Are you planning to go to college? Experiencing college life is an unforgettable memory. But do you know how to prepare for college? In this blog, we provide the preparing for college checklist for you, covering everything from high school preparation, to post-admission preparation, and valuable tips for your college life. Let’s dive in!
High School
How to prepare for college? And what do I need for college? If you are in high school, it’s never too late to get ready for college. Your performance in high school plays a vital role in applying to college, so, you need to check if you are accomplishing the following things.
Keep Grades Up
One important thing to do about how to get ready for college is to focus on your courses, and maintain high grades. Keep improving yourself academically. If you have beautiful scores and grades, that will help you apply to college more easily.
Develop Personal Strength/Interest
When it comes to how to prepare for college, developing your interests matters as well. If you have talent in fields like math, art, music, or something, you should also develop your talent in these fields. An exceptional talent makes you stand out when you are applying for college.
Get involved in Extracurricular Activities
Involvement in extracurricular activities not only makes your high school life more interesting, but also provides an opportunity for you to meet more people, and learn things that you can’t learn from your textbook. Extracurricular activities benefit you in many ways, including improving your social skills, developing your creativity, and enhancing teamwork, etc. After all, colleges like those with all-round development rather than just nerds.
Study Habits Development
High school is a perfect place for you to develop study habits. During your high school life, you should develop skills like time management, note-taking, plan making, etc. Developing these good study habits will make your college life easier, you’ll adapt to college life more quickly and smoothly.
Build Relationships
Building relationships with people around you is one of the valuable things to do to prepare for college. School is not only a place to study textbook knowledge, but also an occasion to study societal knowledge. Developing a good relationship with your classmates, tutor, and even your parents is essential for you. Maintaining a good relationship with your classmates, and making more friends will also help you better adapt to college life. So how to be ready for college life, this is one of the answers.
Prepare for the Standardized Test
Standardized tests like SAT, ACT, etc. are some of the important tests a high school student must take before attending college. Taking the exam is one important aspect as for how to prepare for college. Typically, Students start to prepare for the standardized test in their 10th or 11th grade. This allows them to take the test multiple times, and get the highest score to apply for college.
Choosing Colleges
After you taking the test, you should research the colleges you want to apply to. There are as many as 6,000 colleges you can choose from in the United States, include public and private colleges, degree-granting and non-degree-granting institutions, and general and specialized universities. You will feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of options. The best way to select colleges is to refer to college overall rankings, consult your mentor or parents, or even have a campus tour in advance if possible. You can focus on those specialized universities if you have excellence in a particular field. This process can be time-consuming, requiring considerable patience.
Apply for College
When you are ready to apply for college, you can submit 5-10 options at once, however, it’s essential to think twice before officially applying. It’s one of the key steps about how to prepare for college. After you apply, all you have to do is just wait for the final result.
Before Attending College
Being admitted to your ideal college can be a courageous thing. You may wondering what do I need for college? From the moment you get admitted to the date you move into the campus, there are still a lot of things to do to prepare for college. Follow these steps to prepare yourself for a wiser college life.
School Email Check
How to be ready for college life after you get admitted? The first thing is to check your school emails. Regularly checking your school email helps you stay updated with news from college. Emails from school will usually inform you about what you need to do before moving onto campus, the move-in date, and some tips about college life. Please take the time to read these practical and helpful messages.
Financial Aid and Scholarships
Another preparation you need to do is to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to see which financial aid you can receive to make your college more affordable. You also need to log in to the school portal to see if there are any scholarships you can apply for.
Review Class Schedule/Course Syllabus/Required Textbook
How to get ready for college? Review your future class schedule, and course syllabus in advance if possible. You also need to prepare the required textbook in advance. Always check detailed information on the school website.
Campus Exploration
How to prepare for college? Have a campus visiting is a good way. If possible, having a campus exploration in advance is recommended. This prepares you to get familiar with the locations of every building, including the canteen, library, university halls, office buildings, gyms, etc.
Prepare Packing List
Of course, you can not forget to pack your stuff. It’s a overwhelming process for many people, you may anxiously ask what do I need for college. Starting to pack about 3-4 weeks is perfect. You can make a packing list of university essentials you need to take. The essential documents like a letter of enrollment, passport and ID, and bank card, etc. are necessary. Essential items for the bedroom and bathroom like blankets, towels, sheets, and your clothing, etc. should be packed in your luggage. Stationery items and electronics are also must-have items. The packing tips are to pack only necessary and must-have items, and avoid making it seem like you are moving house.
Student Accommodation
How to be ready for college life? Student accommodation is an aspect you can’t ignore. Student accommodation is also one of the important things to do to prepare for college. Some universities provide students with well-conditioned accommodations, like High Point University, MIT, University of Chicago, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Southern California, and UCLA, etc. At some other colleges, the limited accommodation means students must find their own accommodation, which can be extremely expensive.
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Attend College
The first day on campus is always cheerful, but it may also come with stress and anxiety for those who struggle to adjust to the rhythm of college life and find it challenging to be part of vibrant campus life. To reduce these negative feelings, you need to take the following steps.
Adjust Course Load and Schedule
The first week usually allows you to adjust to your study life. You can swap classes, add or reduce courses if you want. You need to adjust your course load and schedule in time.
Make A Study Plan, Set A Goal
Make a study plan for yourself, outlining the goals you aim to achieve in the new semester. A clear plan or goal helps guide you study in the right direction.
Be Familiar with Classmates/Professors/Teaching Styles
Be familiar with your classmates, professors is important. This can help you feel connected with them and build relationships with them. What’s more important is that you need to be familiar with professors’ teaching methods and styles.
Get Involved in Various Activities Specialized for Freshmen
How to be prepared for college? Get involved in various activities. The first few weeks usually have many activities for freshmen, get involved in those activities as much as possible. Through those activities, you’ll get to know the campus culture more, which will help you become a part of the culture quickly.
Tips for College Life
From high school to college life, it’s a big turn for many people. There are no endings about how to prepare for college. Below, we have listed some tips for college life. Hoping these tips can help you.
Be organized
What do I need for college? You need to be organized. Being organized is a good habit. Organize your study materials, class assignments, and keep track of those deadlines. So that when something unexpected happens, you’ll not feel disrupted.
Start a Routine
Making a daily routine is very helpful for your studies. Use a sticky pad or electronic calendar to assign your time to different tasks, from class time to relaxing time.
Build Relationship
Building relationships with your classmates, and professors is important. It’s a good way to build a network with others. You can meet more people through school activities.
Find a Good Study Space
Beside studying in a classroom, find a good study space to improve your study efficiency. School library, and some cafes are places college students love to go.
Use Apps to Boost Productivity
As a college student, knowing how to utilize online resources is critical. You can use some apps, online resources to boost your productivity.
Stay Focused and Motivated
College life is very fascinating and colorful. But it is also full of distractions. Try to stay focused and motivated. Focus on your course, grades, your daily life.
FAQs:
If you are in middle school, you’ll need to prepare a lot of things. You should focus on your course to achieve the highest score possible, and prepare for the standardized tests like the SAT, ACT, etc. Next, you should start applying for college. After being successfully admitted, you need to review your college course schedule, syllabus, get to know financial aid and scholarships, pack you stuff and move in campus.
An 11th grader has a lot to prepare for college. 11th grade is the ideal time to prepare for the standardized tests like SAT, and ACT. Try to get as high a score as possible, as it’s one of the factors colleges will consider when you are applying for college. Except for the standardized test, 11th graders also need to focus on your current courses to keep a high grade, and start to select a suitable college.
Harvard is the hardest college to get into in the US. Harvard has a strict admission process, and a rigorous academic requirement for students. Especially when you compete with those all-around exceptional candidates, your chance to be admitted shrinks a bit more.
Washington University in St. Louis and High Point University are broadly recognized as universities that have the best dorms. Known as the “South 40” area, dorms in Washington University in St. Louis have amenities like golf courses, and an ice rink. High Point University is famous for its luxurious dorms, including the Panther Commons, which features full-size beds, mini-kitchens, and private bathrooms with circular mirrors and glass shower doors.
The first step to getting into college is to fill out FAFSA, considering the finances and scholarship opportunities you may get.
The first thing every college freshman needs to know is that there is a huge difference between college life and previous school life. You will have more freedom and free time on campus, which requires you to have more self-control, more organization and independence. College is a place where freshmen can experience rapid growth.
Essential items a freshman needs to bring are basic clothes, living stuff, backpack, computer, pens, required books, notebooks, etc. You don’t need to bring everything with you, but essential items like these help your early college life become easier.
The earlier you start packing for college, the better. But usually, about 3-4 weeks before your move-in date is ideal. This allows you to have enough time to pack your things organized, and think about whether you missed something. You can search online about stuff needed for college and packing your stuff. But remember, don’t over pack, as this will leave you exhausted. Instead, just pack only the essential things like clothes, documents, electronics, some stationery items, and bathroom stuff. You are just attending college rather than moving home.
