The First Year: How To Make A Successful Transition from High School to College

      The first year of college, usually filled with drive and excitement, can quickly turn to shock and awe when a student realizes the commitment that is college life. What most of us don’t know is—making a smooth transition from high school to college can be critical to first year success. Even though there is always time to catch up and make the best of your years in school, preparing for challenges in your first year will make the entire college experience easier. Start by taking some advice from the fore most important aspects of college life.

      High School vs College Academics

                    College academia is—learning to take control of your success by being responsible for yourself and your time. Try to create a schedule for yourself to manage your time wisely and balance yourself between classes that require a lot of work (or reading/writing intensives) and classes that require little work (while you still have that option as a freshman!). And we all hate textbooks, but you’d be surprised how much you will need them while in college. They often have study tips and reviews at the end of each chapter, as well as companion websites and DVD’s that will help you while you study! Just in case that’s not enough, there’s a writing, foreign language and math center located on campus with helpful tutors and instructors that will help guide you to that perfect grade.

              Socializing can be tempting, but it should never come before your work. Planning to dedicate most of your free time to doing the bulk of your course work will benefit you because your teachers are expecting you to help yourself, follow the syllabus and prepare on your own.  It’s best to allot at least two or three hours to every course per week. Chris Campbell, now a graduate of Chestnut Hill College, remembers his first year of classes as tiring. “I couldn’t believe the amount of work I always had to do and I started falling behind because my friends and I would hang out all week,” says Chris. “Once I started spending the time to study on my own, and following my syllabus, I caught up fast.” Chris’s advice is to create a balance between having fun and making time for your work.

                    As trivial as this may sound, it’s important to say it: always go to class. In college missing a class may mean missing new material. Professors work with structured syllabi and attendance also counts towards your final grade. It’s also important to take good notes and participate. Unlike high school teachers, college professors do not spoon feed you notes and prompt you to ask questions. Remember the classroom is a platform for your own learning, and the library, the computer lab and your professors will be your greatest resources. Your teachers will always have office hours so reach out, especially if you need immediate attention. The teachers at Chestnut Hill College are particularly accessible to their students, so always feel comfortable to lean on them.

The Campus Life

                For anyone who is living on campus, it can be a challenge. It is a new environment, with new people and new things. You can make the best of it by coping with the disadvantages (which are not that bad anyway) and being flexible.

             The most overlooked aspect of college life is budgeting. The amount of money that would last you a month in high school will last you a week in college. Try making a budget for yourself so that you’re not constantly out of cash when you really need it. And there will surely be times when you really need it!

             The biggest disadvantage of campus living to most college students is having to live with a roommate. Almost all roommates get along fine in the beginning, but this can change. If it does the best thing to do is communicate with your roommate so that any lingering hostility does not start to affect your performance in school. Also talk to your resident assistants who are there to help you cope if anything goes wrong.

Finally, First Year Success

              Alas we have gotten to the most important part of it all—achieving success! Not just first year success, but success that will last you through your entire college career. At this point you have all the tools you need, now its time to think about yourself.

             College students, unlike high school students, never seem to get enough rest or sleep. Eating the correct foods and exercising regularly are simple rules one can follow to help stay healthy and efficiently manage the stress of the transition. Your first priority is always to take care of yourself.

              After a long, dreary few weeks of studies, there is always the wonderful relief of going home. When this opportunity comes along—take it. Researchers suggest that it is better for students to remain on campus during the first couple of weeks to more quickly adapt to college living. However, once you’ve gotten accustomed to your life at school, it’s okay to take a break. Even if home is not your destination just leaving campus for a few days can be good for you. These occasional breaks help students to revive and return to campus with even more purpose than before. 

~Hannah Campbell, CHC '11