Five Tips for Success in College from One Freshman to Another
By
Liam Garfield
Imagine you’re a college student at orientation or, perhaps, you are already a college student who has just completed student orientation. Countless thoughts swirl through your head as countless unfamiliar faces, places, and questions are thrust in front of you. While you try to force a smile and act confident, your mind swirls with doubt. You have little to no idea if you are making the right choices for yourself in this new stage of your life. Once you begin your new classes, you feel lost once more as you wonder how to succeed in this unfamiliar environment. Your head throbs, and before you know it your professors are announcing upcoming tests and you have no idea how to prepare for them. In this article, I, a college freshman who just traversed these waters not very long ago, hope to provide, an incoming freshman with a few things I found helpful in my first semester at MTSU.
1. The first piece of advice I have to offer is to be confident in yourself and don’t overthink things. This can apply to decisions such as choosing a major, picking classes or preparing for your first exam. Naturally, the more you study and prepare for the exam, the better you perform. It is important not to become arrogant and hold oneself in too high esteem. Professor Roy Baumeister found that students that think too highly of themselves do not necessarily make the highest grades and are often “narcissistic, conceited, arrogant and egotistical”[1]. Instead, he advises students to develop self-efficacy or academic confidence, as can be found in the article which features Professor Baumeister’s findings covering confidence and academic performance. No one is born with this trait; rather, self-efficacy and academic confidence develops from your surroundings and experiences, as this trait is not one people are born with, rather one develops around on your surroundings and past performances. Creating a positive learning environment around yourself will lead to an academic snowball in your life that will lead you to remarkable success.
2. The second tip I have is to use the many resources provided by the college. Colleges and universities provide their students with a vast array of resources including: free tutoring, computer labs, to psychiatric counseling and gymnasiums. Professors can also aid students. Use your professors to your advantage by visiting them during their office hours and emailing them questions. When you visit them at the office, be sure to come prepared. Script a few questions to ask and have specific parts of problems and questions you want to ask to ensure you get the best answer and learn the material. They want you to succeed, so ask! Many times, you will find a dull, uninspiring professor to be much more receptive and eager to help once you visit them outside of the classroom. Other academics resources that you should consider utilizing are study labs, computer labs and the library. These places all provide, a quiet setting where you can concentrate, and have a bountiful amount of computers for all your research needs. You will need to find the best place for you to study and work efficiently as soon as possible. One thing I personally have noticed is that college is very stressful at times, and you will need a break once you get most of your work done. Fortunately, campuses provide excellent opportunities to relieve stress and relax, including a nice swim at the rec after a test or a thrilling football game on Saturdays. Should the stress level become dangerous to your health, most colleges provide free psychiatric counseling and help.
3. The next tip to have a plan. Set goals for all that you do, and always have some sort of vague plan on how to accomplish them. Your end goal is graduate with high grades, but you will need lots of smaller goals to help along the way. Make small, but helpful daily plans for how the day should go. What is your agenda for the day? How much of your homework do you want to complete that day? Will you have enough time between your classes to eat, exercise, get some work done or meet with a friend? Constantly be planning your next move, like a Garry Kasparov of the classroom. Plenty of people will recommend planners, and while planners are great for most I find them difficult to find/keep up with since I am not a naturally organized person. But I do my best even if it means scribbling a vague outline of the rest of the day in my math notes or making a mental checklist for the day. I have found that the more organized I am, the faster I complete work and worry less about forgetting things or being late. Please, try to set some daily goals and plans.
4. Once you have a set location to complete your work and have a goal in mind, you need to sit down and focus on your studies, especially as a freshman since you need to lay the groundwork for the rest of your time at the university. There are countless articles on the best study tips, as well as upperclassmen with advice to give. Personally, how you study should be up to you and no one method is the ultimate, infallible way to get an A, but I have a few tips that I have found to be the most helpful. Number one is to do any many practice problems as you can. Once it’s test time, your instructor will hopefully give out a study guide for the class to prepare with. Redo these until you achieve a 100% without the book. Take notes even if you don’t use them often since the act of writing key information down will help you remember it. Also, be sure to take notes on key terms and models and not waste time with unnecessary fluff professors may include in the lecture. While you should always strive to do your best, find ways to work smarter and not harder. Youi will quickly find which classes are easier and which are harder. Strive for extra high grades in the easier classes early to “build a lead” early on. As the semester draws on, put less time into the classes you where you have higher grades and allocate that time for your harder courses. Don’t completely ignore the easier classes, but know where your time is best spent. While I follow these habits in my studies and they have helped me to do in my first year in college, do not solely rely on what I have written here. Go out and find what works for you. Find useful videos for better students than myself, articles written by professionals and ask others for help too. Find what works for you, and develop it into a potent tool for As.
5. Finally, be yourself. Will this certainly sounds like a sappy cache from a children’s show it will help you immensely. Find what study techniques suit you, where you like to study and your own downtime activities. Don’t pretend to be a jock or nerd if you are not, you’ll hurt your confidence. Listen to your favorite music . While some situations may unfold where it would be ill-advised to voice your actual opinions, you will find a time and place where you can voice your thoughts freely. As a college student, your experience is now in your own hands, so make the most of it.
[1] Briggs, Sara “Why Self-Esteem Hurts Learning But Self-Confidence Does The Opposite”Imformed.com, 07/05/14, https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/self-efficacy-and-learning/
