1) The best advice I received before starting college was this: Being smart isn't measured by what you can pull out of your head but by what you know how to look up. Back in my day that meant taking “Library Sciences” because we were searching microfiche, poking about in the stacks at the library. Now days it means knowing how to use the traditional library services but also how to search online and how to know when online information is valid.

2) Know if you are a letter person or a number person. If you're going to study topics that require you to write essays then get your writing skills polished in the first and second semester. If you are going to study topics that require math then get your math skills together. A numbers person would do well to polish up their writing. I'm was an English Literature Major with a Linguistics Minor and I was able to avoid having to do any math in college.

3) For the letter person: If you take classes that have a required reading list buy those books at the start of the semester. Also buy the list of books that are recommended. Before the first day of class look inside of those books.

4) If you are introverted and have a hard time speaking in public take a public speaking class ASAP. I've know people who graduated with a teaching degree and found they could not speak in front of a class of young students. Speaking in class is difficult for foreign students. Some classes weigh in class participation as 30% of the grade. Learn how to speak up and be confident.

5) For all new students: Interview your prospective professors. Make an appointment, ask what are the required and recommended reading lists. Ask the professor how much in class participation is going towards the final grade. Ask if giving oral reports can be an option to writing a report. Sound out the professor to see if you can have a connection to them. Do they have a sense of humor? Are they stand offish? I interviewed my professors for the next year during the current year. My only ally that mattered in a class was the person teaching it.

6) For all semesters take a couple of classes that go toward the General Education Requirement, one class to build your skills (letter or number), and one class that is your elective. Repeat until you have all your General Education Requirement classes done. Have your electives make sense to you, e.g., American History with an Asian American perspective. I've known people who took all the classes for Marine Biology and after two years decided they didn't want to go in that direction and they had none of their General Education Requirement classes done. College is expensive. Don't waste your time.

7) If you have a person who is blind in any of your classes ask them if they need a reader. Not only are you going to get paid to read to them, or read into a recorder for them to listen to later, but you also do not have to buy the books for that class. You also have a study buddy. This also improves your public speaking but also your reading skills having to read content out loud. Try explaining geology to a person blind from birth. It stretches your brain.

8) When writing reports for a class find out who is the professor's Teaching Assistant. If you know that the TA is a progressive female, for example, you can write to that audience. Little known tactic but it works. Being able to “switch code” to appeal to the reader is a skill you will need in real life.

9) I was able to make money tutoring classes I took the year before. Sometimes I was able to tutor classes I was taking that semester but I had to get permission from the professor. This is through the college. If where you're going to school does not have a tutoring service you can make money tutoring informally. Charge by the hour. I've sold my class notes and I would charge by the page plus photo copy costs. Tutoring reinforces the information for you and can also help you make some money on the side.

10) When choosing your classes know where they are located on the campus. You don't want to have to run from one end of the campus to the other, schlepping your books and gear, to get to a class that starts 10 minutes after the one you are leaving. You will burn yourself out. Cluster your classes as close to each other as possible. Also factor in your Work/Study location too.

11) Lastly: regular eats, regular sleeps, study a bit every day. Cramming during an all nighter before a test does not work. The night before a big exam should be spent eating well, taking a soak in the tub, and getting rest. Then the next morning eat a good breakfast and saunter into the exam all bright eyed and bushy tailed. You’ll finish the exam before anyone else and walk out while they are still bent over their blue books.