hour a day of studying, towards the end of the week you'll know which topics you need to study more and which you will ace with less than 20 minutes of studying a day.