2— Open your mind and shut your mouth. You’re 18 years old and there’s never been a better time for you to learn that you know an utterly insignificant amount about the world. If you get this right, you’ll never feel like you know everything there is to know. Overconfidence is a bitch. Nothing is less sexy and nothing will blow apart your dreams any faster.

3— Learn about your school’s Greek system. Some colleges have great Greek life, some do not. If it fits you, join. If it doesn’t, stay the hell away. Don’t let other people decide this for you. Feel it out and move forward.

4— Drink, smoke, get stoned, get laid, do the walk of shame, hallucinate, streak, stay up all night, listen to music way too loudly, skip class on a Tuesday to get wasted mid-morning and drive across state or across country or to Mexico and back with $6 in your pocket. Or don’t. It’s your life, this is your time to figure out how YOU want to live YOUR LIFE.

5— Buy an army surplus duffel bag. A huge one. Because doing laundry blows, you won’t motivate yourself to do it more than a couple times a month. That said, it’s best to be able to lug it around easily. These are THE BEST things you can get.

6— Get a box of condoms. Keep them in your dorm. Make sure they aren’t expired. When they expire, buy new ones. Even if you throw away a full box every 6 months, keep at it. Even if you are committed to remaining a virgin until you’re married, do it. College is about learning responsibility. Shit happens. Maybe you’ll wind up with a member of the opposite sex in your dorm and things will go places you didn’t mean for them to go. Well, regret over sex is a hell of a lot easier to manage than pregnancy or an STD.

7— Keep a gallon jug of water near your bed. If you go out and get wasted, commit yourself to drinking as much of it as you can stand before you go to bed. Hangovers are nothing more than alcohol-induced dehydration. You can avoid them pretty easily by drinking loads of water before bed. In the morning, wake up, pop 3 Advil, drink a Gatorade and get on with life.

8— Make friends. When you graduate, your friends and their friends will become your network. Your network will expand and grow, and let me assure you that your network will serve your job-hunting needs better than ANY degree you’re ever going to get. Your friends are also the family you choose, and it’s by pouring out our love for others that we find our own happiness.

9— Learn what it means to do for others. School clubs are great, but they don’t mean a damn thing to anyone outside of college. Join the rescue squad or the fire department. Volunteer a day a week at the soup kitchen or a local homeless shelter. You’ll learn more about the world and yourself than you would during a lifetime of classes, you’ll learn some valuable skills and you’ll get something that you can actually put on a resumé that people will care about.

10— Don’t get married right out of college. Wait at least a couple years. Once you’ve graduated and had the world kick your ass for a while, you’re going to look at things very differently. A deferred marriage is an awful lot easier than a divorce.

11— Ok, so the original post asked for a list of 10 things, but you’re getting a freebie eleventh from me. Here it is. Ready for it? If you haven’t by now, learn to write and speak and punctuate. I don’t care if you have a PhD in Nuclear Physics from Berkeley, you’re going to come off as an idiot if you can’t communicate. From engineers to journalists, we all need to be able to use language to the best of our ability. Take some English classes, learn to diagram a sentence in your sleep and acquaint yourself with the fundamentals of successful argument and debate. You’ll be more interesting, you’ll seem smarter and you’ll succeed in ANY job you take, regardless of the field, easier as a result.

I’m always baffled about the legitimacy of someone who feels the need to tell someone else their opinions are ‘wrong’.

clearly there was alot of things wrong with the greek community that you joined. Your generalization however is exactly the same as someone who went to a notorious party school saying that a college education is completely useless because everyone just drinks until they’re hospitalized and no one goes to class.

If you don’t look into the group you’re joining and get to know the people in it then it’s your own fault for joining a group that will waste your time. If you read my first post I specifically said that you shouldn’t just join any greek organization, you should figure out which one you feel is right for you. It’s the same as any group of friends that you could make, there’s some that party too much, there’s some that study all day and there’s lots in between. You have to know what it is that you want to get out of it.

You will get out of greek life whatever you put into it. Because I have taken on officer positions in both my sorority and panhellenic (the organization that governs over the sororities) I have had opportunities to plan events, influence the direction that our greek community is going, attend regional conferences, workshops on ettiquette, business attire, networking, marketing, leadership, resume writing, and so much more. I know more students, professors, advisors and others who work in every area of my university than I could ever imagine.

Not everyone has the option of finding a job that applies to their career, and not everyone knows exactly what career they are looking for. If there is a homeland security job in Daytona Beach that would also work with my class schedule I would do anything for it. In the mean time, I plan on taking advantage of the infinate opportunities that I have not found anywhere other than the greek community.

JAK:

Good luck! Let the rest of the posters be an indicator of the “feel” of college campuses these days. This crap goes from RAs mouths straight into their heads–most professors don’t even try to give students the real scoop on life and work because they know most wouldn’t make it through one semester of reality.

The smart ones get it from day one, though. If you prepare your kids, they’ll see through the vanity of Naked Bubble Parties and Frat Fun Houses.

If anyone doubts the legitimacy of the large amounts of community service that millions of greeks have contributed to society then they should probably take the time to talk to someone and ask them about what they did. Just because I chose to join one organization that has given me the opportunity to do community service, make friends, network, attend conferences, speakers, educational events, as well as have fun you shouldn’t dismiss me as a potential employee. Your father is passing up alot of really great, motivated and experienced leaders that I’m sure would contribute to his company.

…and coke? seriously? If my national organization ever found out I was doing drugs my membership would be terminated.

I’m sorry you haven’t had all of the opportunities that i have

2. Papers are easier to write if you enjoy the topic, so try to pick topics you’ll like. My favorite elective ended up being the one I did the most work in.

3. Nine times out of ten, if you don’t like the people you associate with, it’s because the people who you would like don’t like you. It’s up to you to change that.

4. Related to the above: be who you are. It will make your life alot less stressful, and the right people will like you more for it.

5. In high school, people always wore some sort of mask. It’s not the same at a university. People have dimension, even if they seem uninteresting at first. Remember that.

6. Spilt alcohol really stinks up a small, carpeted dorm room.

7. It’s cheaper to pre-drink.

8. Figure out what is your hugest stress-releaver, and practice it. Always. Mine is looking at an hourglass or a lavalamp, so I have each of those in my room. They get looked at often.

9. Try to sleep 8 out of 24 hours. How you get them is up to you.

10. Smile, cause it’s going to be a heck of a ride.

AND THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE!!!

11. Experiment: A good thing to do is to try to set a weekly goal, something that you’ve never experienced before. Try new things. Eat different foods. Play new games. Look for cultural events on and off campus. Check out the gay bar. Visit a coffee shop poetry reading. Open mike night. Shop in small boutiques. Eavesdrop on other people’s converations, try to learn something from it (except don’t be a creep about it). Listen to new bands. Talk to random people. The more diverse your experiences, the more you’ll learn about yourself – and isn’t that the whole point of university?

2. Get a trashcan without holes in it…when ur roomie wakes u up at 3 by puking into a backpack u’ll suddenly regret not having a better puke bucket

3. Do stuff. Join things. Get out of your room. Great stuff goes down at college.

4. Become as close as possible with your neighbors they’re the people most likely to help you out and know wether or not u get home in one piece. Take care of them and they’ll most likely look after you as well.

5. DO NOT use your dust buster to suck up vom. Even if its the kind that can suck up water. If you try pouring laundry soap on ur floor and try sucking that up too it will not get the staank out. Your beloved vacuum will never smell the same. just saying.

6. Be crafty. people love interesting decor. Bring craft supplies, Don’t let your room look like a jail cell. Decorate everything and people will like being in your room. you wont get lonely…yoga balls make great chairs.

7. Go greek but not first semester!! Going greek is great. First semester is hectic. Second semester’s the way to go.

8. Have a designated friend who will save you from any and all people deemed creepy as soon as you give them the “get me the eff out of here” look. Just have them grab ur arm mid dance/mid convo/mid anything and tug you away like its important.

9. Go to the gym from day 1. make that habit early otherwise you’ll be chasing after your fabulous highschool abs for-ev-err.

10. Be independant. Dont be afraid to do things by yourself. If you’re always waiting for someone to do everything with you you’ll miss out on a lot. Not to mention going places alone you’ll meet loads more new friends. Everyone loves someone with connections.

11. Get a B.S. job. Or two such as gameroom attendant, mailroom person, receptionist to the receptionists receptionist etc. you’re basically being forced to study for hours at a time while being paid. not a bad scenario

This is from a more Aussie point of view.
And a day student point of view.

1. Student cards or ID. You’ll never know when you might do something spontaneous like go to the cinema only to find that students get 45% discounts, and you end up paying full price.

2. Don’t be a bitch!! Nobody likes lousy team-members for group assignments, and being an asshole/arsehole doesn’t help. It won’t help you in the long run.

3. Why doesn’t it help you? Because you get people like me who will name and shame you on the course boards and when people start looking for partners, they will know your a lousy team-player and prefer not to work with you.

4. Join ALL the clubs. Well, as many as you can anyway. Some unis/colleges will have “BOOZE CLUBS”. You like booze? Everybody likes Booze!!

5. If your an international student DON’T do stupid things. You MIGHT get your visa revoked. Fighting after a few drinks is one of them.

6. MAKE FRIENDS!! Connections are what makes businesses and powerful people. Be friendly and don’t act like your dads a King. Your just another brick in a wall like everybody else.

7. Don’t believe that Hollywood stereotypes bullshit. The “emo” or “nerd” who you see at time to time could one day bloom and become successful in life. He could be your boss!!

8. Money is power, and like all strong men/women, we all want power. SO!! Don’t share it. A soft heart can cost you hundreds. For guys, this is especially true with women. They only love you for your money and your beers.

9. Long distance relationships are like weights on your shoulder. Cutting lose is like lifting those weights away. It’ll be good for you.

10. Don’t be a fool, wrap your tool. Last thing you wanna be is a daddy/mommy in college.

1. All those required classes you have to take? Actually go and pay attention, you might discover something you really like.

2. If you can’t pronounce it, do not eat it.

3. Fruit juice in your room that ferments is garbage not homemade wine.

4. Make a good friend, as in one who you trust to take care of you if you drink too much and not one who would just draw obscene things on your face with a marker.

5. Just because there are more students doesn’t mean everyone won’t know about it if you’re that kid who was table dancing at the Sig Ep party.

6. Be careful what you put up on facebook, you might want a real job someday.

7. Call your mom. Seriously she loves you.

8. Don’t be afraid to change things.

9. Try out for a club or organization because it’s a good way to meet people who aren’t in your dorm or your major.

10. Explore the city around your university, especially if you are somewhere far from home!

1. no greeks, it really isnt worth it unless you need cheep drugs and cheet sheets for your exam. Frat guys are actually not as cool as high school kids think, they are often ether fat slobs or narcissists. My dad owns a large company and he says that himself and his associates actually generally turn down applications with frats listed because the actual community service aspect is so minimal. Frats have a better reputation than they should because they manage to keep their grades up with coke and speed cramming sessions and brothers old exams/ papers.

If you havnt been to college yet than get this– Its nothing like high school. remember those stupid social rules and feeling like you had to look good every day, social upkeep,
gossip and all that…. No one gives a s#%t in college.. you can be whatever you want and be friends with anyone- some of my best friends are stunning ladies, pimply geeks, jocks, fat nerds, quite art kids, social party animals, and everything in between… be friends with everyone and never judge on who they are, the only thing you will be known for is how nice you are

get good grades, and seriously if you really do study every day, even only for 2 hrs you will have absolutely no problem making all A s

Unless youre against it ( never do something you dont want) do some light drugs, get drunk and let loose and then stop. the biggest problem ive seen on my campus is some kids dont know that you shouldnt let loose, party or get f%&d up every day or even every weekend. I go out once every 2 weeks, i am much healthier and honestly i have more fun at the gym than huddled around a keg in the cold sucking on a poorly rolled blunt.

No snooze button ever
no 8 am classes ever
off campus living is always more expensive than what the landlord says you will have to pay
NO HIGH SCHOOL GF/BF I have seen it fail about 25-30 times and work once but they went to the same college.

2: Everything you believe about yourself will change. I was a agnostic heterosexual, meat eating international management major. I am now a lesbian vegan atheist geography major.

3: Answer questions often, but as quickly and concisely as possible. The professor will stand there and stare at the class until someone does, it may as well be you. Beware though, if your answer is too elaborate everyone else in the class will hate your guts.

4: Spell check is functionally useless when it comes to grammar. Double check your papers. Professors will let stupid answers and a complete lack of a point slide before they let a grammar mistake through.

5: First year sucks for everyone. Don’t let it get you down. And for your own sake, don’t fail any classes.

6: The food in the cafeteria is not, in all honesty, food. It’s actually an unsanitary mix of every cheap fattening agent on the planet. There will be no healthy options. Also, 250 ml of milk will cost two dollars. There is nothing you can do about it.

7: Don’t talk in class. Also don’t ask questions. The question is definitely stupid as all hell. Don’t make yourself a laughing stock. Ask questions after class.

2. Find like-minded people. Even if you were the oddball in high school, chances are you’ll find someone even weirder than you when you go to university. And unlike high school, you can choose your friends from a set of thousands, instead of being limited to a few hundred.

3. Find your own niche to fit in. You don’t have to join everything if you don’t want. You don’t have to join anything, if you please. But make sure you’re comfortable with what you’re doing. You don’t want to reach your 30’s and then wish you had done more with your life when in university.

4. Study and keep up with your classes. You know all that money you shelled out? Yeah, you don’t want to pay more because you have to take Physics I again after discovering your professor doesn’t give part marks. Believe me, your first failed midterm will hit you hard. Don’t go there.

5. Your high school friends are important, but realize that if you lose contact with them, it’s not the end of the world. Chances are, you’ll still be able to hang out with them whenever you visit. But your life is here now. Embrace it.

6. If you don’t want to drink/smoke/do drugs/have sex, you don’t have to. Most people won’t judge you for it, as long as you don’t wear it on your sleeve, and those that do aren’t worth your time. But if you make such a commitment, don’t slack. You will face much greater peer pressure to get drunk as an occasional drinker as opposed to a non-drinker.

7. Get to know upper-years, especially within your own program. They will be invaluable when you find yourself in need of answers about both your classes and your life, and you might be able to score some sweet deals out of it (they may sell you their old textbooks at 25% the going rate).

8. Be frugal. Don’t run into a situation where you have too much month left at the end of the money. Food/rent/tuition come first, then treat yourself. And remember: money you don’t spend is money you won’t have to pay the bank back later.

9. Learn to cook. Seriously, take-out gets really disgusting after a while, and those living with you probably won’t appreciate the mountains of garbage it produces. It doesn’t take a lot of time or effort (or money) to eat delicious, filling, nutritious meals that you’ve prepared yourself, and you’ll probably feel better about yourself because of it.

10. You may have come from high school with a 99% average, but you WILL meet someone smarter than you. Don’t ever think you know everything. This especially applies when dealing with professors/TAs, even if speaking in coherent English isn’t their strong suit.

12. Have fun. It’s your life now, so live it the way you want.

2) Don’t waste your time. Yes, it’s the most amazing 4 years of your life, but don’t throw it away on partying every day and not getting out and doing something actually worth talking about 20 years from now.

3) Remember you’re an adult now and Mom and Dad, while still important, do not make your decisions for you now.

4) Go Greek. It’s the easiest, funnest and most memorable way to meet people. And do it for the right reasons, i.e. meeting interesting people, making life long connections and broadening your social network. These are things you will greatly appreciate in the future. And if you do go Greek, don’t be the idiot who ruins it for everyone by routinely casting your house in a bad light by making a fool of yourself. Leave that for live-out parties without wearing your letters. And if you don’t go Greek, at least have some friends in the system. We have your best interest in mind when we tell which houses NOT to party at.

5) Don’t be afraid to change your major! Yes, it will add time to your stay there, but it will most likely be worth it in the long run. Especially if you’d like to be happy.

6) Live in the dorms for at least one term, you will make some good friends as long as you’re sociable.

7) Take advantage of office hours! Even if they are at ridiculous hours.

Have fun for fuck sake! Don’t let a perfect 4.0 GPA ruin a perfect 4 years of life that can’t be replaced!

9) Some of your most important lessons will NOT be learnt in class.

1) Most people who say “no one works in the field of their majors anyway” are the type who think college is about finding yourself and making new friends. You CAN work in the field of your major–you just have to actually prepare for it. Intro to Chatting Up the Girl Across the Hall is not proper preparation. Neither is Advanced Beer-Bong Lab. Doing research with professors, getting internships and co-ops, taking on relevant academic and extra-curricular projects–THAT will land you a job in your field of interest. Your peers will be too busy cleaning the soap out of their ears from their last Naked Bubble Party to even realize what opportunities just passed them by.
2) If you have time to goof off between Monday and Friday afternoon, you aren’t working hard enough.
3) Make sure every professor, every semester, knows your name and your areas of interest by the end of the first week.
4) Apply for relevant work experience. Avoid bullshit campus jobs–no one cares if you were the campus art museum curator. Employers want to see that you can be MORE than a student.
5) Find yourself a career mentor–preferably a professor or adviser in your field of interest. Someone who knows you well enough to invite you to professional conferences. Someone who feels strongly enough about your abilities to introduce you to colleagues and recommend you for employment. If you don’t develop a relationship like this within two-three years of college, you aren’t working hard enough.
6) Don’t become a Resident Adviser/Floor Monitor. You won’t be able to get out of the responsibility for an entire semester if you manage to land a real job.
7) Don’t let the laziness and incompetence of your peers influence you. Calculus I isn’t ssoooo hhaaarrrdd, your friends just suck.
Develop a meaningful and reliable relationship with one member of the opposite sex at a time, or none at all. Bank on the fact that chasing ass will be a hell of a lot easier and less time consuming once you’re a success. If you have time to chase ass now, you aren’t working hard enough.
9) Women looking for their Mrs. degrees on daddy’s hard earned dollar–get it fast and get the hell out of everyone else’s’ way. The rest of us have success to achieve and money to earn.
10) Try to avoid student loan debt if you can. Graduation is generally considered the cut off point for all financial pity from family, and you want to be sure you have enough to live on while you job hunt.

Reality–it’s harsh.

1. Whatever you do – keeping or losing your HS friends and BF/GF, doing every club you can or sticking with only two, taking all the classes or working, going out to party or staying in to study – make sure it is for the right reasons. Don’t do it just to do it. Do it because you think it’ll better your life in some way.

2. Only you know the right reasons. Your friends can’t tell you what to do. They will offer an open ear (and if you have good friends, an objective ear), but the choice is only up to you.

3. At the beginning of my Freshmen year, I didn’t like my roommate at all. I thought he was weird as hell, annoying, and kind of creepy. After a while as I got to know him, I started to like him more. This year we got an apartment together and I consider him one of my close friends. The moral: don’t be too quick to judge the people you meet, and try to give everyone a chance, because you don’t know the greatness you could be flushing out of your life.

4. At that, my friend is a Freshmen this year and stuck in the dorms. His roommate is an asshole who steals his shit, doesn’t clean up after himself, is loud and obnoxious, doesn’t respect my friend’s sleeping schedule, and is in general a bad roommate and a bad person. The moral: try to give everybody a chance, but some people just aren’t worth it. Some people flat out don’t deserve your time.

5. DON’T USE THE SNOOZE BUTTON! EVER! TAKE IT OfF THE DAMN ALARM CLOCK!

6. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and look foolish. It’s better to look foolish for the sake of precision and understanding then to not fully understand something and then…whoops, you failed the next test, or couldn’t register for that class.

7. If you find yourself debating between two things, always go with the one you think you “should” do. I always end up regretting my choice when I decide to do something I shouldn’t do.

8. Everybody deserves to be a bit selfish sometimes. Your goal in life should be to be able to live with yourself. If you’re working on four papers, have to manage the treasury for the student government, have to practice piano, and your friend just called up crying needing a shoulder, do what you have to do to stay sane and coherent, even if that means sacrificing a blow to a friendship or a bad grade in a class. Sounds heartless, but it’s true.

9. Have fun when you can. Your purpose is to get an education, so don’t waste money or time, but like I said, the goal is to be able to live with yourself. If you stay in every weekend and study, try to set up at least one weekend where you can go out with your friends. Screw the schoolwork every once in a while! You only get to live once.