I’ve got into college. What do I do now?

When students accept a place in college, it often comes with a sense of relief – it’s everything that they have been working towards. However, once the sense of achievement wears off, students are often faced with a sense of not being quite sure what to do next.

The freedom that they’ve been waiting for while they’ve been studying at school is suddenly upon them and they’re not absolutely sure of how to be a successful college student. 

Living

Students don’t really want to spend their time washing up, so the less plates and bowls there are to keep clean the less work there will be to do. If you stick to a few pieces of crockery and a couple of sets of cutlery, it is much easier to take care of and they’ll be less likely to leave it around for others to take.

The same applies to bedlinen. Doing laundry might have been a case of throwing dirty clothes in the washing machine at home, but now they have to think about washing bedding as well. Planning a laundry day every fortnight means that they can get everything washed and dried in one day. 

Meeting your new roommates is a great opportunity to pool resources and see what could be shared. If you have a spare tin opener at home that won’t be missed, then pack it and allow it to be shared. It’s a great excuse to break the ice and to find out what’s really needed.

Life-changing tip: Why not start a scrapbook to post offline all the silly pictures and stories that will be so cool to remember in years to come but so very ashaming if posted online right now. Think about it!

Studying

This is probably more familiar territory, and you’ll find that the same thinking that delivered success at school will also bring success in college. You will most likely need a laptop or tablet of some sort, but what really comes in handy during classes is a notebook or a paper pad. With a notebook in their bag at all times, they’ll be able to keep on top of important lecture notes, without distractions (no internet connections there)

Life-changing tip: Paper never runs out of battery! 

When thinking about what do college students need the most, the answer is always careful planning and consideration. It might be students’ first time away from home and there is a temptation to dash around, believing that they need one of absolutely everything, but that’s often not the case.