Tips from College Students

Tips from College Students

Tips for High School Students to Prepare for College

1.   Be prepared to do a lot of reading in college.

2.   Learn time management: use a calendar and plan how to use you time. Learn to manage your time while still in high school, keep a calendar of all exams and paper due dates.

3.   One of the biggest transitions between high school and college is development of time management skills-students must learn to balance school and social life.

4.   Be prepared to discipline yourself, as the temptation to slack could be great. If you miss 4-5 classes a semester, you may not make it through the semester successfully.

5.   Being sick affects your ability to be a student and remember that community living contributes to the cold/flu season.

6.   Learn to read- summarize and outline reading.

7.   Learn to take notes in class.

8.   Learn to study.

9.   Start the college and scholarship search as early as possible.

10.                     Take as many science, math, English, and foreign language courses as you can: they build a foundation for college.

11.                     Participate in volunteer and community service programs. It helps with scholarships!

12.                     Take advantage of the advanced classes offered in high school.

13.                     Think about what characteristics in a university are for most important to you (climate, environment, degrees offered, size, location, etc.) before making a final decision about attending college. Visit them if possible.

Advice from University of Portland Students

1.   “I think the most important thing to let high school students know is not to overlook anything. When I was in high school I often asked myself, “why do I need to know this?” then if I didn’t think it was pertinent, I wouldn’t bother to study it. But in college, all those seemingly unneeded tools come together in the real life(e.g: finding an intersection of those two lines in algebra is later important in cost/revenue calculations). In the way of classes learning to read and write well is very important. The focus should be on the format and clarifying ideas in writhing, and being able to pick out the important parts of writing (the testable facts). Volunteering and joining clubs are important to get into the college of your choice.”

2.   “I’d advise the students to take as much math as they can in high school and to take as many classes as they can in the field that they’re interested in.