“Consider that you may want to hold off on getting involved with lab research and taking on additional activities until you see how well you’re adjusting to the college workload. You don’t want to crash & burn and be one of those posters who comes back in year asking how to fix a poor freshman GPA.”
Pay attention! This is key. Most pre-meds crash and burn their first year because they under-estimate the workload. You want to have a social life, get enough sleep, and still do well academically. The only EC that’s important this year is your pre-med association where students more ‘advanced’ in the curriculum can give you advice.