Tips to Adjusting to College: 

Starting College 

As a freshman year college student, give yourself time to adjust to the college transition. You need some time to digest all of the new things around you before you go home for a visit. It's very common to become homesick when you first move into a dorm. Especially if you're within driving distance of home, you may be tempted to go back within your first few weeks because of that feeling. Try to avoid doing so and instead give yourself time to experience your new surroundings. Look into college programs on campus that can help keep you engaged in the campus social life. Be sure to check out our College Freshman Survival Guide for tips on making this adjustment easier. 

Dorm living

 Leaving your family to move into a dorm and become a college freshman is something that you might be looking forward to or you might be dreading. For most undergrad students, adjusting to college life is a combination of both. The idea of going away and being independent is exciting but there is some worry about being alone, possibly for the first time and some people have trouble adjusting to college. Below you will find some tips or adjusting to college.

Many college freshman tips talk about how to adjust to dorm life, how to budget your time and your money and how to handle living with a roommate that you don't know.  They will also talk about moving out checklists, dorm checklists, dorm stuff and the dreaded freshman 15. Not as much college preparation seems to be spent preparing you for how you'll feel when you leave your family. This could be one of the toughest things to do. But you have to consider your family and your place within it, as well. It's often just as much an adjustment for parents and family members as it is for you when you leave home. Though they know you'll be coming back for visits (and maybe even bringing your laundry with you!) it may be the first time you've been away from home for weeks at a time. 

College Activities

 Going home early or often in the beginning can actually make you more homesick. Do your best to stay on campus as much as you can and get involved in social activities around your campus to help distract you from those feelings until you adjust. Ask your RA if there is a college activity list or if they have any ideas on what you can do. Some colleges also have a college activities board that can help place you in the right group. Call home, write, e-mail or talk via web cam when you feel home sick, and express your feelings. Your parents or family members are bound understand because they're going to be missing you, and they may remember what it was like for them when they went away to college. 

College Freshman Tips

There are a lot of sites that have college freshman tips and advice for students that are having some problems. Here is an idea that could help, revive the somewhat forgotten art of letter writing and actually mail them home. Your parents will probably be thrilled to hear from you in this way and the act of manually writing down how you feel and writing to them about your college freshman adventures can help you feel less homesick and make the adjustment easier. This is also a lot more personable and only takes a few more minutes to complete than sending an email. 

College Depression

 If you're a freshman year college student and you're having some homesickness, don't forget that your family may be having a harder time than you.  Call home and contact your family on a regular basis to help ease their transition to your college life. Staying in touch with your family and friends can help keep your spirits high. And don't hesitate to contact a school counselor if your feelings of homesickness persist, or you start to feel lonely or depressed, because counselors have great college freshman tips to share. Those tips listed above will help you avoid college depression, college anxiety, or feelings of being home sick or bipolar. There are a lot of college depression facts that show a correlation of college success vs. college drop outs. So be sure to seek help if you feel you are starting to struggle with any of these feelings. 

Comparing Colleges

One way to make sure you find the right college that’s not too far from home, is to use AnyCollege. You can compare college and universities though our online search engine. We also have a great resource center with stats, charts and worksheets on colleges in your area.

Some of the most repeated college freshman tips include how to deal with difficult roommates or how to win your new roommate over and make him or her a friend. No one wants to live with someone who is distance or unpleasant. And statistics show that not only can it be annoying, it can threaten your higher education.

Starbucks announced today that they will begin offering free Wi-Fi at all of its locations nationwide starting on July 1st. Even better, you won't even have to register for an account and the Wi-Fi will not be limited. I have a feeling that the Starbucks near Colleges and High Schools are going to be a lot more busy starting in July.

While you are taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi, be sure to stop back by and read our blog or apply for our scholarship drawing!

Happy (free) surfing.

A freshman year college student faces a lot of new information and situations at once. Classes are different, people are different and the college is often miles or even states away from home. But nothing requires the same kind of adjustment that dorm life does. If you come from a large family where several people have shared a small number of bathrooms or you've shared a bedroom, the adjustment might not be as extreme as you think. If you're an only child or you're used to having everything to yourself, a little college preparation can go a long way.

College living in a dorm often means that you'll be using a community bathroom. Each floor of a dormitory typically has one bathroom, but the large dormitories may have more than one. And for most undergrad students, it seems that the bathroom is as far away as it can possibly be. This requires a little bit of forethought. A caddy or container that contains all your toiletries and anything you might need should be fully stocked and kept handy.

If you're not used to wearing a robe or slippers around the house, you may want to invest in those for your freshman year so you never have to make a midnight dash to the bathroom in sleepwear that may be a bit more revealing than you'd like. Also, some type of shower shoes like flip-flops, as inconvenient as that might seem when you take a shower, can protect your feet from fungus that is pretty common in shared shower situations. Taking 3 seconds to slip on a pair of cheap flip-flops can save you in aggravation and antifungal medication later.

You'll also need to consider the laundry situation as a freshman year college student. Shared laundry facilities are common in dormitories and upperclassmen are typically already in a routine. They know the best time to go and have worked out all of the schedules and situations that you're trying to figure out now. Give yourself leeway. Don't wait until every item of clothing is dirty before you try to get the laundry done or you might find that the machines are full.

Also, keep in mind that the neater you keep your space, the better you'll be able to concentrate and focus on your work. You'll also be able to enjoy yourself more when you do have down time because you won't be thinking about how messy your dorm room is. The stereotypical messy dorm room might seem almost fun, but it can actually be counterproductive to a freshman year college student or any student. Keeping your room clean and organized and planning your time for showers, laundry and other tasks will make a huge difference in how smooth your transition is from high school to dorm living.

AnyCollege can help you find a college that has a great dorm environment as well as academic excellence.

No no... we're not discussing the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical (sorry). Rather, it's the concept of who you are and who you appear to be online. Is there a difference? Is it, as the royalty of many countries do, a combination of the public personae and your private personae? What do you share and what do you not share on social networks (do you show your public or private personae there)? How do you decide?

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Wow- it's almost midterms! What happened to this fall??

Anyway, a question for college freshmen. You've had a chance now to get acclimated to campus, get to know a few people in your classes and are starting to get the hang of this whole college thing.

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