Advice for a College Freshman (1 Viewer)

[Abraham]

This is a great one I wish I did...Invest in an acoustic guitar right now, and just learn how to play one recognizable song.Prop up guitar in room in viewable area. Inevitably a girl will ask if you play...sluff it off as nothing and just randomly bust out that one song and put guitar back in its resting spot when done.Reap rewards soon after.

When I was in school (already been playing guitar for years) I had 3 moves sure to get me laid. 1. Play anything off No 2 Live Dinner by REK2. Play ants marching by dmb. 3. Pop in the VHS tape of my band playing at CBGBs in NYC. :( . I miss college.

 

[Tony Jabroni]

1.Make an 8ft bong

2.Buy condoms

3.Stock up on Busch Light

 

[[icon]]

Don't skip classDo homework in library immediately afterThen go exercise Don't schedule Friday classes or anything before 11 amDon't staudy a lot in a short period of time, study a little bit throughout the semester

Wait... so no friday classes (most classes are MWF or TR)... nothing before 11, but then be sure to go to the library..then the gym after those classes? Sooo...home around 8pm every night? #### that. And Don't skip classes?....

 

[Good Posting Judge]

This is a great one I wish I did...Invest in an acoustic guitar right now, and just learn how to play one recognizable song.Prop up guitar in room in viewable area. Inevitably a girl will ask if you play...sluff it off as nothing and just randomly bust out that one song and put guitar back in its resting spot when done.Reap rewards soon after.

:animalhouse:

 

[kutta]

Study something you love. It's not worth the time and expense going to college so you can get a job in a field you don't really like. If you like music, then study that. If you like art, then study that. If it's engineering, great. But just do something that you really want to do. You don't get this opportunity often in your life, so make the most of it and learn about something that you love.

Learn to tend bar. I worked as a bartender throughout college, and it was amazing for my social life. I knew pretty much everyone at my school (went to a college with 1300 students), and was able to drink for free on my off nights. Of course you have to be 21 to do this, but I started college a little late so it was good for me. If you can't tend bar, at least try to wait tables at a cool place.

The friends you make in college are different from your other friends. This is really the first time you will meet people with whom you really have a common bond. There is nothing at all like spending all night in the computer lab working on a final project with a few friends. It sucks at the time, but 20 years later you will still remember those times. And those friends will be lifelong friends.

Most importantly, have fun, enjoy the ride, and no matter what, don't quit. You will regret it your whole life.

 

[Fensalk]

1. They are going to have a cure for aging in 20 years.

2. Computers will be vastly more intelligent than humans in 15 years.

These two facts mean:

1. You will probably be alive for thousands of years, maybe millions of years.

2. You will be useless compared to computers.

You might as well just party. All that studying won't even matter because in 15 years, they will probably be able to upload a complete college education directly into your brain in seconds. I think a great case can be made to not bother going to college at all.

You picked the wrong time to be born to try to make it going to college.

 

[[icon]]

Learn to tend bar. I worked as a bartender throughout college, and it was amazing for my social life. I knew pretty much everyone at my school (went to a college with 1300 students), and was able to drink for free on my off nights. Of course you have to be 21 to do this, but I started college a little late so it was good for me. If you can't tend bar, at least try to wait tables at a cool place.

I tended bar a a main bar on the strip in Knoxville (big school) and not only was it great cash, but socially it's tough to beat. Slung beers to the like of Peyton manning, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry, Albert Haynesworth, Leonard Little, etc. Good times. Loads of ladies, solid cash, and you get to know everyone on campus. Can't be beat.

 

[Tuco]

1.Make an 8ft bong

A gravity bong will make it last longer than anything else will.Use a spoof tube in the dorms.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

Do some legwork to find out which classes and professors are the easiest. You're going to want a high GPA, so take classes from the easiest graders.

 

[MAC_32]

Don't skip classDo homework in library immediately afterThen go exercise Don't schedule Friday classes or anything before 11 amDon't staudy a lot in a short period of time, study a little bit throughout the semester

Wait... so no friday classes (most classes are MWF or TR)... nothing before 11, but then be sure to go to the library..then the gym after those classes? Sooo...home around 8pm every night? #### that. And Don't skip classes?....

MW and TR classes, occasionally I ran into MWF classes but I made sure the weren't too early. Early classes = skip. Homework and workout done before the real fun begins at night. > 3.5 GPA while still enjoying college. When you have that unseasonably nice day in March it's a lot easier to cut that day when you haven't skipped all winter.

 

[Judge Smails]

I will have 3 in college at the same time next fall. Just moved older daughter (going to be a junior at UCSB)out of her apartment today while buying a Mac for my youngest daughter who starts up there in the fall. So seeing how close the frat houses in Isla Vista were to the dorms I gave my oldest daughter the walk of shame speech before moving her in. Youngest daughter, HS sophomore, wisecracks "well look at the bright side Jen, at least when you do the walk of shame it will be short". Nightmare.

All about balance. School/studying comes first, then have a ton of fun. Meet new people. Advice on fitness is a good one. Freshman 10 is often a lot more than that, especially for girls. Try new things, expand horizons.

 

[Keerock]

Great stuff!!

I've updated the OP with the collective FFA wisdom. Keep 'em coming!

 

[Keerock]

My wife and I differ on this... thoughts?

As we are shopping for his toiletries, etc. to take with him, I suggest we buy him a box of condoms. She's against it. I said "Do you think he's not going to have sex while away at school?". She stammers. I add... "Didn't you?"

She still says we shouldn't "promote" it...

 

[Wrighteous Ray]

My wife and I differ on this... thoughts?As we are shopping for his toiletries, etc. to take with him, I suggest we buy him a box of condoms. She's against it. I said "Do you think he's not going to have sex while away at school?". She stammers. I add... "Didn't you?" She still says we shouldn't "promote" it...

I'm all for promoting safe sex and everything but this strikes me as sorta creepy. Unless he's going to some sort of religious school, condoms should be readily available for him to get on his own.

 

[John Bender]

My wife and I differ on this... thoughts?As we are shopping for his toiletries, etc. to take with him, I suggest we buy him a box of condoms. She's against it. I said "Do you think he's not going to have sex while away at school?". She stammers. I add... "Didn't you?" She still says we shouldn't "promote" it...

Well put together OP. Nice work.There will be plenty of free condom giveaways on campus IIRC. He will have access to them when he needs them.

 

[Biabreakable]

Don't humiliate your teacher in front of the class. No matter how right you might be this will not help your grade at all.

ETA- This is some mighty fine parenting for a caveman.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Don't schedule one single class before 1:00PM

 

[NutterButter]

I always liked having all my classes on MWF so you have 4 days off per week with Friday classes usually just some BS review of the week with the TA leading the class. So you have off the day after MNF drinking night. You have off after OTH drinking night. You have a BS day of classes after Thursday night of drinking which is the first drinking night of the weekend.

A great way to make some cash living in the dorm is if he can get access to a Costco, to load up on bulk snacks and sell them at a significantly marked down rate from what his dorm mates can get from a vending machine. This also puts you in contact with a lot of people so you can meet chicks that way as well as get on the good side of the smart kids so you can get assignments and study help from them.

 

[Zeff]

1 - Study at least some rhetoric, and some psychology. Learning how to manipulate people is the single most valuable skill there is. And psychology classes have the hottest chicks on campus. It also wouldn't hurt to polish up during your off-hours. Master the material in Robert Cialdini's "Influence" and any good manual on the pick up arts, and you can pretty much have everything you want.

2 - If you must get a local job, take a bartending class, and get a job bartending. The hours suck, but the fringe benefits make up for it a trillion times over.

3 - A schedule full of T/R classes = 4 day weekends every week.

4 - She's not worth stressing out over. I don't know who she is, and you probably don't know who she is yet, either. But you'll meet her, and things will go badly, and you'll stress over her. It will happen at least once. Learn quickly to let it go, and it's smooth sailing from there on in.

5 - About the fitness thing. You know who likes big pecs and big biceps? Dudes. Because that's what they see when they look in the bathroom mirror. You know who likes strong legs, strong backs, and strong shoulders? Chicks. Because that's what they see when they sneak peeks while you're walking away.

6 - Play around academically and find something you enjoy. Even if it's poetry writing, women's studies, or performance oboe. But whatever you major in, take the full Calc sequence, two semesters of calc-based physics, and two years of French/German/Russian (if you've already studied one of those in HS, take a different one). Do that, and almost every grad program you could possibly desire will be open to you.

 

[Keerock]

1 - Study at least some rhetoric, and some psychology. Learning how to manipulate people is the single most valuable skill there is. And psychology classes have the hottest chicks on campus. It also wouldn't hurt to polish up during your off-hours. Master the material in Robert Cialdini's "Influence" and any good manual on the pick up arts, and you can pretty much have everything you want.2 - If you must get a local job, take a bartending class, and get a job bartending. The hours suck, but the fringe benefits make up for it a trillion times over.3 - A schedule full of T/R classes = 4 day weekends every week.4 - She's not worth stressing out over. I don't know who she is, and you probably don't know who she is yet, either. But you'll meet her, and things will go badly, and you'll stress over her. It will happen at least once. Learn quickly to let it go, and it's smooth sailing from there on in.5 - About the fitness thing. You know who likes big pecs and big biceps? Dudes. Because that's what they see when they look in the bathroom mirror. You know who likes strong legs, strong backs, and strong shoulders? Chicks. Because that's what they see when they sneak peeks while you're walking away.6 - Play around academically and find something you enjoy. Even if it's poetry writing, women's studies, or performance oboe. But whatever you major in, take the full Calc sequence, two semesters of calc-based physics, and two years of French/German/Russian (if you've already studied one of those in HS, take a different one). Do that, and almost every grad program you could possibly desire will be open to you.

Besides #4, I'm not sure I could endorse any of these. #5 is just creepy...

 

[Brony]

My wife and I differ on this... thoughts?As we are shopping for his toiletries, etc. to take with him, I suggest we buy him a box of condoms. She's against it. I said "Do you think he's not going to have sex while away at school?". She stammers. I add... "Didn't you?" She still says we shouldn't "promote" it...

Tell him you and the wife talked about it and thought it might be creepy to actually give him the condoms. Let's him know that you're aware he's gonna bag some broads and has your acceptance as long as he does it safe.

 

[Zeff]

7 - And if you discover work and responsibility just aren't for you, learn to sell stuff online. You can learn the basics in about a day, and can be making $50-$100 a day within a month while working about two hours weekly. Retire at 21, and move to Latin America in one of the many mind-blowing spots where $1000 a month lets you live like a king.

 

[joffer]

Unless you're going to be a doctor, it doesn't really matter much what your degree is in.

Damn, I could have majored in art history and still been an engineer?

 

[Pick]

Get to know your professor. You're just a number to him. If he can put a face with that number it will help.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Unless you're going to be a doctor, it doesn't really matter much what your degree is in.

Damn, I could have majored in art history and still been an engineer?

Okay. Engineering too.But about 80% of people who get an engineering degree don't become engineers.

 

[D in the D]

The school stuff seems to be covered, i will just reinforce the important social stuff: Wear a rubber and Check ID.

 

[rascal]

•Schedule classes as early as you can, and leave an hour between if possible. Use that hour to start/complete assignments from the class just finished or prepare for the class coming up next.

That almost killed me and resulted in several lost scholarships. After my first semester I had one rule for classes: if it started before 0900 I didn't take it. After I turned 21 that became 1000.

 

[Keerock]

•Schedule classes as early as you can, and leave an hour between if possible. Use that hour to start/complete assignments from the class just finished or prepare for the class coming up next.

That almost killed me and resulted in several lost scholarships. After my first semester I had one rule for classes: if it started before 0900 I didn't take it. After I turned 21 that became 1000.

As early as you can DOES NOT mean as early as they are offered.

 

[moleculo]

Unless you're going to be a doctor, it doesn't really matter much what your degree is in.

Damn, I could have majored in art history and still been an engineer?

Okay. Engineering too.But about 80% of people who get an engineering degree don't become stay engineers.

I'd say most folks who graduate with an engineering degree start out as engineers, but use that degree to transition into a related field - sales, product management, finance, etc. The engineering experience is what gets you in the door in the first place, though.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I'd say most folks who graduate with an engineering degree start out as engineers, but use that degree to transition into a related field - sales, product management, finance, etc. The engineering experience is what gets you in the door in the first place, though.

Without looking it up, I'd say that's not true. But I'm not going to the mattresses over the argument either.

 

[[icon]]

It's pretty obvious there are two completely different approaches in this thread....

1) Optimize your entire college experience around getting the best possible education/grades as possible

2) Optimze your entire college experience around enjoying yourself as much as possible while doing good enough in the education department.

 

[RUSF18]

View credit card vendors as you would a hooker on a street corner.

Didn't read the whole thread, so maybe a wise man chimed in already, but the above is false. Approach every credit card vendor. Fill out their applications with a fake name and fake SS#. Take their free ####.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

It's pretty obvious there are two completely different approaches in this thread.... 1) Optimize your entire college experience around getting the best possible education/grades as possible2) Optimze your entire college experience around enjoying yourself as much as possible while doing good enough in the education department.

As one who did the first, I'm an advocate for the second.

 

[Judge Smails]

Unless you're going to be a doctor, it doesn't really matter much what your degree is in.

Damn, I could have majored in art history and still been an engineer?

Okay. Engineering too.But about 80% of people who get an engineering degree don't become stay engineers.

I'd say most folks who graduate with an engineering degree start out as engineers, but use that degree to transition into a related field - sales, product management, finance, etc. The engineering experience is what gets you in the door in the first place, though.

80%? That surprises me. And I've been in Sales 25 years, and can't recall one sales rep with an engineering degree. Seen them go into Product Management - but not Sales or Finance. Interesting.

 

[NutterButter]

It's pretty obvious there are two completely different approaches in this thread.... 1) Optimize your entire college experience around getting the best possible education/grades as possible2) Optimze your entire college experience around enjoying yourself as much as possible while doing good enough in the education department.

#2 FTW. Best 4 years of your life. After that, the crap hits the fan. Responsibilities out the wazoo. As long as you go to a really good school and get solid grades and a good major like something in software engineering, you'll be just fine career wise.

 

[Wrighteous Ray]

I'm not sure Keerok will actually pass this advice on to his kid, but it's one of my bigger regrets from college:

If your best friends all decide they're going to try mushrooms and invite you to join them, don't turn down the offer because your girlfriend thinks it's a bad idea. Because then someday you'll be 39 years old and you'll still never have tried mushrooms.

 

[Sabertooth]

I'm not sure Keerok will actually pass this advice on to his kid, but it's one of my bigger regrets from college:If your best friends all decide they're going to try mushrooms and invite you to join them, don't turn down the offer because your girlfriend thinks it's a bad idea. Because then someday you'll be 39 years old and you'll still never have tried mushrooms.

Luckily there is still time for you. And I'm doubting you still have that girlfriend.

 

[NutterButter]

I'd highly advise against having a girlfriend in college. Friends with benefits is fine for consistent strange, but anything beyond that is going to be a drag on all the potential experiences you could have. There's so much that happens during college that just isn't ever going to happen again once you graduate.

 

[Wrighteous Ray]

I'm not sure Keerok will actually pass this advice on to his kid, but it's one of my bigger regrets from college:If your best friends all decide they're going to try mushrooms and invite you to join them, don't turn down the offer because your girlfriend thinks it's a bad idea. Because then someday you'll be 39 years old and you'll still never have tried mushrooms.

Luckily there is still time for you. And I'm doubting you still have that girlfriend.

Right, I'm still hoping to do it someday. Just a bit tougher to pull together when you're older and married with kids. College was the best opportunity.

 

[fatkid]

When my mom dropped me off for college she, this is the last thing she said to me before I left the car.

"I will always be your mother, and I will always love you. But I spent the last 18 years being your parent, and I am done. You are an adult, and you are now responsible for you."

 

[D-Day]

When my mom dropped me off for college she, this is the last thing she said to me before I left the car."I will always be your mother, and I will always love you. But I spent the last 18 years being your parent, and I am done. You are an adult, and you are now responsible for you."

Were you a fatkid before or after she gave you this advice?

 

[phatdawg]

Gain some valuable work experience while in college. The one thing everyone will have in common when competing for a job when they graduate is their degree. So set yourself apart with some professional experience prior to graduation. Working as a bartender is great money and has a lot of perks, but working a job that has some relevance to what you hope to do in the real world is even better.

Also, don't start a tab with your credit/debit card at the bar. Pay cash. You'll spend less.

 

[rascal]

Unless you're going to be a doctor, it doesn't really matter much what your degree is in.

Damn, I could have majored in art history and still been an engineer?

Okay. Engineering too.But about 80% of people who get an engineering degree don't become stay engineers.

I'd say most folks who graduate with an engineering degree start out as engineers, but use that degree to transition into a related field - sales, product management, finance, etc. The engineering experience is what gets you in the door in the first place, though.

80%? That surprises me. And I've been in Sales 25 years, and can't recall one sales rep with an engineering degree. Seen them go into Product Management - but not Sales or Finance. Interesting.

Engineers go into business as their GPA approaches 0.

 

[Keerock]

It's pretty obvious there are two completely different approaches in this thread.... 1) Optimize your entire college experience around getting the best possible education/grades as possible2) Optimze your entire college experience around enjoying yourself as much as possible while doing good enough in the education department.

As one who did the first, I'm an advocate for the second.

Please add this advice to your "elect me" website...

 

[rascal]

Oh...Don't get arrested. Before age of 18 that wasn't a problem. Now that shyte sticks on your record forever and back ground checks can be a #####.

Not that I know anything about that.

 

[SouthJersey]

Unless you're going to be a doctor, it doesn't really matter much what your degree is in.

Damn, I could have majored in art history and still been an engineer?

Okay. Engineering too.But about 80% of people who get an engineering degree don't become engineers.

It's not really the case for being a doctor either. To get into med school you just need to take about 10 basic science classes (2 semesters of bio, chem, ochem, etc), get good grades in those and your other classes, and do well on the MCAT. I'd say at least 40% of med school classes these days are made of up business, history, english, etc. majors who took the bare minimum requirements of science classes.

 

[Instinctive]

I'm a junior right now, and my younger brother will be a freshman this fall, so I've been asked about this a lot lately...

I wouldn't schedule an hour between all your classes. I would hate that - it's something you need to think about, but know yourself - I much prefer having 2 or 3 classes back to back, say from 9:30-12:20 total, than having random hours in between. That hour always gets spent getting sidetracked moving from one class to the other, maybe a couple minutes of a reading, chatting with some friends - I would way rather get all my classes done, go lunch with some friends, and then study if I need to or be done for the day.

Blocking all your classes together in the morning of in the afternoon, but not both, will make it much easier to work part time if you decide you want to.

No Friday classes is completely worth it, even if it means a 2.5 hour Wednesday night class or something.

ALWAYS build a relationship with professors. It has never, ever, ever, hurt me to have a professor who knows my name. It has helped a lot - I learned this lesson in a big way when I ended up with an 89.4 in a gen ed class my second semester: the professor didn't know me (although my lab GA did) and refused to offer any kind of help to get it bumped up to an A. Ruined my 4.0 - which is something you can never get back. It is one of my biggest regrets that I hadn't spent any time with that professor, especially after seeing some of the special treatment you get from the ones you do build a relationship with. It goes beyond just getting great letters of recommendation, I've had professors tell me I didn't need to worry about an exam (I had an opportunity for an interview back in Dallas the same day, went and talked to him about it, he said no worries as he knew i was there in class and understood the material - my other exams would all just count more) or extend a paper deadline for me just because I went and spoke to them.

I have gotten jobs with professors because i know them - being a TA is soooo easy for some professors. Cushy gig.

As far as sitting in the front row - I'd recommend against that. Professors know that trick - I think it's much better to sit in the second or third row with no laptop out the first week or two of class, being engaged, answering questions when they're asked...that early impression buys you a helluva lot of leeway later on in the year.

SUIT. Does your son have a suit? I'm in a highly selective leadership program for the top students in the business college, and we have a lot of events that require Business Professional or Business Casual dress. What I learned this past year was that sometimes an event time and class time overlapped by five, ten, twenty minutes...so I would leave early, or arrive late. I found out through this need that if you are wearing a suit, you can pretty much leave early or be late to any class, no questions asked, no problem. You don't even need a solid excuse - it's as simple as "I had an interview/event."

Along with that - email professors. Many times I have emailed professors to say I had an event, an opportunity, or some made up bull#### and was "wondering if it might be possible" to come into office hours the next day or beforehand or get the material from class via email so that I could miss that day's class. I have NEVER had a professor write back with anything other than a positive response along the lines of attachments with notes, the heads up he was going to give on the exam, an issue he wanted me to focus on...you're treated like the adult you're supposed to be by your professors, so take advantage of that - people have things come up sometimes, and they recognize that.

Girls? Not a lot of advice is needed. It's easy. I would emphasize the no long distance thing though - I burned my freshman year on that and should have known it wouldn't work. Every couple on the planet that has to do it thinks that they'll be the one it works for. They won't be. 99% of those things fail. Just move on now and enjoy the target rich environment.

Working out - make sure your son isn't one of the idiots who only works out his upper body. It's amazing how the guys we make fun of for being overly top heavy are actually having worse things said about them by the girls.

 

[Instinctive]

Unless you're going to be a doctor, it doesn't really matter much what your degree is in.

Damn, I could have majored in art history and still been an engineer?

Okay. Engineering too.But about 80% of people who get an engineering degree don't become engineers.

It's not really the case for being a doctor either. To get into med school you just need to take about 10 basic science classes (2 semesters of bio, chem, ochem, etc), get good grades in those and your other classes, and do well on the MCAT. I'd say at least 40% of med school classes these days are made of up business, history, english, etc. majors who took the bare minimum requirements of science classes.

It is, however, the case for Accounting. If you want to be a CPA, you pretty much need an Accounting degree.Edit: spelling

 

[bostonfred]

They are all hot

 

[Instinctive]

Oh, on the topic of laundry and a couple other things...

Make friends with some upperclassmen!

There's no substitute for being able to head over the apartment with some guys and watch a game on Sunday, plus getting to do your laundry for free (most apartments have utilities included in rent, so your friends don't mind). A big tv, a couch, a game, and poker night are all possible because you have a friend or two with an apartment already. We did a poker night every Thursday, $5 buy in, and it was always great. Even better if you're decent at poker brag