Survivor—College style: Nearly a third of college freshmen don't return to school the next year. Here's how to improve your odds of surviving—and thriving! - College Bound

Career World, April, 2002 by Greg Smith

Many high school graduates move on to college with high hopes and good intentions, but a surprising number of them never continue past their freshman year. According to a study conducted by American College Testing (ACT), more than 30 of every 100 college freshmen don't come back for their second year of college.

What does it take to survive your first year of college? We talked with some successful college students to find out.

Great Expectations

Becca Tabasky, a Florida resident who attends Emerson College in Boston, admits that she had no idea what to expect at college. "In high school they told us about professors with inflexible deadlines and warned that we'd have to suffer through big, impersonal classes," Becca recalls, "but that's not what college is really like."

"College is a lot more work than I expected in terms of assignments," says Alex Engelson, a freshman at Northeastern University, also in Boston. "But it's more fun--and a lot more interesting--because I'm studying what I want to study."

Olivia Smith, also in her freshman year at Emerson, agrees that common impressions of college life can be misleading. "College is nothing like the way it's portrayed on television shows like Felicity. There aren't wild parties everywhere, classes aren't always huge, and it just isn't as crazy as the media make it out to be," explains Olivia.

It's About Time

While college life is unlikely to be exactly as you imagined it, there is one thing you can count on. You will be responsible for managing your own life. To a great extent, this means managing your time wisely. Jeremy Landry, in his first year at Boston College, believes that time management is the most important skill for survival in college. "You need to learn to budget your time, to set aside specific hours for studying," Jeremy says. "There are always people calling you up, asking you if you want to go out and do something. Sometimes it's really hard to say no."

Olivia also believes that time management skills are critical. "Knowing when to sleep, when to study, what time to get up for classes, and how to manage long-term projects is really important," she says. "No one is going to tell you to go to sleep. No one is going to wake you up for classes, and no one is going to nag you about getting your work done. Whether you fail or succeed, you're the one who's responsible."

Becca believes that going to college in a city makes time management even more of a challenge. "There's always something going on in the city, 24 hours a day. There are always people around. There's always something to do. It's easy to get lost," she warns. "But you need to remind yourself that there are consequences if you forget why you're at college in the first place."

Getting Connected with People

Many college students attend schools that are far away from their homes and families, and very few freshmen have many friends when they first arrive on campus. Forming new relationships and getting along with others, most particularly your roommate, can be critical for surviving your freshman year. "It's important to be open and talk with people when you first get to college," says Olivia. "People tend to be more receptive during orientation because everyone's in the same boat--no one has any friends," she adds with a laugh. "It's best to take a laid back, tolerant attitude with roommates and to accept that they have little quirks, but so do you!"

"You need to put yourself out there and look for other people who share your interests," advises Becca.

Joining an organized activity on campus can be a great way to connect with others in the first few days of college. Jeremy sees several fringe benefits to his membership in the marching band at Boston College. "Because I attended band camp in the late summer, I was already familiar with the campus two weeks before the other freshmen even arrived," explains Jeremy. "I also had an automatic base of friends in the band. Many of those friends were upperclassmen who were there to answer my questions during the first confusing days of classes."

Kyle Marquis, who attends St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, agrees that joining a college organization can be a good way to meet people. "I'm really glad that I signed up for the fencing team at the beginning of my freshman year. Being part of a team connected me to a group of people of different ages," he says. "Some of the seniors were really helpful in giving me good advice."

Paying Attention to Academic Skills

Time management and people skills are certainly important, but there's no getting around the fact that freshman survival depends on having the skills to achieve acceptable passing grades. Our college experts focused on what they thought were the most important skills for success in the classroom.

"I read between 300 and 400 pages per week to prepare for my seminar classes," explains Kyle. "I need to understand the text, as well as the author's point of view. When we're discussing the text in seminar, I need the ability to listen and figure out what someone else is saying." He adds, "It's really important to be intellectually flexible and try to understand other ideas opinions."