Hacks and Tips to Survive College
There are already enough transitions to worry about when adjusting to your college life. Here are some tips and hacks that I’ve learned from my personal struggles and mistakes that will make your college journey a bit smoother.
Class tips that people tend to ignore but can definitely help you
Take the time to make enrollment plans A,B, and C so you have a back up if plan A doesn’t work out. The struggle with most public schools is that class enrollment are limited, so you need to hope that you have a good enrollment time to get the classes and schedules you want.
Check professor reviews on ratemyprofessor.com - see if the professor’s teaching style is the right fit for you.
Try to plan for a 3-day class schedule so you have dedicated non-class days to work, study, or do extracurriculars.
When you first attend a class, check if you need to turn in homework that needs a code. If not, then you most likely don’t need to buy the book/PDF as new. Try to look for second-hands online to save a few hundred bucks.
Take advantage of the diverse classes your school has to offer. If there’s bandwidth, try to add a class that is maybe outside of your major and you might be interested to explore (ex: photography, dance, foreign language, etc.) You can take it as Pass/No Pass so there’s not as much stress in taking the class for fun.
You probably won’t listen to this like me when I was in college, but you should always sit at the front of every class. If you are easily distracted, force yourself to pay attention as you do not want to get called out. Professors also tend to have a positive bias to students that they recognize by sitting up front.
Go to office hours and make friends with your professors and TA! Good connections can come a long way as you never know if you will need letters of recommendation and even potential referrals to employers/mentors in the long run.
Student benefits and tips that you might not know
Apply for EBT Card or school’s food stamp programs
This can save you a lot of money on groceries and food
Take advantage of your school’s job career fair. It’s good to begin internship/job searching early and learn about potential employers that you are interested in. Even if you aren’t job searching, it’s a good opportunity to practice your elevator pitch.
You can waive your health insurance if you are under your dependent’s insurance - just remember to request at the beginning of the quarter/semester.
You can choose not to enroll in gym membership within the university if you know you will not be using the amenities - check with your school for other extra fees that you may be able to petition out of to save a few bucks.
Take advantage of specific scholarships that only apply to your student background. You can still continue to apply for scholarships for each of your school years.
Take advantage of student discounts with your student ID! There are tons of student discounts out there for computer apps, museums, public transportations, and even some local restaurants.
Advice to my Freshman Self
This section is dedicated to honest advice that college undergrads and graduates wish they knew back when they first started out their college experience. This is an open platform for anyone to share - just fill out the form at the end and it will be reviewed and posted by our Menti team.
“Put yourself out there and try out for school clubs and organizations in your Freshman/Sophomore years as Junior year you will be busier thinking about your upper-div classes and internship searching.”
“Study abroad was one of the highlights of my college years. Definitely wished that I had planned earlier - as soon as freshmen year - to adjust my 4-year curriculum plan. I had to skip a few of my interested classes since I had to be abroad during those specific quarters. Save up some GE classes for study abroad so they would be easier to transfer credits.”
“Don’t be afraid to check out events and orgs alone, even if none of your current friends are interested. You never know how a small decision to step out of your comfort zone can impact your entire college experience!”
“Become friends with people from all different backgrounds and interests - and especially those who are older than you. They’ll know the best professors, classes, parking spots, restaurants, and may be 1-3 years ahead of you in your career path and can help give you advice on navigating through your college and professional life.”
“Looking back on college, my most memorable memories are the late nights I spent with friends cooking a giant pot of ramen or having long conversations until the sun started to rise or simply living so close by where I could pop by their apartment and hang out on their couch in between classes. School, work, and looking for internships can be stressful, especially when you see your peers doing so well, but don’t forget to make time for the little things too because that’s what you’ll cherish the most after you graduate.”
Have a personal advice from your college experience to share?
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