5 Tips to Academic Success in college

College would be great if class didn't get in the way of the fun stuff.

The structure of our educational system allows most teens to skate by on minimal effort during the course of secondary education.  High school has become an factory designed to produce diplomas for everyone - including the bottom 20% of the class.  If you think the high GPA you carried in high school is  somehow going to follow you throughout your university years, you might want to reconsider the choice to attend an institution of higher level education and save a lot of time and money.

WARNING: COLLEGE IS NOT LIKE HIGH SCHOOL.

By senior year, this was beaten into the heads of many college-bound kids from the administrators that were supposed to be preparing them for college, without proper explanation of techniques on how to succeed in an unstructured environment.

Here are some tips on how to bring home a decent GPA, compiled from people who had to learn the hard way.  You won't find these in most college handbooks, trust me.

1.  If you are one of those people who has always thought that you may have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), see a doctor BEFORE FIRST SEMESTER. 

Attention in class will make or break your GPA.  Many people suffering from ADD and ADHD go undiagnosed and untreated.  If you believe your short attention span will land you on academic probation, see a doctor and raise your concerns!  


Many medications such as Adderall, Vyvanse, Concerta and Ritalin are all designed to combat the wandering minds of a variety of people suffering from ADD.

Don't wait to consult your doctor! The first semester of college is a hectic experience, and time is scarce.  By the time you address your attention problems, your GPA could already be hurting.  


Also, due to the abuse potential of attention medications by college students, your doctor might find it to be a little suspicious that you think that you need Adderall after coming back from your first-semester flop...

2.  There is a reason that Stephen King is not an astronaut.  Consider your academic strengths and weaknesses in deciding on a major.

I see this time and time again with my generation.  Perhaps it is because we were raised on the "both teams get a trophy, no matter who won the game" mentality.  


If you do not excel in science, maybe the pre-med major you were considering isn't the best choice.  


The funny thing about college-level courses is that they really do a great job at exploiting the fields of study that you suck at.  It's gonna be pretty tough passing organic chemistry when you had trouble with balancing equations in high school chemistry.

3. No one is a morning person in college.  Schedule your classes at times you will be awake and alert.

At some schools, the luxury of late classes may only be a commodity for upperclassmen.  


However, if you do have some time options, a PM class is usually the way to go.  Advanced Calculus is pretty hard to learn out of one bloodshot eye, and the creative juices needed for Art 101 dry up pretty quickly without some coffee.  


Late classes allow flexibility to your schedule: allowing time to study before class, giving you that much needed hour or two of beauty sleep after a late night, and providing time to get some brain food to start learnin'.  


Another added benefit is that with early classes, weekends are not the only time to go out.  Weekday parties are not unheard of, especially Thursdays.  

4.  If you were like my friends and I in high school, you don't know how to study.  Studying does not  mean staring at the words of a book, LEARN HOW TO STUDY.

You've probably heard this before.  More than likely, no one has actually took the time to explain practical ways to learn the art of studying.  


There is a reason for this, people learn in different ways.

That being said, I'll share a few things that have saved my ass on more than one occasion.

I take notes on my laptop during class, in an outline style format.  From there, I use a website called studyblue.com that allows students to upload notes from word documents.  It can turn your notes into online flashcards, term sheets, and even generate a practice quiz.

5.  Your first semester may be scattered with a few ugly grades.  Don't bug out, this is common for the first semester, and you will get the hang of it.  That being said, DO NOT LIE to your parents about your academic success, or lack thereof.

This is not like high school.  You cannot steal your report card out of the mail and set it on fire, because a bad GPA in college won't go up in smoke.  


Talking to your parents eliminates that awkward tension during Christmas break when that "amazing english grade" is sitting on the kitchen counter.  


Parents can also tend to offer words of encouragement and advise, and its much better if they're not in the dark.