High School Letter

Dear Future College Student,

Going to college is a major life turning event in someone’s life. You get to meet new people and experience a whole new way of life. You get to make your own rules and manage your own life. You can do anything you want, although that can also lead to some students down fall in college. That is why I think the three main things to know before you go to college should be learning to manage your time properly, studying for tests and quizzes, and making sure you are prepared for college before you even leave. All of these things will help someone become more successful at being a college student and make life on their own go more smoothly.
Planning your time wisely is a main thing that a college student should learn to do. Plan time to study and hang out with friends. You don’t have to kill yourself with studying all the time; you should also spend time meeting new people and having fun. School is very important and if you don’t do well then you may not be coming back, but you need to have fun too, you just need to moderate the time for studying and for friends. I found the best way to do this is by planning out my time. I have time for activities I am a part of, time for reading and doing homework, and finally time to hang out with my friends, go to a movie and explore my surroundings. The best way to do this is by planning a large amount of time for studying. The typical rule is two hours for every hour of class for studying. If you plan it this way then you can have time to get all your homework done. You can always moderate your time with friends and studying for weeks you may have more tests and quizzes and relax a little on studying when you are ahead and don’t have any more homework or reading to do. With extra time you have in the day, you can then go and hang out with friends, and meet new people.

In college tests are very important. There aren’t as many homework assignments to do so your grade rests a lot in the grade you receive for your tests. You should start studying way before the test is going to happen. At least a week, but two would be even better. Go over old information and make sure you understand it very well. If you have a question go and ask your professor about it and make sure you have a grip on the topic before you move on. Study every night for an allotted amount of time leading up to the exam and use it wisely. Pick different topics that may be harder to understand and pair them with easier topics you don’t have to look over as much. Then you can spend time on the harder topics and also feel more confident on topic you have already mastered. Try and put a study group together so you can help others and others can help you. The night before the exam try to briefly look over all your information. Spend more time on topics that trip you up and less time on topics your feel fairly confident on. Once you have looked over your information get sleep. Being well rested the day of the exam will help you focus on the questions and focus on the information you have stored. Get to the exam on time, do not be late. You may not get to take the exam if you are late or if you over sleep the day of the exam, because you didn’t get enough rest, you won’t be able to get a grade and receive a zero. Once you get your exam look over it thoroughly. Look and see what type of essay questions you have, if there are any, and see how many question you have to answer and the time you have to take it. If you don’t know an answer skip the question and come back to it later. Hopefully most of the answers will come to you right away. If you get to a question where a lot of work is involved you can save it for later as well. Go back through the exam after you have finished most of the questions and answer the question you didn’t. Try not to second guess yourself as much. Your first instinct is normally right. If you have no idea on a question, eliminate as many answer choices as you can, then go with the answer you feel might be the answer. Once you are finished take a deep breath and feel confident turning in your exam. Don’t let your nerves get to you and think that you failed or get depressed the way the exam went. Try to think positive and hopefully the results will be good.

Finally, I think the third most important thing to know about college, is knowing exactly what you will need while away from home. Getting ready to go to college is a big part of going to college. Having all you need will let you be more successful in school. The best suggestion for knowing everything you will need is to make a list of everything you use throughout the day. There are a lot more things that you use in a day than you may think. There a lot of things you may not think to bring with you until you need one at school and home is hundreds of miles away. Such as bringing scissors, tape, or a hole puncher, may go unnoticed until you need them. When it comes to clothes you will want to make sure that you are only bringing clothes that you are actually going to wear. There isn’t going to be as much room in your closet as there is at your house. Dorm rooms aren’t built for storage, they are built for you to sleep and study in. The more things you can leave at home that you don’t need will give you all that much more room to work with and store the items you actually want to have with you. Also when thinking about the personal items you want to bring with you, think about what you could live without and what you can’t. Bring items you will be able to place somewhere or make room for somewhere. You don’t have to leave everything at home, most of your stuff you may want to bring with you, but if there is no room for it then there is no point in having it crammed into a corner and forgotten about. Also know you are not only finding personal items to bring with you, but you are also going to school. You should bring all the necessary items to do well in school, like notebooks, pens, pencils, paper, a printer for homework assignments (or see where you could print papers for classes would work too), and lots of other small items that you will need to complete assignments. Making a list of everything you may or may not need will help you simplify everything and know exactly what you need to bring. Then you won’t get to school and have to buy a lot of new items that you have at home and didn’t need to bring. Knowing all that you need and making sure it is all coming with you will help cut down on Wal-Mart runs.
Being in college is a much different experience than high school. You have a lot more freedom and you don’t have someone holding your hand. You have to make decisions on your own. That is why I think the most important things a high school student should know before coming to college is to manage time for both fun and homework, study for tests and do well on them, and bringing all the right items. I hope these help you get ready for college and you have fun a successful time. Good luck! It’s not as bad as everyone may say, just make sure you enjoy it while it lasts and make memories and friends that will last a lifetime.

Sincerely,
Abbey