When you’re a new college student, preparing for everything can be extremely daunting. Let’s face it, there is a lot to do to prepare for the fall semester. Here are some extremely helpful tips to ensure that you’re organized and prepared to succeed for your first semester.

Get Organized

One of the most crucial steps to prepare for college is being organized. The first semester of college is often considered to the most overwhelming–and with good reason. If you compare college to high school, your schedule is much more open and curated around what you have picked. And that is often a great thing to many… but it can also leave you room to fall behind or get overwhelmed.

Some simple ways to stay organized include:

• Carefully read through every syllabi that a professor has given so you can be prepared for big assignments and deadlines;
• Use a paper or digital planner, depending on what works best for you;
• Set yourself a schedule to manage your time outside of class;
• Organize your notes and computer documents by each class;

The most important thing to remember is that you need to keep track of everything however works best for you. You may feel the pressure to be organized with different colored highlighters or notebooks, but if that kind of organization doesn’t work for you then there is no point.

Plan Transportation Ahead of Time

Your commute time greatly depends on how close you live to the campus. Obviously walking is the cheapest option, but that may not be the most realistic. Using public transportation is often the best option, but with that one you need to be very familiar with the bus times as well as the stops.

Organize Your Email

Something that college freshmen may not think about is how quickly their inbox will become overwhelming (this is especially true if you are learning online). Many email providers allow the users to use labels or similar features to organize their incoming emails however they desire. This way you can have all of your emails from your different professors organized.

Set Goals

Although your overall goal is most likely to graduate with decent grades, you should also set other short-term or long-term goals to motivate you to reach that final one. 

For example, let’s say a certain class you are taking really interests you and you’d like to get the highest grade you can. Therefore, you’d want to set aside a few hours each day so that you can focus on studying or doing whatever tasks are necessary to succeed in the class.

You may also benefit from using a journal to keep track of these goals you have. Looking through the pages and seeing progress you’ve made towards your goals could be a motivator when you are struggling or feeling stressed.

Final Thoughts

During your first semester, it’s important to stay organized so that you are prepared for all of the various assignments and exams you’ll face. However, it’s important that you remember to take care of yourself, socialize, and have fun. It’s very easy to burn out if you invest all your time and energy into school.