Start with the most important question of all: Why are you at college? The answer took me several years to understand when I was there, but it should dictate everything you do at school. College is the greatest place to prepare yourself to be the most successful person you can be, and the best part is that you get to define what "successful" means to you. One day your education will be over, and you'll have to make it on your own. You'll have to take away from your education everything you need to get you wherever you want to go. Make the most of it, because you will only get out of college what you put into it.
You have to take advantage of what your campus has to offer. There are experts on every subject you've ever heard of (and many you haven't). You'll find world-class research, opportunities for overseas studies, intramural athletic programs, student government, school newspapers, professional societies, community service organizations and internship programs. These are as important to your future as your classes, but you have to take advantage of them. No one will come knocking on your door-you must aggressively go after these things and do the knocking yourself.
If you're not sure what you want to do as a career, actively find out now. Get a job in a research lab if you think you might want to be a scientist. Volunteer at a hospital if you think you might want to be a doctor or a nurse. Find a summer job at a computer company if you think you might want to be a computer scientist. Do these things now, and be determined about it.
Take classes on everything you're interested in learning about-make yourself a well-rounded person. If you're a music major, take a chemistry class if you're curious about molecules. If you're a chemistry major, take a music class if you play guitar. This is the last time in your life you'll be given the chance to simply learn things with few other responsibilities. Take advantage of these opportunities. My biggest regret about college is that I didn't take enough non-science classes, and now I'm just a science nerd. I could've been interesting at parties, but I was only interested in taking the minimum requirements of my major. Don't make the same mistake.
Successful upperclassmen are a tremendous resource. For example, if you want to go to medical school, ask a senior who has already been accepted how they did it. One very accomplished senior gave me advice on how to study, which literally changed my life and got me where I am today. It takes about 2-5 hours per class per week, but it is infinitely worth it. Here are the tried-and-true tips for success:
1) Outline your lecture notes for every class every weekend. By outline, I mean use the fewest words possible to convey what the professor was getting at during the lectures. Pay special attention to how the different concepts relate to each other, and how they paint the "big picture". Be sure to strive for understanding-not memorization.
2) Make a separate outline for the week's assigned reading similar to the outline for the lecture notes.
3) Each weekend you should also update cumulative lists of other important information for the class (such as formulas for a physics class, reactions for a chemistry class, etc.). Again, use the least amount of writing necessary to convey the information. By doing this outlining, you'll stay current in every class and then understand what the professor is saying the following week. Most importantly, when it comes to pre-midterms-and-finals "crunch" time, you'll have your relatively short outlines to study-not hundreds of pages of notes or textbook reading. The bottom line is that you will work less, and be more successful. The act of producing the outlines is where the learning takes place, because you have to understand something thoroughly to write it in your own words. This takes a little discipline, but not that much work. It'll definitely pay off.
You should also go to office hours every week in every class. Ask the first question and say, "What was most important about today's lecture?" That will start the discussion going. If you understand the important material-and why it is important-you'll do very well in the class. The best part is that you'll need recommendation letters someday, and office hours are where many professors get to know their students the best. It's yet another way to make the most of your few short years as a college student!
