The CL Girl’s Guide to: Starting Your Year off Right!

Starting up the new school year can definitely be nerve-wracking, especially if it’s your first year in college!  Here are a few quick tips to keep you fresh, focused, and fabulous during these frazzling first few weeks of school.

Get your school supplies before school starts – It may be common practice to wait until your first class to buy books, but you can save yourself from some major stress by purchasing your books ahead of time.  Most of the time, you can find textbooks online and spend a lot less money than you would at the bookstore.  I buy most of my books from Amazon, but you can also choose to rent your books at a cheaper price from websites like Chegg.  Waiting until the last minute to buy your textbooks can bring on problems like having to pay more for expedited shipping or even having your books out of stock.

Map out your class schedule the week before – Being on campus for the first time can be really stressful, especially if you don’t know your way around.  Taking the time to print out a campus map and actually go to each of your classrooms (or even just the buildings) can be a huge time saver because you can plan out how you’ll be getting to class (bus/walking/etc.) and it will ensure you don’t have that awkward first day of class moment when you go to the wrong classroom (it’s happened to me multiple times!)

Plan out your free time – Knowing when you have free time in between classes is crucial.  It’s important to know when you will be able to eat, if you have time to stop back at your dorm between classes or if you need to bring all of your books, and if you need to take the bus or have enough time to walk.  It’s also a good idea to check your map and see how far your classroom is from a cafeteria so that you know if you need to pack a lunch or not (PS – check out these adorable lunch boxes from Room it Up!).

It’s never too early to start studying – We all know how easy it is to get behind when it comes to schoolwork.  Since most professors will include a calendar in their syllabi, it’s a good idea to look them over and plan your study time out ahead of time.  I always try to plan my study time around my workload for my other classes.  Also, it’s never a bad idea to try to get ahead.  If your professors will allow it, try to stay a few days ahead in your schoolwork.  This will allow you to have more free time and it will save you from the unnecessary stress of being unprepared.

Whether it’s your first year in college or your fourth, starting school in the fall can be stressful.  No matter how rough it may seem, remember to keep calm and stay focused and you’ll be sure to be on the top of your game this school year!

Alli is a Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics junior at Michigan State University.  When she isn’t spending time with friends and family or on the sidelines of an MSU football game, she can always be found playing with her dogs!

Classy Co-Ed’s Guide to Awesome Advising Appointments

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably trying to figure out what exactly you’re going to have to do to graduate on time (although I don’t know why anyone wants to leave college), get a good job or into graduate school, and all that good stuff. And if you’re even more like me, you probably need a little help. That’s where advisors come in: they’re a great resource for every classy co-ed if you know how to ask the right questions. I asked my advisor a few questions about how to have more productive advising appointments and now I’m passing that advice on to you.

• Do a little research- it helps to have a general idea of what you want to know. If you’re going to your advisor for advice on how to get into grad school for example, do some online searching to see what kinds of schools you think you want to go to. If there’s a class you desperately want to get into that’s full, go prepared to tell him or her exactly why you would be an asset to the class and why the class would be an asset to you
• Ask specific questions to get specific answers- I once went into my advisor and literally asked if I could switch from pre-med to pre-law and that was the only question I’d come prepared with. The answer? “Yes” and that was all. Which didn’t help me with what I actually wanted to know: what should I do to make the switch happen and still be successful? Make a list beforehand of what exactly you want to know. Write down any answers you don’t think you’ll remember later.
• Make sure you’re going to the best advisor for your questions- At Mizzou, I have two advisors specifically assigned to me (one in each of my majors), plus an Honors College advisor and the pre-law advisor. I didn’t even know there was a pre-law advisor until I was considering a double major, and found some things about law school on the Political Science website. Sometimes it helps to just dig around and send some e-mails to feel out the resources your school offers.
• Bring any important documents with you- If you want to discuss your chances of getting into a major program, internship, or graduate school, you’ll probably need copies of your transcripts, recommendation letters, test scores, etc so your advisor doesn’t have to waste time looking things up and he or she has all the information.
• Try to get to know your advisor and maintain a relationship with him/her- the more you get to know your advisor, the more he or she will know (and care) about you too. Your advisor sees lots of students who just pass through, asking requisite questions and never pausing to learn his or her name. Some advisors are really cool people, and if they know you, when opportunities come across their desks that would be perfect for you, they’ll let you know and maybe even write you a recommendation letter.

Kat McClain is an intern at College Lifestyles ™. She attends the University of Missouri-Columbia, is a member of Alpha Chi Omega, and is extremely excited about the start of football season. Go Tigers! She also enjoys reading magazines, watching trashy TV, and listening to the new Katy Perry cd.