<p>First thing you should know is that you may think you know what you want to do, but you will probably change your mind. Some people know right away, but it isn’t necessarily common. So don’t box yourself into one path right away, don’t stack your schedule in one direction your first semester or even your first year.</p>
<p>So to make a list of things I wish I knew:
- Balancing work and pleasure- if you aren’t also having fun you will become depressed and get no work done. Go out and party with friends. If you focus all week studying then it is mandatory to go out during the weekend with your friends at least once. Find a girlfriend/boyfriend. College is an experience, don’t ruin it by doing too much work or too much play.
- Don’t screw yourself with your schedule, plan ahead. Look at what you need to graduate then spread out your hard classes. Don’t take all your gen eds and end up having to take all upper level classes in your major later on. I’m a math major and I love math, but that doesn’t mean I want to take 5 math classes at the same time. Problem sets can take hours and hours to complete, I don’t want to even think about what it would be like to try to complete 5 per week or two.
- Make your first semester easy. Don’t take all lab science and math classes.
- Go in and see your professors, ask for their advice and guidance. Chat them up, you’ll need them for recs.</p>