Tips to get ready for College

1. Whether you are going to the hometown college or heading across the country, college is a time of change. If you are leaving home for the first time, it is especially different, with your parents not around to take care of things for you and give you advice, and no set of house rules to follow. But no matter who you are, college is a major life transition. You are leaving the familiar and broaching the unfamiliar. You are being exposed to many di .....

Maintain your support system

2. Who are you closest to? Maintain those ties and do not be afraid to lean on your support system when you need to. The first semester or year of college can be overwhelming in good and bad ways, and you may sometimes need people outside of your college friends and classmates to talk to. Even if you are eager to be on your own, stay in touch with the people in your life who have your best interests at heart and are there for you when you need suppo .....

Learn to manage your time well

3. Poor time management will be your worst enemy in college. Start off on the right foot by getting a handle on your schedule, buying a planner, and USING that planner. Don .....

Know that you may need help from time to time

4. The transition to college may be more difficult than you expect. Before the first day even begins, scope out the services that can help you through .....

Teach yourself life skills you

5. On your own for the first time? If you have never been a morning person, now is the time to practice getting up early. If you are bad at budgeting, laundry, or cooking, do not wait until adulthood to learn. Do not let lifes to-dos sneak up on you and cause you stress. And remember that its important to take care of yourself at college. Strive for balance in all that you do .....

Be open

6. College is a place where you will meet and interact with many new people from all walks of life and form lifelong friendships. It might surprise you who you develop strong connections with. Be willing to get to know all types of people .....

The Laundry Is Piling Up

7. Mom is not coming to collect your dirty clothes, so unless you want to smell like a skunk in a trunk, you will have to learn how to operate a washer and dryer. Follow the directions on the laundry soap containers and never overload the machines. In addition, be sure to wait out your laundry cycles keeping an eye on your clothes or your wardrobe may disappear from the dryer and end up on eBay. Pros: You will have fresh socks each week that match .....

Take a Small Canister Vacuum

8. By the end of week one in your new dorm room, you will have figured out that the maid is not coming. You and your roommate will be responsible to keep the bedroom and bathroom floors clean with a small canister vacuum or carpet sweeper. Remember to vacuum the entire floor and not stop on the imaginary line between the two beds. You might have to bunk in with a Peter Pan, so be sure to take the initiative with responsibility and be the first one t .....

Stay on a Budget

9. College living can be a nightmare if you run out of money before the end of each month. Stay prepared by rounding up all of your financial resources, such as student aid for living expenses, parental money gifts, and paychecks from a part-time job. The next step is to tally up your monthly expenses, from car payments to eating three meals per day. Spend less and get more when you make your main meal ticket the grocery store, stocking up on staple .....

Building Social Skills

10. Theres more to college life than just cracking the books. Living away from home for the first time is like a social experiment on how to get along with others. Starting with your roommate, you will have to learn the fine art of give and take that will produce life-long skills in the social arena. Remember to treat your roommate with the utmost respect, and never let a petty squabble get out of hand. Once you have been assigned a roommate, it is e .....

Keep Your Love Interest Options Opened

11. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but thats only if you take your direction from Saturday morning cartoons. In the real world, moving away and taking flight is a giant step forward towards bigger and better things. You will find your old high school relationships strangely fading away as you branch out into your new social circle with like-minded people in your field. .....

Research various schools

12. Sometimes a school you have never even heard of may be the perfect fit for your educational needs. For example, a popular school may not have that highly-ranked science program youre looking for, so be sure to research everything, both local and non-local.Take things into consideration such as classroom size. Some students can do well in large-sized classrooms, while others tend to perform better when the classroom consists of fewer students and .....

Submit your and apply for scholarships

13. Do not ever let money hinder your chances at a solid education. Log onto fafsa.ed.gov to complete your free application for financial aid. This free site, along with the college you will be attending, will determine how much money is available to you.Money is something that you have very little of in college, said Antonio Spellman, a Sociology major with a minor in Africana Studies at San Diego State University. To meet the high demands of books .....

Request letters of recommendation and transcripts

14. Most universities will require the applicant to provide letters of recommendation from high school faculty. Be sure to request and acquire these letters well before your application deadline. You want to give the person who is writing the letter enough time to ensure that ample thought and detail is involved. The person is more likely to provide you with a thoughtful letter when he or she is not being rushed.Try giving teachers and counselors a t .....

Schedule a meeting with your high school counselor

15. Your counselor provides you with free assistance to help guide you toward making the best choices for your future. He or she can also help to provide you with application fee waivers to the colleges you wish to apply to if you qualify for them. Remember that your counselor is not there to make decisions for you, but is simply used as a tool to help you, help yourself. A counselor is such a valuable resource, said Goldberg.Whether you want to set- .....

Contact schools and college

16. Try not to base your decisions on the college descriptions from the website or photographs, especially if the school is local. If you are able to, visit the school. You can usually schedule for a tour guide to show you around, so you can view the campus first-hand. It is very important to go to the campus, said Goldberg. Check out its surroundings and environment because you will be spending a lot of time there. Its like picking out a home for th .....

Know your deadlines

17. Once you have determined which schools you wish to apply to, you must know your deadlines. Universities are getting much stricter with deadlines because they are so impacted right now, said Goldberg. Fewer students are being admitted due to budget cuts and schools will discontinue looking at your application if you are not meeting the required deadlines. Schools are likely to get in contact with you through e-mail, so many sure to check yours to .....

Study for your exams

18. Depending on the university, different exams will be required for entry. Visit your local library for books to help you to prepare for these tests or find free online study tools, according to the exam. These will be some of the most important exams you will have to take because they will determine your academic placement. High school prepares you for these important exams, said Alvarez. Study as much as possible because the higher your score, th .....

Be organized

19. This is especially important if you are applying to multiple schools because different schools have different requirements. For example, while one school may require two letters of recommendation, another school may require three. Being in college, you find that everything is fast-paced and you end up multi-tasking and taking on more than your fair share of responsibilities, said Spellman. I find that being organized helps with time management, m .....

Save your money

20. As much as we all love for grants and scholarships to completely pay our way through college, its unlikely. Therefore, somethings going to have to come out of that pocket. If you are still in high school, try thinking about a part-time job for the weekend or working summers. It is important to have a budget and to keep it in mind, said Goldberg. Keep track of your finances and if you have a part-time job, factor that in as well. Open up a savings .....

Do not let rejection hold you back

21. After 13 years of school, you should be able to go to the school of your choice. However, Harvard and Yale don .....

Stay away from home overnight

22. Maybe its a sleepover with a friend, maybe its a week-long summer camp. Just give yourself the experience of sleeping away from home so that its not such a shock when you are sleeping in your own apartment for the first time. .....

Do your own laundry

23. Maybe your mom or dad or a hired home helper has done this for you before now. Guess what Its your turn!! Take over responsibility for washing your own laundry at least a few times before you move away to prepare you for this aspect of living on your own. .....

Take charge of some chores at home

24. Again, maybe mom or dad or a paid assistant has done all of this before now, but it .....

Join the family fun in the kitchen

25. You do not know it yet, but you are going to miss that home-cooked food when you are living on your own at college. Join your family chef in the kitchen and get some practice using kitchen appliances and maybe even making note of your favorite recipes to learn and share with your new friends at CLE. .....

Think about what you will do with your free time

26. One of the biggest transitions for a new college student can be figuring out how to use their free time. In high school, you were in school for 7 or 8 hours of your day, but in college, you may only have two hours of class on two or three days a week, plus your CLE sessions. Explore your hobbies, start an exercise routine, make plans to talk to family and friends on the phone. As an independent adult, you will get a lot more say as to how you wil .....

Try waking up on your own

27. If you are like a lot of young adults, you have a hard time waking up in the morning. Try a week in the summer where you plan some things in the morning that you like to do (go to a book store, schedule an online interaction, ride the bus to a favorite coffee shop). Ask your parents NOT to help you wake up that week, and set your own alarm clock. If you wake up on your own, reward yourself with your planned activity. If you oversleep, then skip t .....

Practice managing your spending money responsibly

28. Set a fun money budget with your parents. Maybe this comes in the form of a weekly allowance. You will find that if you keep track of your purchases by writing them down, you can make your money last longer. If there are things that you want to do or buy (eating out, getting a new video game, going to the movies, etc.), then it has to come out of your allotted budget. If you don .....

Start taking responsibility for own medications

29. If you take medications, now is the time to start managing this on your own. Practice ordering your medication refills and taking them on your own daily. Mom and dad will not be there to remind you when you are in your own apartment! What tools do you have that can help you remember independently? Setting an alarm in your phone or IPad? Keeping your med box next to your toothbrush so you remember your pills each morning? Find the strategy that wo .....

Help with the family grocery shopping trip

30. If you have never been part of this process, it can be overwhelming the first time! Sit down and help make a list of what your family needs for the week, go to the store and find everything you will need, ask store employees for help if theres something you can not ind, and complete the check-out process on your own. Special Note: If you are coming to CLE Austin, buy some reusable grocery bags-city law now requires use of reusable bags, or else s .....

Educate yourself about how your learning differences affect you

31. This is especially important now because as an adult college student, you are the one who is responsible for advocating for yourself, talking to professors about what you need, and making sure you get the accommodations that you are deemed eligible for. Also, your differences are what make you uniquely YOU! Maybe you have a harder time staying focused and getting homework done, but you may also be the most creative person on your block who can co .....