Heading off to college is an exciting but often overwhelming experience. Our advice for college freshmen? The more tips you learn before you enter this new phase of your life, the more you can enjoy your first year of college.
Start your freshman year right with Compass Self Storage! We’ve gathered several things to do to prepare for college, from choosing your housing to getting involved on campus.
Explore Housing Options for First-Year College Students
One of our first college tips is to figure out your housing situation. Some institutions require freshmen to live on campus, but we recommend it even if on-campus housing is optional for your school. Living on campus can help you make new friends and navigate the new area more easily.
Living on campus may even help your grades! A study from Penn State University highlights that students who chose on-campus housing have higher GPAs than their off-campus classmates. That doesn’t mean you have to live in a dorm room to graduate on time, but there’s nothing wrong with setting yourself up for collegiate success in the first year.
If your school doesn’t offer on-campus housing, your next best option is to rent an apartment as close to your school as possible. Living off campus may even save you money, but that depends on whether you have roommates, the quality of your apartment, and housing costs around your area.
Choose Your Housing Early
As soon as your college or university accepts you, start looking at important dates and requirements for housing. Whether it’s a dorm or an off-campus apartment, the early bird truly does get the worm. The longer you wait to secure your housing, the more limited your options will be.
We recommend securing on-campus housing as soon as your school and your budget allow so you can enjoy your summer before college starts. If you choose an off-campus apartment, start looking as early as nine months before you move in. Rent often fluctuates based on the season, so try locking in a lower rate to make housing more affordable.
You may even try coordinating with students currently renting an apartment! People graduate, transfer schools, or go on internships throughout the year and would happily invite someone to take over their leases while they’re gone.
Consider Your Personal Needs
At the end of the day, your housing decision relies on you, your budget, and your personal needs. If you’re more introverted, a single-person dorm room or off-campus apartment may help you maintain your peace of mind and make friends at your own pace. On-campus living or Greek life may be the perfect spot for you if you’re the life of the party and thrive on being around other people all the time.
Make Campus Involvement Part of Your College Preparation
Whether you’re an extrovert extraordinaire or prefer a smaller friend group, getting involved on campus is key for collegiate success. Even if you live off campus, be intentional about how you spend your time in and outside of the classroom. Campus involvement has many benefits, from pushing your personal growth, meeting new friends, and even raising your satisfaction level with your college experience.
One thing’s certain—you won’t make memories sitting in your room by yourself. Studying is important, but taking study breaks, from grabbing coffee with friends to joining an intramural basketball game at the rec, can refresh your body and mind before hitting the books again.
Attend Orientation Events
If you don’t know where to start with getting involved on campus, we recommend attending any orientation events your school offers. Many universities have open houses, orientation classes and programs, and even entire orientation weekend events to help their new students transition to college.
Georgia Tech, for example, hosts FASET, an orientation program that introduces first-year, exchange, and transfer students to campus services, the school curriculum, and student organizations they can join.
In addition to helping you familiarize yourself with your school, orientation increases your chances of seeing familiar faces when classes start.
Join Student Groups or Greek Life
Once your orientation class, program, or weekend has introduced you to student groups, we recommend joining one. It can be a sports club that continues your love of tennis from high school, a religious, spiritual, or cultural group, or even an academic club to help you find study buddies.
Sororities and fraternities, often called Greek life, are popular options for getting involved on campus. Greek life bundles the benefits of making friends, building leadership skills, and impacting your school’s culture.
Remember to consider factors like time commitment, membership fees, and rushing before joining a fraternity or sorority. Maintaining a healthy balance between school and your social life is key in your first year of college, as students are most likely to drop out as freshmen.
Visit Your Professors During Their Office Hours
Using your professors’ office hours has social and academic benefits. You can better grasp course material, learn about internship opportunities, and get to know your instructors. Connecting with your professors may even make participating in class discussions less intimidating.
How To Survive College: Do Your Research
The first day of college can be overwhelming for many freshmen. It’s full of unknowns, and uncertainty can trigger anxiety. If worry clouds your excitement for college life, you can combat your uncertainty with practical preparation tips.
Map Out Your Classes
Nothing can make first-year students spiral faster than getting lost on campus. The more stressed you become while navigating the walkways and halls of your college, the less reliable your memory becomes. Start your first week of classes off right by mapping out your classes beforehand.
You can ask upperclassmen or your student services office for a guided tour or make a fun afternoon out of it with friends or family by exploring the campus. Whether you take photos of buildings or landmarks, write down instructions, or mark up routes on a printed campus map, document your routes in a way that makes sense to you.
If you plan to live off campus, apply this tip to your commute as well. Many universities have designated student parking lots, so be aware of those lots’ proximity to your lecture halls to ensure you get to class on time.
Create a Schedule Before Starting College
When you move to college, you lose much of the structure you’ve had throughout your life. Instead of moving from class to class from the morning to the afternoon, Monday through Friday, you may have some classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, others on Tuesdays and Thursdays, or even a class that meets once a week—all with varying time commitments.
Adjusting to a college schedule is often the most challenging shift for students. In a survey from College Data, 29% of upperclassmen said time management was the most important skill for their first year of higher education.
Before you run out and buy planners or calendars, start small by creating a class schedule. You can either print out one provided by your school or create your own online calendar. For the free time before and after your classes, add in any extracurricular activities, work hours, and study time.
If you’re not sure how much time to spend studying, experts recommend dedicating two to three hours of studying a week per credit hour. Try using a time management calculator as well to better gauge your schedule!
Read Your Syllabuses
Some of the best advice for college freshmen is to read the syllabuses for your courses. Your syllabus contains key information like test dates, class policies, study resources, and required materials like textbooks, calculators, and note cards. Some professors even hide extra credit opportunities in their syllabuses to encourage their students to read them. Whether or not you find an Easter egg in your syllabuses, thoroughly reading it will help you start your freshman year off right.
Tour Your College Living Space
One final tip to ease anxiety during your college preparation is to tour your future living space. If your college is far from home or you’re nervous about having roommates, seeing the physical dorm or apartment you’ll live in can turn that anxiety into excitement. Instead of worrying about leaving home, you can measure your room and gather decoration ideas to personalize your first college living space.
Plan for Collegiate Success With Compass Self Storage
You’ve got a lot to process before starting college. Give yourself as much time, flexibility, and peace of mind as possible by renting a student storage unit. We offer a wide range of unit sizes and affordable month-to-month leases to take the guesswork out of your storage experience.
From keeping seasonal clothes and sports gear from cramping your dorm room to tucking away all your college furniture between school years, Compass Self Storage can help you create the space you need in college. You can find a storage facility near you in 14 states.
Dive into your freshman year with our college preparation tips and convenient storage solutions! If you’d like to learn more about using self storage as a student, check out our helpful blog.
