Dear Freshmen: Things I wish I'd known when I started college
I remember my first semester of college. Everything was new — in every sense of the word. People were giving me advice, telling me how college life would be.
For the past 3 years, I have learned that the majority of the advice given to me was incorrect. Here are some things I wish I knew before I started college.
Attendance matters.
I was told all throughout high school that teachers won’t care if you miss class, they only grade you based on your work. That is definitely not the case. Some classes use absences to deduct points from final grades.
D’s only count towards general education courses.
I learned this the hard way when I got a D+ in a class that was meant to go towards my business minor, but later found out that it wouldn’t count towards my minor requirements unless it was a “C'“ or above.
8 a.m. classes are harder in college.
I was super busy in high school, and was always at school early and left late. I didn’t think that an 8 a.m. class would be that bad in college. Boy, was I wrong.
Some professors are very understanding and will let you turn in assignments late.
I was told that professors would not be understanding at all, and would be these soulless people who wanted me to fail. In reality, almost all of my professors have been understanding and willing to work with me whenever I need it.
Being involved on campus is a really great experience and benefits you later when applying for jobs.
Turning something in is better than nothing.
If you are super stressed about finishing an assignment and decide to not turn it in because it’s not finished, rethink it. A 50% is better than a 0% when it comes to grading.
You have a lot of control over your course schedule.
The earlier you can register, the more control you have.
