WOOOOO FREEDOM! GOING OUT EVERY NIGHT!

Towards the end of college I finally got a laptop and started taking notes on it. I was the only kid in most of my classes with one. No kidding, some students complained to a professor that I had one claiming that "it was disrespectful." Yeah, i don't get it either. I told the professor that I would get rid of the laptop the moment my fellow students paid my tuition.

The point is twofold.
1) Use a laptop to take notes. Especially the harder the class and the more to know the better it will be for organizing your notes and distilling outlines. It was kind of amazing to hit law school and suddenly I went from lone laptop guy to one of 200. Also, universities usually have special computer deals.

2) Without fucking people over you should do what you need to do to succeed. Period. If you need more sleep or to study at odd hours or whatever, then do it. People will give you shit for not being exactly like everyone else's view of how a slacker kid in school should be. Or, conversely, for not being as much of a reclusive bookworm as they are. And so on. Fuck all that and do what works for you regardless. It's your education, it's your dime (or your family's), you get what you put in and no one making it harder for you has to suffer the consequences for the rest of their lives if you fail.

 

I hate to rag on the liberal arts (full disclosure, my undergrads were in Economics and German...), but make sure your degree is going to be worth what you're paying for. It's painful to see how many of my friends that went to school to follow their passion, are now finding out that a career in their chosen field will not pay enough to cover their student loans.

You got into a $45k a year private school? Fantastic! You expect to pay off those loans on the salary of an entry-level high-school history teacher?

On a similar note, you'll only get out of school what you put into it. Treat it like a full-time job, and you should be able to do fine in your classes and maintain a healthy social life. My one regret is never staying in the dorms: I heard it was like Elysium, where you could trip and fall and practically land in vagina.

 

Find out what your Professor is interested in and use it to your advantage. This is one of the most important things I learned and is also one of the easier ways to get better marks on papers with minimal effort.
Professors love to talk about what interests them and they will reference their research / work prior to teaching whenever they can and nothing makes them more generous when it comes to marking papers than reading about the things that interest them.
Whenever you get a paper that can be taken in any direction and you're not sure where to go, have a look at your audience. Have a quick check of your Professor's Bio to see what area he specialized in and see if you can work that into your essay. I'm not saying to pander completely to the Prof but referencing things that the professor themselves are interested in helps getting some extra marks.

Most of my psychology Profs had at least one specific thing they were fascinated by, one spent four years researching crows and mentioned it most lectures, so when it came to writing the essay on ecological niches of animals, mentioning crows went a long way in getting a good mark. Find out what your Professor is passionate in, You don't need to make it the basis of your essay, you just need to demonstrate that you have been paying attention to the Professor.

And if you have trouble turning up for lectures or think they are a waste of time since nothing is really covered make damn sure that you do ALL of the further reading assigned.

 

Wait 2 weeks after the start of class to buy your books. Your professors will hand you a huge list of books they say you "need" for class. All of the books in new editions can cost almost a thousand dollars per semester.


If you wait 2 weeks, you lose out on used books, however you'll have learned how many of those books you are told you "need" that you will actually use. You can cut down on the number of books you buy by 2/3rds, which is huge when they cost $50-$150 each.

If you do need to use the books in those 2 weeks, they'll be in the library for you to find.

 

I think this may be one of those obvious ones, but: Don't be too cool for school clubs and activities.

Choosing the school I went to was one of the best decisions I ever made, but one sub-decision I'm especially glad I made was choosing to live on one of the themed floors in the dorm. Mine was called "The Writer's Block" (cute) for students of the various writing majors at the school and even if I'm not still best friends with the kids I lived with (although I am with a few) I still keep in touch with practically all of them, and I had a huge group of friends throughout the year. I tried out a bunch of other more traditional clubs and never stuck with them, but it did help to meet people and I knew a lot of people who made their closest friends through the newspaper, lit mags, a Capella groups etc. Having to form a group of friends from scratch is pretty overwhelming, so it's nice to have some kind of outlet for narrowing the thousands of potential pals down.

 

Try to make friends/live with people who get shit done. If you live with a bunch of stoners on academic probation it is going to be a lot easier to slip into bad habits because it seems normal. If you live with people who are on the ball you are going to feel like an asshole for skipping all your classes and never studying because that stuff will seem normal. I'm not saying you should live with the nerdiest people possible, but if you're hanging out with people who couldn't give two shits about school it'll be easy to become one of them.

This is generally true after school too, if you hang out with a bunch of people that rage quit their job every few weeks and are always late on rent you're a lot more likely to let things slip yourself because it just seems normal.

If you're in a relationship, break up now, save yourselves the trouble of a horrible freshman year riddled with constant concerns of what constitutes cheating, fights over stupid shit and missing out on parties and hook ups to hold hands or whatever you kids do. Sure, you may be one of the lucky few that is meant to be, but almost no high school couple is, so odds are you're not going to make it anyway. And if you really are meant to be you can always rekindle a few years down the road.

 

In the last few years I feel the objective of college changed. It use to be go there, get you some education, fuck around, get out, get a job. The thing that has changed is that last part isn't a sure thing anymore. Now its more like get some education, fuck around, get out, hang out with the parents for a long ass time because unless you have some sort of decent degree you will be unemployed.

Go to school, enjoy life, but make sure there is a point to it besides having a good time. I have degrees in Economics and Psychology from a good school and I couldn't find anything once I graduated. I am now going back to school to get an accounting degree. It may be best to view college almost like a trade school, you're going there to learn how to do something that will be in demand in the workplace.

And to reiterate something 'sack said, plastic bottle liquor is never worth it. Go ahead and splurge to at least something in a glass bottle. The hangover that stuff creates is absolutely miserable. You friends may rip on you for not chugging McCormicks, but come the next morning you'll be laughing at them as they pray for death.

 

I think we did this thread last year, and my advice was the same:

Take classes with adjunct professors. If your school is anything like mine, full-time professors are too busy with their own projects to care about undergrads. Have fun with that TA. Also, that professor has spent his whole life in academia, and everything he knows about his topic was learnt from books. They love the ivory tower.

Adjunct professors have real careers and want to teach on the side. They teach because they actually enjoy it, generally have smaller class sizes. They will grade a lot easier because they know that you are there to learn, not to stress over a B+. And most importantly, they have insight. This is what I didn't realize until my last year of college. You can learn everything you need to know from the assigned readings—your professor's rehashed lecture isn't going to add much. But if you're reading about Security Politics and your professor is an ex-FBI Special Agent, or if you're reading about Business and your professor currently works on Wall Street, he is going to offer so much more.

Adjunct professors were literally the only "unique" learning experience I got out of college, besides my own stupid experiences.

 

I view first year a little differently. I agree that it is incredibly easy, but I feel that instead of using freshman year to just get by, you should take advantage of the ease of the classes to build a solid foundation for your GPA. This assumes that you're in a major/field where GPA will matter after graduation. Earning a 4.0 for a year makes it much more forgiving when you have a poor semester academically sometime down the road. It's just nice not to have to fight an uphill battle, kicking yourself because you didn't take advantage of the easy classes when you could have.

On a similar note, the first exam of the semester is usually the easiest, for obvious reasons. Studying for it and nailing it will take some pressure off of you for later exams.

Designing an exam from scratch is time consuming and tedious. For this reason, many professors will recycle exams from year to year with few changes to the questions. If a professor offers practice tests or past years' tests as study material, take full advantage of the opportunity and pay close attention to the tricky questions.

Lastly, a professor will be more likely to show grading mercy to a student that showed some extra effort by going to study sessions or office hours.

 

Show your professors that you care about your grades. Unless you are the type of person who can get straight A's without much effort, you need to go to class every day, or like someone else already pointed out, don't miss more than 1-2 days per semester.

On top of that, you should also go to your professors' office hours if you are struggling. Not just to ask for help with the material, but also to show that you are trying and you want to do well. The single biggest misconception that I had going into college is that you are "nobody" to your professors. That is not true, and I went to FSU and UGA, both big schools. Most of the classes I took in my 4.5 years of undergrad had 40-50 students, but even in a 300-person class the professors will learn your names and you can get individual help from them and from the TAs. Just going to 1-2 office hours with two different professors got me D's in two classes that I should have failed.

I will say that I might have been lucky in the sense that I didn't have any professors who were complete jerks, even if I had quite a few who were not good teachers. Still, it won't hurt to make the effort to talk to them outside of class.


This one has already been mentioned, but it can't be emphasized enough: Major in something that will land you a good job. If you don't know what you want to do then you don't have to go to college right away; there is nothing wrong with taking some time to figure it out, as long as you're still working in that time and not being a bum. If you have a good major in mind then make sure you have a good one to fall back on in case your first choice of major doesn't end up being all that it was cracked up to be. That happens.


Don't stay in a relationship with somebody unless you can absolutely say without the least bit of hesitation "I want to be with this person." This sounds cliche and I know from experience that this is not easy advice to follow, but everybody should. There are plenty of fish and the sea and you will miss out on meeting them if you stay in a bad relationship. And a "bad" relationship can just be one that lacks chemistry, it doesn't have to involve any emotional or physical abuse or trust issues. Once that relationship is over for good you will feel like an idiot for missing out on other ventures.

Join a club or do intramural sports. Excellent way to meet new people.

This one is iffy, but I would also like to mention that I had good luck living with people who I didn't know before I moved in with them, but the two times I lived with someone who I was friends with beforehand it ended in DISASTER. I guess what I should say is don't be afraid to live with new people, but remember that there is always a chance that any living arrangement will not work out.

 

Work at time management. Seriously, put in the effort. If you have a spare hour between classes, go to the library and get an hour of work done. If nothing is going on one night, spend a couple hours working on a project that's not due for a while. Go to class as much as possible so your assignments are easier to do. If you can do that well, it'll save you a ton of stress and it'll give you way more free time on weekends.

Get in a good exercise/diet routine. The freshman 15 can go either way, it just depends on how you design your new lifestyle. You'll have the freedom to sit around and do nothing all day without anyone telling you to get off your ass, but you'll also probably have access to a good gym, that is probably close and easily accessible. For the first two years of university I was in the best shape of my life, and it was awesome.

 

I guess everyone here wraps their shrimp in bacon and wipes their ass with their money market receipts. Don't drink well liquor or keg beer? What in the fuck? Are you guys serious? This is college freshman we're talking about. They'll get drunk off of fucking Listerine if it means they can do it without getting caught. When I was a freshman in college, I drank whatever, whenever. Why? Because I'm a fucking freshman in college and beggars can't be choosers.

If I saw one of my friends bring microbrews for just himself to a party/tailgate where we can drink off a keg for free I would mock him relentlessly. Not to mention, that shit is going to get WAY expensive.

If someone goes out twice a week (minimum) and has five or six drinks a night (HA, way fucking minimum), and they drink call/premium liquor versus wells, that's at least a $30-40 difference a week. In reality, they'd be drinking a lot more, but we'll stick with that. 30-35 weeks at school, that's $900-1200 difference. That's enough money for a REALLY fun spring break.

I recently had a talk with my friend's little brother who just started at Univ of Georgia. Before he left, he asked us for some advice and here's the gist of what I said:

-Get comfortable being uncomfortable. You're going to be around a lot of new people, new situations, etc and almost all of them (freshmen) are going to be just as uncomfortable as you are. Even if it doesn't seem that way, it is. Instead of shrinking, use it to your advantage. Start conversations. Take risks. Look like a moron. Eventually things stop being uncomfortable and you find yourself not caring about what other people think, which is when you really start having fun.

-Go Greek. I'm sure most of you guys will shit all over this one, use tired arguments about "buying friends" or getting date raped by some douchebag in a polo, etc. Whatever. The fact is, it's one of the best things you can do for yourself socially in the four (or five) years you'll be in school. You create a ton of friends, there's constant partying, greek students have higher GPA's than the rest of the student population, meeting girls is easier, you're plugged into the social scene, etc. If you can live in a house at some point, do it. The best year of my life I lived in our fraternity house. Not only did I save about $350 a month on rent, I also saved a couple hundred dollars a month on food. All of that was covered by the dues that I "bought my friends" with.

If you do go greek though, don't be one of the idiots that makes it their life. It's a ton of fucking fun, but I've seen guys/girls who get so into it that when they graduate they don't know how to talk to anyone who isn't just like them. It's an insular sect of college, so you've got to branch out and make other friends (which you should be doing anyway).

-Work in a bar. Preferably one where you can drink while working, which is pretty much the best thing ever. Even if you can't, it's still the best job you can ever have in college. Most people go out because they feel like they should, or they'd be missing out if they're not with all their friends getting drunk, trying to hook up, etc. If you're already at the bar, you're basically getting paid to socialize. You meet girls/guys all the time (usually drunk ones with lower inhibitions), you save money by NOT spending it (just as important as making money), and you're basically forced to interact and meet new people. Not to mention the after hours drinking, the network of friends at other bars where you'll get comped/taken care of, etc. I loved loved LOVED working at a bar in college. Also, if you like drugs, work in a bar. If you REALLY like drugs, go to rehab.

-Go to class. Seriously, just fucking go. Even if attendance isn't mandatory and you'll just the lecture notes from your friend and you're so hungover and BLAH FUCKIN BLAH. Go to class. The shit is already paid for, and short of you being out of town/accidentally sleeping through it, you need to go. You might have a rough day, or get pissed because class was cancelled and now you're standing around in pajama pants and sweating out Wild Turkey, but you still need to do it if only because eventually you're going to have a class you CANT miss, usually around 8am Mon-Fri, and you'll be fucked if you don't know how to make yourself go. Besides, the nature of college is so random that even if you think you're caught up, you have time to do this, do that, etc, things change. Emergency trip back home. Hot date, can't study. Big party. Sickness. Etc. Don't put something off that you can do now.

Even if you don't do anything, just show up. I've had multiple professors tell me that me showing up to their early morning class looking like death warmed over says more about me than grades ever could. Professors are people too, and at the end of the day this shit is just their job, something that pays the alimony and puts food on the table. They have to be there too, dealing with ignorant teenagers and hungover fuckheads who think they already know everything. Be nice, be interested, and use the fucking office hours. The difference between an A and a B is usually so small that every little bit helps. A professor won't do you a favor if he doesn't even know your face/name.

Don't get into a serious relationship the first couple of years. If you're bringing one into college, whatever. Don't sweat it. It's going to suck, even if you guys are at the same school, but the whole thing will be a learning experience so just go with it. You'll have a lot of jealousy, insecurities, anger, drunken arguments, etc but once it's over, go fucking wild for a bit. Bang hot girls, skinny girls, fat girls, brown girls, emo girls, sorostitutes, etc. Basically, have fun. I don't need to wax poetic about this shit, it's pretty straightforward.

Hang out with people that are driven. Ambition is infectious, and now is a great time to start asking yourself questions about where you want your life to go. Even if you can't answer that (and most won't be able to), you need to keep moving forward. It's a lot of fun to sit around and get stoned, playing Halo, and you should do that a lot, but it's going to progress you as a person exactly fucking zero. Hang out with people who are driven enough that they set aside time to study, have no problems blowing off plans to drink because they know that they REALLY need to be studying. Eventually shit gets easier for you to balance, and once that happens and you have enough experience in college you can swing not studying every now and then in favor of blacking out the night before a test. Why? Because all of your shit is already done and you know how to handle anything that might surprise you.

Work out. Even if you've never lifted a weight, ran trails, etc, now is a good time to start. Your student fees cover the gym, so go use it. You're going to be gaining weight from beer bongs and Taco Bell anyway, so make working out a habit if you don't already. Not to mention, it's college...vanity is just as important as everything else. Argue it all you want, but we know it's true. It lays a foundation for the rest of your life. Your health is your health, you should be maintaining it no matter what.

Go abroad. Even if it's just a spring break trip, or a mini-mester. You can get sick travel deals through the school groups, your parents might float ya if you can convince them you'll be learning something instead of just drinking wine and trying to finger some Czech girl, and you can get credits for doing it. The older you get, the more difficult it's going to be to set aside a week or two and go see another part of the world. Do it now.

Learn to budget. Seriously. Use mint.com or something for a couple weeks and figure out how you spend your money and then take a good long hard look at the stuff you like to do. Cutting out fast food meals two times a week for a couple months can add up quickly.

Don't take lists like this too seriously. Most of this shit will be in one ear and out the other, and that's cool. We think we know better because we have retrospect, age, and experience on our side. You think you know better because.....well, you're eighteen. At the end of the day, none of it matters because you're going to do what you want to do. And you should. We did.

 

Learn to write. I've been back in undergrad for two years, and I've developed a reputation as the best student in my department (according to several professors and my current student teaching adviser) and class because I know how to write. Proper grammar should be obvious, but just knowing how to form a paper, write an argument, and back an argument up with researched facts will go a very long way to impressing professors. Go to the writing lab (every university has one) and have them look over your paper, then take their advice. You'd be shocked at how many god awful papers a college professor (or their assistants) read, so if you're a good writer you can stand out amongst your peers easily.

Treat classes like a job. The old saying is that for every one hour in class, you should spend 3 hours outside of class studying. For someone doing 15 credit hours, that is 45 hours of work a week. The reality is that only few classes require that much work. The best idea is to treat classes like an 8 hour a day job. First class is at 8 AM? From 8 AM until 5 PM, stay on campus. Between classes, go to the library and read, study, or work on papers and other assignments. When 5 PM rolls around, you're done for the day. Also, chances are good that this will free up every Friday night and your weekends, so you can socialize and party stress free, knowing that you've got your shit done. Other people will be shitfaced at 2 AM on a Sunday mornning complaining that they have an exam Monday they haven't studied for, while you'll be shitfaced knowing you can sleep all day Sunday, review a little Sunday night, and be good to go Monday morning. Obviously your schedule will vary, but make it a point to spend your weekdays getting your studying and work done, so your week nights and weekends are free to kick back and have fun without all the stress. Besides, getting into a 9 to 5 habit now can only help you in the work world later.

Don't let anyone else tell you what to do. I know this sounds silly in a thread dedicated to giving advice, but seriously, what works for some people will absolutely not work for others. If I had a nickel for everyone that told me to dump my girlfriend when we got to college, I'd be a millionaire. I ignored them all, and we're married with our first kid on the way, and we're both exceptionally happy. I realize I am the exception to the rule, but that is the point: There are exceptions to every rule. Do what works for YOU. Not a sports guy? Don't join intramural sports just because your roommate says it is the 'only way to meet people.' Don't join a frat if you don't want to. Don't avoid frats because someone said frat guys are douches. Do what YOU want. Dad wants you to be an engineer but you REALLY love Psychology? Be a Psychology major. Fuck doing what everyone else says will make you happy, and do what you KNOW will make you happy. All that being said:

Know what you're getting into. It is all well and good to say you love psychology and that will be your major, but KNOW that you aren't getting a job out of college, and KNOW that you will require grad school and potentially a doctorate to be able to do anything in the field of Psychology, and be mentally prepared for that eventuality. If you can't accept that or don't want to go to that much school, find a different major that meets your goals and desires. Going to be an engineering major? You'd better be ready for some incredibly difficult and time consuming classes. Law school? Pre-Med? Be ready for some seriously cut-throat classmates who will step on your neck to get ahead. Ask people about the pros and cons, and do your research, and KNOW what you want to do by your 2nd year of college, then stick to it. Don't spend 7 years getting a degree in general studies because you changed majors eight times and just want to graduate already.

 

If you live in a dorm, don't have a roommate that's really good-looking unless you like sleeping out in the hallway using a raunchy Twister mat as a blanket.

Taking a high school relationship into college is like wearing Jacob Marley's chains. When it happens, you'll know what I mean by that.

Jesus fucking CHRIST be careful with chemicals if you're tempted. Cocaine, and take my fucking word for this, is a VERY stupid drug to get into in college. Ask yourself: "Do I in any way have an addictive personality?" if the answer is "Yes" then it will tear every aspect and hope you had there apart happily, in no time flat, with no payoff whatsoever in the end. Just The End.

Sleep around. Have fun. If anybody holds it against you, they're either a two-faced lying hypocrite trying to look fuckable or they're jealous. Either way, fuck 'em. ALL of 'em.

Don't destroy the place where you live. It may seem fun trying to recreate Robocop by punching holes through the sheet rock, but making your place look like crackhead squatter's retreat is NOT going to drop any panties, and NO, you're NOT going to get it fixed before the school year ends so you can stop lying to yourself there. Really. Keep your place tidy and neat, even tasteful, and people night actually come back to it. Have a cat shit fight inside it when you lightweighted it on mushrooms, then tell me this Einstein: what's the perodic element number for Nevergetbangedium?

You don't have to prove how awesome you are by partying 24-7. Quality, not quantity. You'll save money that way, and with less night outs that means you can do more push-ups in between shots.

Don't. Trust. Anybody. Not yet.

 

I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said, but

Kick ass on the first exam. First exams and lab practicals are tricky because you don't know the professor's test style. I make a point of studying like crazy for the first exam. Everyone has their own study habits so I won't tell you how; just make sure you study longer and earlier (a few days or a week) than you normally do. Nine times out of 10 I overstudy, but I almost always get a 95 or above. This serves two purposes:

1. You have some wiggle room for later in the semester in case you have a shitty test or need to focus on other courses. That way, if you get a C on a later exam, you still end up with an A in the class.

2. You can gauge how much studying you'll need to do throughout the semester. I'd rather tow it back a little than know I need to step it up a few notches.

Don't go drinking the night before an exam. Even if it's something like Intro to Psych or Intro to Nutrition. You will enevitably fuck up something. Trust.

 

Agreed. ballsack's advice is fine if you have Daddy Warbucks footing your top shelf liquor and cocaine habit, but otherwise, turn down a drink? Fuck that. And you sure as hell shouldn't be turning down someone else's booze at a party for the sake of snobbery.

The best kind of alcohol is free alcohol.

I second these. Leaving the exam to vomit is not a good look.

The other advantage of doing really well on the first exam and/or essay (especially essay) is that it sets an expectation level. Even if the teachers try to ignore who wrote the exam/essay, it's impossible to be truly impartial. When they have a lot of papers to read...first impressions are a nice thing to have on your side. In a reasonably small class, they're likely to mentally classify "A students" and "C students," and all else being equal, being in the former category will give you a bit of cushion.

This is also true of class discussion. If they think of you as someone who gets it/tries hard/is interested, they're more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt.




Campus groups will often have food at their opening meetings. Sure, it may get you a sideways glance or two, but one can get a lot of free pizza by signing up for some clubs that you don't necessarily intend to really join. And who knows, a few of them might not suck.


Parties have a lot of people, and sometimes you'll forget names. You know that point where it would be sorta awkward/insulting to admit that you've forgotten their name? The following trick is your best friend, particularly with women who you want to stick your penis inside of: "Oh, hey, [other person whose name you know], have you two met?" Then let them introduce themselves...which will involve saying their name.



Like dubya said, be realistic. The sooner you realize that a Nobel is probably not in your trajectory, the better. I'm not saying you shouldn't bust your ass in your chosen subject; I'm way too much of a bookish nerd to suggest otherwise. But you probably won't solve world hunger or solve the mysteries of dark matter, so you'll be much happier and enjoyable to be around if you try to do well rather than trying to be the Greatest {Insert Major Here] Student of Your Generation.

 

Don't set your goals too high. This is a mistake I made over and over in undergrad. In the beginning of every semester I'd decide THIS smelter I was going to go to every class, do all the reading ahead of time, start studying for upcoming exams a week before etc. Then I'd have the eventual slip up where I'd forget to do a reading or sleep through class because my alarm clock didn't go off yada yada yada. This would lead to a downward spiral where since I failed on my goal I'd end up subconsciously thinking "well I already blew it so fuck it." Somehow, it is easier to say fuck it to one goal after you've already failed another goal. Instead of this nonsense, keep your goals simple and doable. Give yourself some leeway and give yourself "strikes". This way one failure doesn't enable another.

This one I'm not quite as adamant on but it is my opinion that you should major in something marketable. Just about every working person will tell you they use little to nothing they learned in college on the job. College is largely a signal that you are willing to commit to a difficult task and pursue it to it's completion. It is also used as a signal to see how much more intelligent and motivated you are relative to your peers. There is also NOTHING in college that you can't learn on your own. If you have a passion for Philosophy, then power to you. You don't need college to read and understand philosophy; do it on your own time. Make your major something difficult and marketable (by the way, nothing beats math, and don't give me that shit about not being a math person). Treat college more like your safety net in that if your passion doesn't work out, at least you've got a valuable degree to fall back on. Unless you're absolutely certain that you are going to get a PhD in philosophy, and do well enough to land a professor position, AND get tenure...it just isn't worth it. The same applies to just about every subject other than the physical sciences, natural sciences, math, computer science, and economics. Having said that, college is a great time to experiment and try out different subjects. Take that Art History class and see if you enjoy something you haven't given much thought to before.

Also, a final small thing I want to add is this: when asks about their college experience, just about every interesting person I know says this, "I learned way more on my own than I ever did in class." Keep this refrain in mind.

 

Holy fuck don't listen to Ballsack about that condom shit.

The prevalence of HPV alone should tell you that bad things can happen. It might not be a big deal to you, but when a girl who loves you gets it and has a higher risk for cervical cancer you're going to feel like an asshole. There's no reason not to wear a condom, they're free and plentiful. Always keep a stash, you don't want to have to wander ass-naked into the hallway at 3 in the afternoon. And you damn sure don't want to have to waddle to the drug store to fill an embarrassing prescription on your parents' insurance.

I doubt my saying anything would change your mind, but absolutely wear a condom. There's no reason not to.

Get a good internship or a decent job. This is especially important if you major in English. Most jobs are stupidly specific and you have to wind up learning everything on the job anyway, so getting a head start at an actual job will make things much easier for you. It's really hard to stretch "captain, intramural lacrosse team", "social chair, fraternity" into a whole resume. In my experience, companies would much rather have a 3.2 with 2 years industry experience than a 3.8 without it, especially when it comes to soft majors.