First Day of Classes

So you've moved in, you've bought your textbooks, and you've found your classes. Now all that's left to do is start school.

There are a few things that you should understand before starting your first day of classes at college.

First and foremost, high school and college are entirely different places. Everything else I'm going to say here is based off of that fact.

1. Do not go to class thinking the first day is a free. Depending on the class, there is a good chance that you will start going through the material the first day after the professor has gone through all the class introductory stuff.

2. Do not be scared by the syllabus. In every course that I've taken at college the first class began by the professor handing out a syllabus that showed every reading assignment, every paper, and every exam planned out. This might be a lot to take in but don't panic.

3. Expect to have reading assignments the first night. 90% of the work that you will do will be out of class, so expect the professor to have you working from the very start. Keeping up with your work is important, so do things as they are assigned from the very start.

4. Lectures vs. Seminar - if you are in any type of general education course, expect it do be a large lecture (again this depends on your school) of 200-300 people. Smaller classes, which are called seminar courses many times, consist of 20-30 students, but these will be rarer your first year.

5. Make sure to take note of the professor's office hours, how you can contact him/her and any other services that might be offered to help you in the course. If you ever need help it is important that you know where to find it. If you don't get help when you need it, you will fall behind in the course, which is something you cannot let happen.

6. Don't panic. I know I've said this already, but this is the most important part of this. Your first day might be overwhelming, but do not panic. Adapting to college is a process. It is not going to happen the first day. Just remember this, and you'll be fine.