The Top 33 College Freshman Tips, Advice, and Hacks

We’d be talking about College Freshman year tips, advice, and hacks.

Freshman year can get really frustrating and tiring if you don’t know what you’re doing. You’ll get really excited the first few weeks and then the real “COLLEGE LIFE” will set in.

I’m currently in my sophomore year and I’ve learned a lot in my freshman year of college, obviously, I survived, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this useful article for you.

Well, in this blog post I’ll be sharing some useful college tips, advice, and hacks that every single freshman needs to know before entering college.

By the end of this article, you’ll know the best tips, advice, and hacks to survive college in your first year and make it more fun.

Keep reading to find out more about these useful college tips, advice, and hacks for the best freshman year ever. Let’s go!

This blog post is about the best tips, advice, and hacks for freshman year of college.

Best Advice for All Incoming College Freshman

1. Join Clubs and Organizations

Joining clubs and organizations is a great way to meet new people, especially people with the same interest as you.

You’re in college now and not “High school” so you’d need to make new friends, meet new people, and share thoughts with people that have the same interest as you.

It’s very hard to make new friends and meet new people in college! Especially if you’re an introvert like me, I advise you join clubs and organizations.

Some of the best clubs you can join in college to meet new friends are intramural sport, cultural club, poetry club, magazines/newspapers club.

2. Do your Research Before Registering for Classes

I know a bunch of schools do their registration during the summer, regardless of that, when it’s time for you to register for classes “DO YOUR RESEARCH”

Do your research on how classes work, what are common classes for freshmen to take, I’m not saying you should have your whole four-year plan figured out, but it’s good to have an idea of what direction you want to go in.

I got pretty lucky because I ended up registering for classes with a bunch of other people and I took a very basic freshman fall-like schedule which I liked because I had friends which I could work with.

I’m telling you, if I was in classes alone, I would have dropped out because I would have failed them all.

Do your research and make sure you have friends in your classes that you could work with (that’s a genius tip right there!)… You’re welcome.

3. Don’t Buy Textboks

Yes! you read that correctly, you don’t need to buy new textbooks because they’re so expensive. You can literally find all your textbooks on the internet.

I’m telling you, all your textbooks are on the internet somewhere.

I did not buy a single textbook, I just had PDFs of all my textbooks.

Well, I remember buying an actual English book for a ridiculous amount of money, and the day after I bought it, my friend found that same book online. I was really hurt!!

There are other alternatives though, you could ask an upperclassman if they had the textbook, ask your friends if their upperclassman friend has a textbook.

Well, if you have to, if you really have to, buy a second-hand textbook from someone else because it will be a lot cheaper but I’m telling you, you can find all your textbooks on the internet.

4. Don’t Worry/Panic About What You’d Major In

I know there are some people who go to college already knowing what they want to do, that’s great and I’m proud of you.

Well, I’m not like that and I know a lot of people who aren’t like that either. If you have no idea about what you want to major in, that is totally okay.

When I was in high school I worried so much about what I was going to major in, I was so scared that I wanted to freak out.

Thinking of it now, I was so dumb…lol

First of all, you have time, you can always change your major.

I can remember my friend “Sonia” called me the other day and was like she wanted to switch her major to “Business” and she did.

That being said, don’t major in something because your friend is majoring in it because if you genuinely don’t like it, you’re going to have a horrible time and probably won’t get good grades.

Majors are overrated!!

5. Upperclassmen are Your Best Resources

You can do all the online research you want, I could talk to you all I want, ultimately the only person who knows the situation you’re in is upperclassmen.

They’ve been at your school, they’ve attended your classes, they’ve been living in your dorm, they know your situation, unlike anyone.

Furthermore, upperclassmen are friendly and that’s like two in one (2 in 1) because they’ll be your friend and your advisor.

6. Stay Safe

You can have fun in college but please stay safe. Wear your face mask before stepping out of your door, wash your hands when you get back home, and don’t forget to sanitize them.

To all the freshmen reading this, congratulations. College is really fun but stay safe.

7. Learn How to Humble Yourself

Let me tell you something, you really need to learn how to humble yourself before stepping into college and if you don’t college will teach you that real fast.

Don’t go to college bragging about how cool you were in high school, no matter what you achieved in high school, (NO ONE REALLY CARES) That’s the harsh truth.

Bragging about what you achieved in high school will only make other people look at you like that kid that never learned how to get out of high school and that’s not what you want.

8. Learn How to Manage your Time

This is a crucial one, you need to learn how to manage your time before getting into college.

If you haven’t already, get yourself a planner, write down your schedule for the week, and get it done.

Effective time management will help you do more in less time. I’m telling you, I don’t know what I’d have done in college without a planner.

9. You Don’t Always Have to Go Out

Regardless of what your friends are telling you, you don’t always have to go out. It’s okay to go out sometimes but when you go out on a Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, that’s a NO-NO.

That’s a toll on your body! Especially if you want to stay mentally and physically healthy for your classes.

Staying up really late and waking up really early for your classes is not good for your body! Especially when you’re doing it continuously.

Instead of going out to clubs every weekend night, you could just watch movies with your friends in your dorm room.

10. Never Compare Yourself with Anybody

This is huge, I know it’s easy to compare yourself to the next person that’s doing better than you.

You might compare yourself to the person doing better in your tests, the orchestra who plays way better than you, or the athlete who got more skills than you.

Please don’t compare yourself, it’s easy to get overwhelmed in college and that’s going to impact fear and negativity to your current state of mind.

Rather than comparing yourself with others, invest in yourself and try to be better than who you were yesterday, and watch greatness be created in your life.

College Freshman Struggles (What You Should Know)

1. Experiencing Your First Breakup

Coming from high school, there’s a high chance you haven’t had a boyfriend or girlfriend yet but this is nothing like high school.

I remember in my freshman year, my roommate had this guy that always seemed like the best boyfriend in the world, she even had her first kiss with him.

Their relationship was cool for a few months but he cheated on her and they broke up. She cried for hours and I know for a fact that breakup was one of the worst struggles she had to face in her college freshman year.

It’s okay to get into relationships in your freshman year but if you can’t really handle breakups then I’ll advise you to stay away from it.

2. Having to Wake-up Early Always

It’s really hard to wake up early in the morning and be consistent with it! Especially when you studied the night before.

I’ll advise you set an alarm on your iPhone and that way it would be easier for you to wake up early.

3. Not Knowing What to Wear

Sometimes you might have a full wardrobe and still feel like you have nothing to wear, I’ve been there before.

Now, the solution to this is not to pack all your outfits from home because you’ll have serious storage problems.

I recommend you check out this article on “What to wear when you have nothing to wear “

4. Getting Poor Grades/Failing Tests

You might fail your mid-term tests, you might get poor grades but it’s okay.

Failing tests and getting poor grades is definitely something you’ll have to struggle with if you don’t study your books but it’s not the end of the world.

How Can A Freshman in College Be Successful (Get Straight A’s)

1. Don’t Give Excuses

Excuses are for losers and winners make progress always. Don’t tell yourself that there’s no time or that you’re not smart enough.

There’s no such thing as “lack of time” there’s only what you give your priority. You make time for the things that are most important to you.

Take responsibility for all your actions in college and stop giving excuses! Excuses can never and will never make your situation better in college and in the world at large.

2. Figure Out Your Optimal Study Window

What I mean by this is that you need to figure out what time you’re best able to study. We’re all different and your study time can’t be the same as mine.

Some people assimilate better in the morning, some others in the daytime, and some people are good at studying at night.

You need to know yourself really well before choosing a time to study because that can affect the way you study.

Try to choose your best study time, I can’t emphasize that enough.

3. Find Your Learning Style

It’s important you find, know and master your learning style. For me, it’s reading aloud.

Every time I read aloud it makes me concentrate better and it just feels like everything is sticking to my brain.

Once you figure out your learning style then studying will be more fun for you and once you start enjoying your study, hey! you are set for straight A’s.

Check this article out to discover your learning style.

4. Set Smart & Specific Goals

You need to be smart when setting your goals, I know it’s good to set big goals but it should be realistic.

You also have to be specific when setting your goals, don’t just say “I’ll study tomorrow” NO! That’s not the way to do it, rather say “I’ll study physics by 8 AM tomorrow”

You see, both of them are goals but one is more specific. Being specific will allow you to be more focused, intentional, and strategic towards achieving your goals.

5. Be Consistent

Honestly, getting straight A’s is something you can achieve, you just need to have a goal, a clear strategy on how to achieve that goal, you must put in the hard work also.

A strategy is only a blueprint and that means if you don’t put in the effort (hard work) your goal is only a goal on paper.

I must tell you that as important as hard work is if you aren’t consistent with it then you won’t achieve anything.

Tip: Try to be consistent always.

College & Dorm Hacks All-Freshman Needs to Know

COLLEGE HACKS:

1. Build Your GPA in Your First Year

Your first year is going to be the easiest in college and that’s when you should start building your GPA.

Don’t wait until your second or third year before you start building your GPA because it will become so much harder by then.

Work as hard as you can in your first few semesters because it only gets harder from there.

2. Set Your Alarm Across The Room

If you struggle to wake up early then you should set your alarm across the room.

That way, once your alarm goes off, you will be forced to stand up and go across your room to turn off the alarm.

Once you turn off the alarm, don’t be quick to return to your cozy bed, it’s time for you to go to your bathroom and rinse your face with cold water.

This will instantly awaken you and you’ll feel more energetic! I don’t know what it is but it just works. At least it worked for me and it should work for you too.

3. Make a Class Friend

You need a class friend, you don’t have to be their best friend, you don’t have to hang out with them but get their contact info! It’s important.

Sometimes, the moment will come when one of you will need each other’s notes or you miss a class and you don’t understand something and you want a brief explanation.

I’m telling you, this will save you in your first year of college.

Tip: The best time to make a class friend is in the first class.

4. Go to Class

This might sound and look easy but you will be surprised by the number of people who don’t go to class.

Going to class will help you because some days will come when you will write a test in class that was unannounced.

Try as much as possible to go to class every day if you can.

5. Try to Get Enough Sleep In College

Please always try to get enough sleep in college, I can’t stress this enough. There are times at night when you won’t be able to retain any more information, at that point you need to SLEEP.

If you don’t sleep well then you won’t have the mental capacity to be present in your test and perform as well as you could be.

Don’t always try to outwork yourself when you feel like sleeping, I know that dorms can get really loud at night so I recommend you get a sound machine.

DORM HACKS:

6. Buy Extra Long Chargers

Extra Long Chargers are really will save your life because regular length chargers are not so comfortable, especially at bedtime when you’ll have to stretch them.

7. Loft Your Bed for Extra Storage

You need to loft your dorm bed for under-bed storage. Your dorm room might not have all the space you need so it’s always a good practice to loft your dorm bed.

I’ll also recommend you get under-bed storage where you can put extra clothes and shoes.

8. Buy a Brita Pitcher

A Brita Pitcher helps filter your water, I loved using this one I recommend because it could fit well into my dorm fridge and it was able to last me for 3 days long, and yes, it’s refillable.

The difference between drinking tap water and filtered water is immediately noticed when you try out this Brita Pitcher.

Dorms don’t always have the best water but with a Brita Pitcher, you can filter all the germs out and your water will be very safe for drinking.

9. Get a Mini-Keurig if You’re a Coffee Lover

If you’re a coffee lover then it’s time to get a mini Keurig, it doesn’t just help you save money from buying expensive cups of coffee, you can also prepare your coffee anyhow you want from the comfort of your dorm room.

Survival Kits for All Incoming Freshman

1. First Aid

College dorms are not the safest places, you might get a cut or a bruise by accident or even just a slight headache and you’ll need first aid to take care of it.

2. Tool Kit

You might need a screwdriver or a plier to tighten or loosen a “bolt or nut” so it’s always good to have your tool kit because you don’t know what can happen.

3. Command Hooks

Command hooks are easy to use, you just need to place them on the wall, leave them to dry for one hour and you can hang anything on them, like your posters, wall arts, chopping boards, etc.

4. Batteries

You might need batteries for your calculators, lights, or any other items in your dorm room.

You need a few batteries with you in your dorm room just in case.

5. Chapstick/Lip Balm

You will need chapstick for the cold winter months. You will get chapped lips during the winter season if you don’t have chapsticks.

Get this 4 in 1 pack of chapstick and your lips will thank you.

Conclusion

And there you have it! The 33 best college freshman tips, advice, and hacks.

I started out by listing the best advice for all incoming college freshmen, college freshman struggles, how a freshman can be successful in college, college & dorm hacks that all freshmen should know, and lastly, survival kits for all freshmen.

Now that you know the best freshman tips, advice, and hacks, you will have little to no trouble to face in your first year of college.

If you made it all the way to the end of this article, I appreciate you. Thank you and I hope you loved it.

Please share this content with any freshman you know and save them a lot of mistakes in their first year of college.

For more related content, consider checking out the following posts:

100+ Dorm Room Essentials for College Students

Best Dorm Gifts for College Students

References:

How to Loft a Dorm Bed

Benefits of Getting More Sleep in College