Pulling together some short, practical advice for my college-bound kid. So far it's: Check your email twice a day. Know how to log in. Do the reading. Use the library. Write your own papers. Go to office hours. Be curious. What else?
Replies
Nobody studies alone. Make friends in the student organisations of your discipline
aug 15, 2025, 2:51 pm • 3 0 • view
Go to office hours. Make friends with janitorial staff and admin assistants. Always ask. Go do the thing.
aug 15, 2025, 2:23 pm • 10 0 • view
You don't have to say the final word on any topic, just some thoughtful first words
aug 15, 2025, 2:17 pm • 10 1 • view
oh I like this!
aug 15, 2025, 2:20 pm • 3 0 • view
It's advice that I got in first year undergrad 30 years ago (💀) and it's stuck with me!
aug 15, 2025, 2:40 pm • 2 0 • view
Start research for assignments as early as possible Don't be afraid to ask for extensions if the need is dire
aug 15, 2025, 2:16 pm • 11 0 • view
learn to budget!
aug 15, 2025, 2:05 pm • 3 0 • view
oh, good one!
aug 15, 2025, 2:07 pm • 1 0 • view
Eat well, brush your teeth, try new things
aug 15, 2025, 2:21 pm • 4 0 • view
oof, gonna add clean your retainer too
aug 15, 2025, 2:23 pm • 1 0 • view
if you have a question, ask the question Be nice to everyone but especially the admin assistants, janitors, dining hall workers, etc Find a system that makes doing schoolwork possible (takes time, worthwhile) The other students aren’t out to get you
aug 15, 2025, 2:35 pm • 4 0 • view
Take electives.
aug 20, 2025, 1:37 am • 1 0 • view
Unless I'm missing it, I haven't seen: Talk to a librarian as soon as you have a clear assignment and a due date. Also, true at my college at least: There's wiggle room more often than it seems. Ask to get into the restricted seminar. Ask to turn something in late. Ask to change your paper topic.
aug 20, 2025, 1:14 am • 3 0 • view
First friends don't have to be forever friends. When you start school, everybody's trying to find their people. The first people you hang out with might not be the people you keep in your life forever, but they get you out there meeting other people.
aug 15, 2025, 2:19 pm • 6 0 • view
Also, join a club.
aug 15, 2025, 2:19 pm • 5 0 • view
Attend class and engage. By far it’s the most important step. Don’t skip!!
aug 20, 2025, 1:46 am • 1 0 • view
Don't drink from open containers, don't use biometrics to open your phone, get a password manager
aug 15, 2025, 2:36 pm • 16 0 • view
Ah yes, just did the password manager yesterday!
aug 15, 2025, 3:01 pm • 4 0 • view
Meet with your advisor regularly, and if you don't like them find a new one!
aug 15, 2025, 2:16 pm • 6 0 • view
aug 20, 2025, 1:30 am • 2 0 • view
Succinct!
aug 20, 2025, 2:54 am • 1 0 • view
sent my cousin in law with like five different varieties of notebooks plus g2 blue ink pens
aug 15, 2025, 2:17 pm • 2 0 • view
(along with advice in how/why to use)
aug 15, 2025, 2:17 pm • 0 0 • view
this one literally hoards g2 pens already so he has that part covered!
aug 15, 2025, 2:19 pm • 3 0 • view
he's in good shape, it sounds 😊
aug 15, 2025, 2:46 pm • 1 0 • view
I love this. Going to adapt for my hs students, if that's OK
aug 15, 2025, 3:07 pm • 1 0 • view
yes, of course!
aug 15, 2025, 3:21 pm • 1 0 • view
Telling them to check email twice/day is surprisingly necessary -- many of them have only the vaguest idea why that might be a good thing to do
aug 15, 2025, 3:28 pm • 0 0 • view
Because it’s full of junk! But also sometimes a very important thing…that maybe looks like junk!
aug 15, 2025, 3:42 pm • 1 0 • view
yep. I teach them filters, "mark as junk," skimming/scanning, etc. It's doable.
aug 15, 2025, 3:45 pm • 0 0 • view
Ask questions, but first check to see if the answer is on the syllabus :)
aug 15, 2025, 3:38 pm • 5 0 • view
In particular, asking questions of a college librarian will take you far!
aug 15, 2025, 3:40 pm • 0 0 • view
Haha, yes. I am a read-the-manual person myself, so hoping a tiny bit of that rubbed off on them
aug 15, 2025, 3:41 pm • 2 0 • view
Walk, swim, run, go to the gym but do something to decompress and have some simple time to unwind.
aug 15, 2025, 3:54 pm • 1 0 • view
Depending on their living arrangements: learn to make 2-3 dirt cheap meals with limited resources. You can save a lot of money just by keeping a hunk of cheese, a couple cans of beans, tortillas, milk, instant oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, and lettuce around. Relatedly: eat at home b4 going out
aug 20, 2025, 1:28 am • 1 0 • view
Ask for questions/for help early and often.
aug 15, 2025, 2:11 pm • 13 0 • view
I feel like some colleagues would benefit from this advice too.
aug 15, 2025, 3:20 pm • 4 0 • view
Definitely
aug 15, 2025, 3:37 pm • 1 0 • view
The advice my dad gave me was “heart disease runs in the family, so if you’re going to smoke something, smoke weed.” Not saying it was the best advice but I never smoked cigarettes so it did work!
aug 20, 2025, 1:11 am • 3 0 • view
Better yet, consume cannabis in some other form (edible, topical, etc)
aug 20, 2025, 1:22 am • 2 0 • view
This was back in the days before any kind of legal weed in any state, but in modern times I totally agree with you. As I told the college students I caught smoking weed in the library “take edibles like a grown up.” 😂
aug 20, 2025, 1:24 am • 4 0 • view
lol, yup!
aug 20, 2025, 1:28 am • 1 0 • view
This is good advice!
aug 20, 2025, 1:24 am • 1 0 • view
Have a big meal with lots of carbs before you go to a party!
aug 15, 2025, 2:36 pm • 4 0 • view
Smart!
aug 15, 2025, 3:02 pm • 1 0 • view
There are people whose job it is to help you if you start to have a bad time: academic deans, deans of student life, counseling services, financial aid advisors, and more. Locate their offices, phone numbers and email addresses *before* you need them!
aug 15, 2025, 2:23 pm • 8 0 • view
Also: subject librarians.
aug 20, 2025, 1:38 am • 4 0 • view
Everything is worse when you're not getting enough sleep.
aug 15, 2025, 2:09 pm • 16 0 • view
Omg, my kids hear this from me constantly! Except I say "life is harder when you haven't slept"
aug 15, 2025, 2:11 pm • 5 0 • view
Always have a designated driver.
aug 20, 2025, 1:17 am • 2 0 • view
And if that doesn’t work out, take a Lyft home. It’s never worth the risk.
aug 20, 2025, 1:20 am • 1 0 • view
Exercise
aug 15, 2025, 2:31 pm • 4 0 • view
Make a little time each week for stuff that opens your world: read a novel on the side; go to a music or theatre performance. Think about the arts and how they help us be human.
aug 20, 2025, 1:08 am • 1 0 • view
Pick your battles well lol
aug 20, 2025, 1:52 am • 1 0 • view
I know the rules have changed for the better around CC companies soliciting on campus, but a blanket don't-sign-up-for-credit-cards-no-matter-what-they're-giving-away-at-the-kiosk-that-day.
aug 20, 2025, 3:23 am • 1 0 • view
Sleep as much as you need Find people you like studying with and you'll study more and better If you despise the requirements for your major, switch majors
aug 20, 2025, 1:49 am • 2 0 • view
Didn’t ever go away to college, but have worked in higher ed for 25 years: Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Feeling panicked? Feeling overwhelmed? Aren’t sure if you’re the only one? Ask for help, please.
aug 20, 2025, 1:41 am • 3 0 • view
Join a Palestine solidarity group to meet the best people
aug 15, 2025, 2:31 pm • 7 0 • view
you know it!
aug 15, 2025, 2:59 pm • 2 0 • view
📌
aug 20, 2025, 1:32 am • 0 0 • view
If you need a job, get a campus job. They’re more likely to care about your schedule plus you can get to know more about the school/campus that way. Dating seems important but dodging angst and drama is gonna be so much better. Invest in good earplugs & headphones. School is loud.
aug 20, 2025, 1:42 am • 2 0 • view
Read the syllabus for each class. Make note of policies (grading criteria, absence policies, how many exams you have and when they are, etc.) but also what the professor says about the topic of the class, how her or she breaks the material down into units, what the units are called, etc.
aug 20, 2025, 1:42 am • 1 0 • view
Figure out how you're going to keep track of dates for tests, assignments, appointments, etc. That can be a paper planner or an online calendar or something else, but you need a system. One big difference between high school and college is that nobody is going to remind you in college.
aug 20, 2025, 1:43 am • 1 0 • view
Yeah this is a hard one!
aug 20, 2025, 2:53 am • 0 0 • view
It's OK to take a break from studying. It's OK to miss the social gathering to study. Moderation.
aug 15, 2025, 2:23 pm • 7 0 • view
Ask for help as early as you can; it's easier to help dig you out of a small hole than a big one!
aug 20, 2025, 2:06 am • 1 0 • view
Office hours is important. Go at the first excuse, early in the semester. Making an impression on a professor–showing you're interested, respectful and trying– goes a long way if you hit a bump. It isn't about impressing them w/intelligence. It's letting them see you–the person. And vice versa!
aug 15, 2025, 2:26 pm • 10 0 • view