5 Tips for Incoming College Freshmen

Since the new semester/quarter is about to start (or maybe for some of you, it has started already), I thought it was appropriate to write a post like this. Plus, this allows me to reflect on  my experiences last year even more. I tried to avoid some of the things that you’ve probably read in mainstream blogs, and speak from my own experience. So here it is: 5 tips for incoming college freshmen.

1. Make a LinkedIn profile

You don’t need to have a lot of things on there. You can slowly build and add to your profile throughout your college career – and for the time being just add some stuff you’ve done in high school that might get you started. But having a LinkedIn profile, and being able to see what other students are doing on theirs, have been immensely helpful for me.

Example: my LinkedIn profile

First of all, a LinkedIn profile will help you to see what opportunities are there on campus and beyond, especially if you’re new in town. The clubs that I am involved in right now were not the clubs that I saw during the activities fair held by UCLA during orientation week. I actually found out about the clubs that I was actually interested in through the LinkedIn profiles of some people… that I’ve stalked.

What actually pushed me to take action and to put myself out there was LinkedIn. I was looking at what everyone was doing with their time at UCLA. I saw amazing profiles, with amazing credentials and experiences that I never thought existed. For example: becoming a researcher for topics that you are interested in (even in business!). I was inspired. I wanted to utilize my time as well as all the people that I’ve seen (stalked) on LinkedIn. So I went and started applying to things.

Even if you don’t feel like you need the extra push, having a LinkedIn profile will just help in getting your name out there (since most students use it!) and at the very least help you out when you need to put together a CV/Resume.

Connect with me on LinkedIn here!

2. Avoid 8 AM classes if possible – unless you are sure 100% that you are a morning person

You might think to yourself: “In high school, we start at 8 every day and it was completely fine!” That’s what I thought too. But trust me when I say, if you can avoid it, don’t take the 8 AM classes if you have other alternatives.

To start off, college life is not in any way similar to high school – especially if you live in the dorm. In my dorm, the place was still very much alive even when it was past midnight. You can still hear people in the common room, your neighbors might still be having their own little party in their rooms, and your roommates might still be studying late into the night. If you wake up at any time before seven, the hallways would be most likely empty, the dorms dead silent. Even if you’re the type of person that sleeps earlier and wakes up even earlier, having this kind of environment makes it hard for you to keep that habit.

You also need to take into account the fact that you may need to pull an all-nighter or work late into the night at some point. It’s obviously not ideal, but as students, these kind of things happen. Having to wake up for that 8 AM will become almost impossible for you to do, and you’ll end up not going into lecture. In fact, having the earliest period possible for your class increases the chance of you skipping lectures, which I don’t recommend.

Having said that… you will probably have to take 8 AM classes at some point in your college journey. I took 8 AM classes last quarter and I still have to take them for next quarter (and now I sound like a hypocrite). As unfortunate as this is, I will just need to suck it up and wake up for these classes. If this happens to you, my best advice is to brace yourself and start thinking of ways of making sure that you still go to lectures. For example, getting your roommates/class buddies to hold you accountable. That was what my roommates did for the first 2 quarters of freshman year, where they had to take 8 AM math classes together.

Even if you’re an early bird, you can use the morning to have a nice breakfast, take more time to get ready, and overall be more prepared for the day instead of rushing to class. If you’re NOT an early bird – please consider this post a warning. Don’t take 8 AM classes for fun.

3. The Freshman 15 is real

Freshman 15: When a first year college student comes back the following year and appears to have gained about 15 pounds from eating too much and not enough exercise.

(source: Urban Dictionary)

You’ve probably heard multiple posts about this already, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. Try to exercise regularly, or eat healthy. Yes, I know – easier said than done. I’m guilty of not exercising enough last quarter because I thought I didn’t have time.

Hear me out. If you absolutely do not have time to exercise, DO NOT GET A SCOOTER OR SKATEBOARD.

Walking around campus helps more than you think. I walk about 7-9 km every day just by doing my daily activities. Imagine if you cut that off your lifestyle, plus you’re not exercising, and plus you’re going crazy about the amazing food on your campus (UCLA’s food is amazing, so double warning for UCLA kids).

4. You have more time than you think! Don’t hesitate to participate in campus activities & organizations due to the fear of time management.

I was really scared when I first started college. I was terrified of the potential workload of my classes and their difficulties. I happened to secure a part time job in my first quarter, and the idea of having to work 8 hours a week added more to my stress. In my head, I didn’t have time for anything else.

Yeah. This picture sums up my life when midterm week comes around.

But this is what actually happened.

Fall Quarter: I had three classes (two of them were General Education (GE) classes) and a part time job (8 hours a week).

Winter Quarter: 3 classes (all of them were GEs, but they were HEAVY on reading. I feel like I was always reading something. I also wrote a total of 7 essays for my classes this quarter. I scheduled my classes pretty horribly). I joined two clubs and started volunteering to tutor in an elementary school, and I increased my working hours in my job (9 hours).

Spring Quarter: Still only 3 classes (two of them were pre-requisites for my major, so I had to take them relatively more seriously). Dropped the volunteering, but joined another club, so I was active in 3 clubs. I increased my working hours in my part time job again – 10 hours this time. I also started to realize that I really haven’t explored LA that much, so I started to get out more! I visited several places this quarter, whereas I barely travelled in the previous quarters. I plan to do more of this next quarter, if possible.

Obviously like everyone else, I still struggle with time management from time to time. The purpose of this section is to show you that you actually have more time than you think. I felt like I had no free time at all during Fall Quarter, when in reality I was only juggling half of the things that I now have. To be honest, I still feel like I need more hours in a day during Spring Quarter, but it amazed me that I still managed to be alright even after increasing the stuff on my plate significantly.

On a final note, though, also give yourself some time to adjust to the whole college world. Don’t be afraid to jump on amazing opportunities, but maybe increase your workload gradually over time instead of doing it all in your first ever quarter.

5. Track your spending (and earnings, if applicable)

It’s really easy to get carried away with your money in college. Especially during the start of a quarter, where you have to buy all your textbooks (pro tip: try to look around for a free PDF through friends/on Facebook, or try to rent one through your bookstore or Amazon before you spend $100 on something you’ll only use for 10 weeks). Not to mention eating out with newly found friends, contributing to club activities, etc.

It may sound tedious, but I found that the easiest way to keep my spending in check is to track it – manually. I track my spending using a spreadsheet. The simplest way is to have a simple table like below and total your spending for the week. I mostly use my debit card for transactions since there’s no ATM for my bank on campus, so it’s easy for me to do this. I simply check my transaction history on my phone. This takes about 10 minutes at the end of each week, so it shouldn’t be too time consuming or complicated!

Here’s an example of a table that I’d use. If you want to be more detailed in your tracking, by all means, go for it! But if you’re feeling lazy, then this is the bare minimum that you can use.

This way, you can look back and see which week you’ve been overboard with your spending, or which week you’ve spent very little money. You can plan out your next week accordingly. Spent way too much this week? Guess I should cut down on the coffee for next week.

You can also make another table for your earnings – every time you get paid, you record it on the table. This way, you can see if you’re overspending directly from comparing your spending table to your earnings table.

Hope these tips are useful, and feel free to leave a comment or ask me any questions! And for those of you who are starting college in a few weeks, GOOD LUCK!