10 Things You Need to Know
About College

1 . College is very different from high school: In high school almost everything you did was planned by some one else: the courses, your schedule of classes , your readings, your meals, etc.. In college - you're on your own. You have complete freedom to become successful in your life - or you can fail out, all by yourself. For better or worse, in college and life, it's all up to you.
2. Roommates can become lasting friends or the personification of evil: Living with someone requires a sensitivity perhaps never required on your part before. You will actually have to pay attention to when the other person wants to sleep with the lights out and the sound system off, what music you can play that you both enjoy, how to be quiet when your roomie is sleeping, controlling your clothes and materials so they don't take over other people's territory, and all the other joys of living together. Roommates need to be sensitive to each other.
3. Take seriousness seriously: All of college life is not serious, but some of it is. Be able to bring problem-solving, goal setting and critical thinking to the moment when needed. Save the play time and the fun and games for the appropriate places. If you work hard, you can play hard.
4 . Good study skills are vital to success: Better students already have good study skills. They were taught them or learned them by trial and error. Whatever the case, good students have the ability to make great use of their memory. They can read quickly and retain the importance of what they read. They can take good notes that help them study for exams. They know how to predict test questions and know how to study for any particular kind of test. Good students will also plan ahead to build into their schedules all the hours necessary to get ready for an exam. They will also know not to worry themselves to death about exams. Regardless of one's academic standing, almost all students can benefit from even a brief review of a good study skills textbook. Locate one and practice its strategies.
5. You must be able to use a keyboard: You must be able to do your own work, ideally using a computer. You cannot rely on others, even if you pay them. If you type your own work, you control every aspect, every detail; it's yours.
6. You must learn some basic computer programs: You need not know how to operate all the programs, but you ought to be familiar with the basics of word processing. Once you understand one program, it's not difficult to learn another.
7. Know what plagiarism is. Plagiarism is claiming as one's own the creative effort of someone else. The material stolen can be written, verbal, or auditory. Some high school students get in the habit of simply copying work from anywhere and applying it to wherever they wish with no thought that the original is "owned" by someone. Indeed, it is most likely protected by copyright. Don't assume you can lift just a few phrases or sentences here and there and no one will notice.
8. Almost all of a college education will be based on reading: There is an enormous assumption on the part of the college that you have been participating in reading as you have prepared yourself for college. It is through reading that you will have shared experience with others and learned about the world. The more you have read and thought about what you have read, the better off you will be.
9. A two-year degree may take three years and a four-year degree may take five years to complete: In some schools almost half of the graduates are taking longer to finish the requirements for degrees than used to be the case.
10. Never mix colors when doing the laundry!

Source: Disbro, William, 100 Things that every college freshman should know . Cambridge Stratford, Ltd. New York, 1995