Illinois College Tips for Incoming Freshmen

By Tom Chrobak

If you plan to attend college in Illinois, here are some survival tips to make your transition from high school graduate to college student an easy one.

—Sticker shock. You”ve got tuition under control,but then you realize you have to pay for text books. Even if you can buy used books for some subjects, be prepared to shell out up to $500 to $800 or more, depending upon your major. Textbook prices are a major complaint of a lot of students, and many parents expect their children to at least pick up that cost.

—This isn”t high school. It’’s hard to get out of the mentality that you don”t really have to be on time, pay attention, that you don”t have to be respectful to the teachers, that you can basically do whatever you want whenever you want. The tough part is, you can. But the consequences of not taking your college courses seriously are far greater now than it was in high school. Remember you are paying to go, to take these courses. If you fail, it means you have wasted your money (or your parents” money and they”re not going to be too happy with that).

—When it’’s due, it’’s due. Period. College freshman quickly find out that professors mean it when they say an assignment is due on a certain date. You won”t be able to sweet talk them into an extension. You get it in, or you get a zero.

—Know thyself. If you cannot get yourself out of bed for an 8 a.m. class, don”t sign up for one. Sure, you may have good intentions, but if you don”t show up, you”re only hurting yourself. College professors typically don”t take attendance, but they do know when someone is missing and they don”t much care for when a student is constantly showing up late—or not at all.

—Illinois winters are cold and campuses can be big. In high school, you wore shorts in twenty degree weather mostly because you didn”t have to go outside much. On a large college campus, you”ll be walking between buildings, walking to your dorm, walking to the dinner hall, so you need to dress accordingly. In other words, you”ll have to be responsible.

—The easy A. There’’s not a freshman out there who hasn”t taken what they think will be an easy A. Chances are, though, that A isn”t going to be as easy as you might have guessed. The last thing a new freshman needs is to fail a class that was supposed to be easy simply because they put no effort into it. It’’s all about GPA, and you have to keep yours as high as possible—especially if you expect to keep any scholarships you have.

—Get involved. Don”t be that weird kid who never goes out of their dorm room. It’’s tough. You don”t know anyone, you miss your old friends, and your family. If you”re not the most social person, join a club or group that interests you. If you”re pretty good at sports but not good enough to play at the college level, most colleges have intercollegiate leagues that are a fun way to meet people.

Freshman year can be stressful and fun and nerve-wracking and traumatizing. But you can make the best of it by getting involved and studying hard.

About The Author

To find out exactly how I can help you with college financial aid visit my website http://www.CollegePlanningIllinois.com and get a FREE Report: How to Pay For College Without Going Broke.