Whether you want to graduate from college early, or you just want to see graduation on time, it really isn’t that hard, as long as you follow a few steps that I’m going to give you right here.

Get a Knowledgeable Advisor

This is probably the most important thing one can do in college, besides studying. An advisor will outline which classes you’ll need to take in order to graduate. Have you heard of students who went to college for 5 or 6 years, because they kept changing their major, or didn’t know what classes they needed to take to meet graduation requirements? Advisors are especially important if you’re transferring from another college. They will help tell you which classes were accepted, which classes are categorized as electives etc. These advisors are a good resource to steer you towards the better teachers as well. They understand the university drop/add system and can recommend you to various professors.

Study Hard and Never Miss Class

Too often students don’t take college seriously, at least in the beginning. If you miss class, you miss out on important topics the teacher may cover during midterm or final exams. You need to make an effort to make all of your classes. If you are commuting, schedule your classes back to back, so you don’t have to be on campus all day. Try to fit these classes in on three or four days to save on parking and commuting costs such as gasoline. Give yourself plenty of time at night to study. Don’t try and juggle full time classes with a full time job, you’ll get overwhelmed pretty quickly.

Never Pledge a Fraternity or Sorority in Freshman Year

Although these organizations are a great way to make friends quickly, and establish your social life, getting off to a good start academically is very important in college. For instance, if you start out with terrible grades, you can be put on probation, and possibly flunk out. Say you have a 1.5 GPA in your freshman year. You’d need to average a 4.0 in your sophomore year, straight A’s, and you’d still have a GPA under 3.0. If you were thinking of going to graduate school, bad grades in your early college years can be a killer. Once you establish good grades, then pledge. You can only enjoy college is you’re still allowed to attend.”

If you want to meet new people in college, or even life in general, you’re going to find that it’s not really that hard if you put forth some effort.  I wanted to give you a few pointers on how you can fit in when going to college.

Join clubs

In college it is very important to build a good group of friends. Since this is most young students first time being independent, they are still forming ideas and beliefs about life in general. Having a great body of friends is crucial to molding those beliefs and the system which is used. Friends and acquaintances can be found in many places. The first being in clubs. There are many clubs on campus; some may have interests that are common with other students such as surfboarding, boating, crew or even knitting. The people that share the same interests usually are easy to get along with and will want to hang out and do active and fun things outside of school and clubs. They may want to go to parties, have lunch, watch a movie or even just hang out with other students. This is an excellent way to become social and meet new people.

Be physically active

Being physically active and being healthy are not only vital to a good life, but can attract other people that have the same interests. Going to the gym could be a great way to meet people or hang out with current friends. Joining an intramural team will not only form bonds, but will create a great sense of self esteem and popularity with other people. Intramural sports can be really big on campus with upwards of 300 people vying to be the champions of one sport such as basketball, volleyball, flag football and a myriad of other athletic sports.

Join the right crowd

Joining the right crowd in college can be imperative to a successful education. If one joins a group of drug addicts and party goers, they may not develop the balance of studying and fun needed to complete a degree in college. It is important to have a group of friends that will support you and help you in times of need as well. College is a fun experience, and should be taken a day at a time with full excitement in every minute.

Most people gain the freshman 15. However, you can lose it.

Walking Everywhere

At home, it is completely impossible to get anywhere on foot. But, on campus, most places are accessible by pedestrians. Walking is a great mode of transportation when you live on campus.  It will build muscle and help you burn off fat. Try to walk quickly between your classes to get your heart rate up for at least 20 minutes a day. By the end of the day, when you return to your on campus dorm room, you should be sweaty and tired.

Eating Healthy

When you’re tired after a long day of classes, you might think that you should call the pizza place and get something delivered. Unfortunately, doing this on a regular basis is really hard on your wallet. So, you need to find an alternative. Use your campus meal plan. Instead of eating the greasy, disgusting dorm food that your college offers, eat salad. Unlike the other food that tastes nasty, salad is something that you can prepare for yourself. You control what goes into it. Best of all, it is the healthiest food available most of the time. Your waistline and wallet will thank you.

Hitting the Gym

Most colleges offer free or subsidized gym access to all of their students. Take advantage of the proximity of the gym so that you can lose the freshman 15. Make it an everyday habit to go to the gym at least once a day. Go with a friend to make it fun and to make sure that you both get there consistently. Do a variety of lifting and cardio. Get your heart rate up for 30 minutes or more every time.

Many students choose to find their own student housing when they are in college, but they often overlook the many advantages one has by living on their college campus when housing is available.

Convenience

Though most college students strive to avoid early morning classes, sometimes it’s simply not possible.  This isn’t such a terrible inconvenience, however, if you live on campus and can easily roll out of bed and run directly to your early morning class.  Not only does this save you precious sleeping minutes, but it can be surprisingly fun.  Living on campus also makes it easy to walk somewhere to visit a professor when you need help, as well as allows you to take advantage of the school computer labs, library, and other facilities.

Cost Efficient

Often it can seem expensive to pay for housing in college.  However, you may be surprised how affordable it is.  Not only will you never get kicked out of your rental, but you will save a bundle on gas money and car maintenance since you’ll never really be in need of having a vehicle.  You can always also opt out of the meal plans in the college cafeteria, and instead buy a small refrigerator that will let you control your spending on food.  Most dorms also have a kitchen, and though it’s of course nothing like the kitchen in your own home, should provide you with everything you will need to cook your own meals if that is your desire.  Living in a dorm also saves you from the last minute roommate scramble many find themselves in when their once consistent rent splitter decides to move, changes schools, or graduates.

Encouraging Community

When you only see your classmates in class, there isn’t much time to get to know one another.  By living on campus, you can develop close friendships with your fellow students and form bonds that will last a lifetime.  This can be a serious leg up in life later, because you will have a network of people all over the professional world.  Though living in a dorm can often be loud and distracting, there are plenty of facilities usually available where you can get together in study groups or easily borrow a book from a classmate when yours goes missing.  It is amazing what can be accomplished with a little encouragement from those around you to keep working or to take a much needed break when you’re feeling burnt out on the books.

Getting along with your new college roommate really isn’t that hard.  As long as you put forth effort, you can really have a fun time.  It’s always best to get along, rather than fight all the time.  Here’s how you can get along with your roommate at college.

Start off on the right foot

When you first move in and meet your roommate, try to be accommodating.  If they put something (like a refrigerator or TV) where you don’t think it should be, don’t just tell them to move it.  Instead, try to suggest other possibilities that you both might like.  Also, if you are sleeping on bunk beds, offer your roommate the bunk of his or her choice.  When your roommate realizes that you are being accommodating, he or she will probably try to do the same.  Above all, it is very important that decisions about what goes on in your dorm room are made together.

Be courteous

If you want your roommate to respect you and your space, then you must do the same.  Try not to be loud when you come in the room, even if the other person is not asleep.  Dorm rooms are usually small and if you make a lot of noise at any time, it is sure to get on the other person’s nerves.  Also, if you are cooking food in the room, make sure that the smell does not bother your roommate.  Even something like scrambled eggs could be terribly annoying to your roommate in the confined space (especially if he or she had been out late the night before!)

Try to be friends

A great way to make sure that you and your roommate will get along is to try to be friends with them.  Ask them if they want to go get coffee or order a pizza and watch a movie in the room.  College can be a big, scary place, so its nice to have someone you can turn to.  Of course, it is not necessary that you and your roommate become best friends, but solid bonding experiences will make life with your roommate much more enjoyable.”