9 Strategies You Can Employ Now to Ensure a Successful First Year at University

     9 Univeristy Strategies You Can Employ Now to Ensure a Successful First Year

1/ Join a Club:

Most universities have a long list of student organizations with open membership. Canada’s McMaster University recognizes over 300 clubs in five distinct categories. There is even one for seniors. Chances are your faculty and/or graduating class also has a Facebook page you can join. Here you can make early connections with other freshmen. Learn who you’ll be sharing classes with and who shares a common off-campus interest. This is also a good place to find advice about scheduling and popular classes from students who are finishing their first year.

2/ Lock it up:

Sign up for a locker. Even if you are living in residence, and especially if you aren’t, a locker can save you grief schlepping your gear from class to class, which in the winter, will include a coat and boots.

3/ Get the Lay of the Land:

Download a campus map or pick one up at the admissions office. It’s a good idea to scope out the buildings where your classes will be held and to walk the routes between them well in advance of the September start date. This will save you confusion and keep you from making a late entrance on those all-important first days of class.

4/ Create the Optimum Class Schedule for Yourself:

Are you a morning person or more alert in the evening? Take this into consideration when enrolling in your classes. If you prefer to group your classes together in a solid block of time, remember that there is likely only a ten-minute interval between the end of one and the start of another. Back-to-back scheduling can be a problem if you need a bathroom or coffee break between sessions.

5 /Know Where to Find Help:

Get to know the support staff and where their offices are located long before you need them. Academic advisors and educational counsellors are an invaluable resource for all sorts of problems. Most faculty offices also provide helpful guides in pamphlet form.

6/ Tour the Libraries:

There are probably more than one. Pay special attention to the library that best meets the needs of your particular program or faculty. Speak to the staff and learn the system. This will save you time and anxiety when researching your essays and assignments.

7/ Get Checked:

Have a medical and dental checkup before you leave for school. No one can concentrate on lectures, much less study, with a nagging tooth ache or other physical aliment.

8/ Budget for a Tutor:

In case you fall behind or find yourself enrolled in a particularly challenging course, a tutor can help you make the grade. Don’t know where to find one? Click onto www.universitytutor.com

9/ Don’t Doubt Yourself:

Decide Now to have a Fun and Enjoyable First Year