Most Important College Resource Tip for First-Years

Today we’re talking about the different resources you can look forward to at college.

Moving away to college is a big transition: you have to be responsible for yourself and maybe independent in a way you’ve never been before. Colleges want you to succeed through that transition, so to help you succeed, they’re going to provide you with a bunch of resources including things like:

1. An academic advisor to help you plan out your classes and maybe a mentor in your program to help you through it.
2. There’s going to be a writing lab, maybe a math lab, and definitely tutoring for every subject you can imagine.
3. Your professors will have office hours where you can go meet them and develop a relationship with them. The students they know will be the ones they think of when it comes time to recommend opportunities, as well as the ones they think of kindly when it comes time to grade.
4. There’s also going to be mental health services if you need someone to talk to, because that transition is a lot.

You can expect these things at just about every college, so having these services is not a reason to choose one college over another. But understanding the differences between how colleges provide these services may show you that one college is a better fit for you than the other.

Most importantly, don’t wait until you’re falling apart and your semester is crumbling before you to go knock on some doors and meet these people. Go in week one, establish these relationships from the start, find out where they are so when you need them, you’re already comfortable going there, and you already
know the helpers (and they already know you).

Also, the week before classes start, you’ll see a club fair where you can learn all about different clubs from students trying to recruit you to join theirs. There will be activities in your dorm that the RA (resident advisor) is hosting to create community. There might even be a work study fair where you can learn about the
different jobs available (or maybe you’ll need to go knock on some doors for a job).

But the #1 piece of advice I receive from my tour guides when I visit colleges, when I ask, “What do you wish every incoming freshman knew before starting here,” is always the same thing: get involved!

Get involved immediately. Then you’ll make connections, you’ll make friends, and the whole transition will be so much easier.

Ultimately, college is what you make of it. Parents, students, and educators are always looking for the “best college,” or the “best program,” or the “best college for you,” but really the best college for you is the opportunity you make for yourself. You can succeed at so many different colleges if you are willing to go knock on some doors, show up, and get involved.

So get going, and have a great first year of college!