What might I expect of college life?
Although you've been a student for quite a while now, college is likely to offer new, and sometimes unexpected, opportunities, demands and challenges. Yes, there is a BIG difference between high school and college. The demands of HS are few by comparison to the rigors of college. College offers time pressure, outside influences, freedom, and responsibility that few of us see in high school.
In college, you can expect:

• an increase in personal freedom (and the responsibility)
• new demands on your time (both study time and personal time)
• differences in course scheduling
• significant differences in your relationships with your instructors
• significant differences in your relationships with your parents
• to actively manage (and increase) study time to achieve the same grade
• less interaction between your parents and the school or instructors
• changes in testing/grading procedures and expectations of instructors

So this is normal?
YES! These expectations (and the resulting feelings) are normal and predictable. These differences are very real and require a different approach than you may be used to. In addition, your usual sources of support may no longer be present to facilitate the adjustment to the unfamiliar environment. You may feel inadequate, confused, lonely, or happy for your freedom. While normal and predictable, these feelings do not have to become overwhelming.

What can I do about it?
How you learn to negotiate these differences, or juggle these new demands, can significantly impact your grades point average as well as your ability to stay in school and graduate. In short, your ability to adjust during your first year at school and to successfully negotiate these new demands has the potential to influence your overall success at college.

Here are some suggestions to assist first-year students approach college with realistic expectations and more successfully negotiate the new demands:

• Manage your time: it will be important to establish your priorities early on; develop a system for managing all the demands on your time, be realistic about the amount of time required in work/school; take opportunities to manage your stress
• Develop assertion skills: identify your needs and make them known; develop a balance between passivity and aggression
• Use good study habits: not every good student uses the same study techniques, but all good students have strategies; find what works for you; visit our study guides for specific strategies in note taking, reading, preparing for and taking tests
• Problem solve: You will have choices. Make them wisely. Know the advantages and disadvantages (consequences) of each possible solution. Talk it out with friends/family/counselors