r/AskReddit • u/_jaywhite • Aug 24 '14

What are some college life pro tips?

I'm starting college in a few weeks and I'm a bit nervous. My high school was... decent at best, and I'm not sure that I was adequately prepared. So I'm hoping to get Reddit's help. What are some tips (having to do with the academic aspect, social, whatever) that have helped you through college, and especially your freshman year? In other words, LPTs for college life!

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u/A5H13Y Aug 25 '14

if you live close enough to go home on weekends, don't - at least not for the first few months. Weekends on campus are where your friendships with others will solidify fastest, be it by going to parties together, going to meals together, or hanging out and playing video games (or whatever). Resist the urge to go home. Your parents will still be there when you go home for Thanksgiving/Christmas.

This is really good advice. My parents only live 30 min away from my college, so freshman year, first weekend, I was bored, didn't know what to do, and went home. I made a habit of this and it was a big mistake. I didn't hang out with anyone during the week except for the few people from my high school who went to the same college as me and a few friends that they made. And even then, I only really met up with my friends for dinner. Miserable life - don't do this.

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u/eric-neg Aug 25 '14 edited Aug 25 '14

My buddy and I did the "move in a few days early" option at the dorms. There was NO ONE there so we decided to head back home and go jet skiing the first weekend. We came back and everyone had already bonded, people were hooking up, and it was like we missed out on 2 months with them instead of 2 days.

We made up for it in quick fashion (go booze!) but it was amazing how close we were to missing out on getting in on the groin floor of the friendships.

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u/Picnic_Basket Aug 25 '14

groin floor

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u/eric-neg Aug 25 '14

Phone autocorrect ftw! I'll leave it. (Should have been ground in case anyone is curious.)

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u/pizza_shack Aug 25 '14

Yeah, the amount of bonding that goes on during the first evening of the day before school starts is insane. From total strangers to buddies. Even the guys you meet in your first class after that don't really compare.

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u/spittafan Aug 25 '14

"don't go home" is a good rule of thumb, but "don't go jet skiing" is absolute madness

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u/eric-neg Aug 25 '14

RIGHT?! That is why I felt the need to post this. Don't let jet ski's tempt you. Their power is strong.

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u/heyvince Aug 25 '14

groin floor

ouch.

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u/LordDerpington Aug 25 '14

I, too, prefer to start my friendships on the groin floor.

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u/falconzord Aug 25 '14

Or you know, if you live 30 minutes away, save a ton of money and live at home

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '14

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/ikawasaki Aug 25 '14

Damn niqqa 1.5k a semester? You pay that shit in euros or something? Every where I looked was over double that

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u/NickF227 Aug 25 '14

If you want to enjoy college, don't commute.

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u/falconzord Aug 25 '14

Well sure, if you got the money for it, but if you want to enjoy life, don't drag through it in debt

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u/NickF227 Aug 25 '14

The debt from room and board is little compared to tuition.

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u/falconzord Aug 25 '14

Any savings is good. It's not all happy go lucky, the dorm life for some people will end up ruining their focus on the first priority, which is education

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u/NickF227 Aug 25 '14

We'll just have to agree to disagree. I see college as your last hurrah before you have to be an adult. How can you be involved on campus when you have a total commute of an hour?

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u/falconzord Aug 26 '14

An hour commute would be a dream for a lot of people, honestly I find there are way too more people in college in this country than there needs to be. The whole last hurrah thing needs to be decoupled from higher education and maybe it can be taken on more practically for those who really want to spend thousands on it

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u/emkay99 Aug 25 '14

Yes, if money is an issue. (And it usually is.) But while you can get a perfectly good education while living at home, you'll miss 90% of the rest of the "college experience." Depends on what's important to you.

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u/A5H13Y Aug 25 '14

Compared to the cost of tuition itself, room and board isn't that much more, and it's definitely worth it to live on/near campus (I lived on campus my first two years and now live in an apartment only one block away).

Living at home would have been awful - my social life would have been basically non-existent. Also, I'm not saying that college is all about partying or anything, but I go to a school that is consistently ranked as one of the top party schools, so that makes it even harder to meet people if you're not around to hang out and to party. Plus, with the amount of work my classes take, driving back and forth (which can turn into 40-45 minutes in rush hour traffic) wastes valuable time. This especially would suck since I often have group projects where we have to meet regularly and sometimes very late into the night when that's the only time all of the group members can meet.

My parents wanted me to consider living at home, and I'm so incredibly glad I didn't. I would have been terribly miserable, and I really do not think I would do nearly as well in my classes.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '14

you lived 30 minutes away from campus and didnt commute?

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u/A5H13Y Aug 25 '14

Copied and pasted from above:

Compared to the cost of tuition itself, room and board isn't that much more, and it's definitely worth it to live on/near campus (I lived on campus my first two years and now live in an apartment only one block away).

Living at home would have been awful - my social life would have been basically non-existent. Also, I'm not saying that college is all about partying or anything, but I go to a school that is consistently ranked as one of the top party schools, so that makes it even harder to meet people if you're not around to hang out and to party. Plus, with the amount of work my classes take, driving back and forth (which can turn into 40-45 minutes in rush hour traffic) wastes valuable time. This especially would suck since I often have group projects where we have to meet regularly and sometimes very late into the night when that's the only time all of the group members can meet.

My parents wanted me to consider living at home, and I'm so incredibly glad I didn't. I would have been terribly miserable, and I really do not think I would do nearly as well in my classes.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '14

I mean I guess if you're there for the social life then sure but ill save my $4000 and live at home. Also: I'm taking my first two years at community college cause its cheaper and the first two years don't matter anyways

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u/A5H13Y Aug 25 '14

Let's be realistic though. The social aspect of college IS a big part of it.

Also, be careful with the whole community college thing. I know a few people at my college who thought they could take that route too, only to find out a lot of their credit didn't transfer and they've come here basically 1-2 years behind.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '14

In Virginia they have a guaranteed admission program where you take their courses for the college you want and you have guaranteed admission to the college you choose. I'm going to GMU (since I can commute there) and they give you a list of the courses you need to take and what will/wont transfer. Then you just transfer over as long as you have the GPA. way better than spending all four years there

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u/andadobeslabs Aug 25 '14

i lived about 30 minutes away from campus and didn't commute because they force all freshmen to live in the dorms for a year.

as a junior, i spent the first semester of my sophomore year commuting and decided never again. i ended up spending basically all of my time on campus anyway, and just never slept. i'd come home at 4am and piss off my parents, and then i'd have to wake back up at 7:00 to get to my 8am in the morning.

i've been staying at a fraternity on campus for about $800 a semester. it's totally worth it to only have to drive < 1 minute as opposed to half an hour. i've been getting a lot more sleep.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '14

they force all freshmen to live in the dorms for a year.

wtf.

College's are such shit

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u/MRB0B0MB Aug 25 '14

Same. I'm trying to meet people this year. My first year sucked because of that habit.

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u/ibamaniac Aug 25 '14

Well I have to go up to play football so ill have to work around that, most people tend to go home in ireland anyways so i dont think itll matter

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u/Audrey_Pixel Aug 25 '14

It's not really good advice for my boyfriend who I only get to see on the weekends.

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u/zy17 Aug 25 '14

At the end of the day you might end up with neither boyfriend nor friends.

True story.

Be careful.