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CollegeWeekLive attendees can watch admissions experts speak on topics such as how to prepare for the SAT, how to write a winning application essay or how to pay for college and have questions answered via live chat. Attendees can also video chat with college students and learn what campus life is really like. The event features scholarships and special promotions available only to those who attend. It is FREE, sign up now.

I highly recommend you register, sign up and check out some of the archived video seminars.

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CollegeWeekLive Events, 2009 – 2010 School Year

One of the most important things you can do to get the most from your classes is to read the syllabus.

Get the most from your books

On your syllabus, you should see the books your professor wants you to read for each course.  Start with the textbooks and then scan the secondary books.  When are these books showing up on the syllabus?  If you’ll be reading these further into the semester, you might be able to buy the book, use it, then sell it to a classmate or friend. Or you may be able to buy those books with those friends and share them. Check it out and then talk to your classmates and friends.

Set up a blog to communicate back home

You can quickly set up a blog to share your college life with family and friends back home.  WordPress or Blogger have easy ways to create a blog in minutes.  Once you have your blog, some images [remember to edit those images, cropping goes a very long way towards improving images], and some words email your blogs URL to everyone back home.  It really is a fast way to communicate with many.  Do remember to update your blog often.

More College Advice:

Buy my eBook: College Life Tips: for Living the College Life.

College semesters are fast and furious and the time will seem like it is flying by. Having a visual calendar and using it, daily, will help you in focusing your time so you can balance study with social activities.  Here are some steps to help you schedule your time and tips to keep you on your schedule.

Before You Begin Your College Schedule:

• Allow about one hour of focused, uninterrupted time to do this scheduling. Investing in this time early in the semester, will save you time over the semester.
• Gather all your syllabi and highlight ALL due dates for ALL projects, exams, and papers. [Tip: if you encounter any questions ask your professor to clarify as soon as possible. Be proactive whenever you have questions.]
• Get whatever calendar you use out and in front of you. Paper calendar, PDA, or the calendar on your computer, just choose the method you will be using.
• Remember color will give a visual boost when you apply your due dates. You might want to give each of your classes a separate color code.

How-to Create Your College Schedule:

• Class-by-class, enter each and every due date on your calendar. Be sure you get every quiz, exam, paper, project, and final no matter how small the assignment, get it onto your calendar. [Tip: use a pencil first, if you are entering your dates on a paper calendar. This will allow you to more easily change your dates].
• From each due date, work backwards how ever much time you determine it will take you to complete each project, review for each quiz or study for each exam. Then enter those dates onto your calendar.
• Go back and ALWAYS add in a minimum of 10-20% more time than you think it will take to get your work done and re-schedule your time. Adding this extra time will help when ‘life’ gets in the way and it always does.

Form Habits to Work Your College Schedule:

• Every morning, consult your calendar: Knowing where you are, what needs to be done, and what is coming next will help keep you on schedule AND help ease stress, because you know what is happening.
• Re-Work Your Schedule: Be ready for something new to pop up. Professors add projects, you get behind or whatever happens, be prepared to makes adjustments.
• Consider following a daily study plan: Schedule some days to study for certain class and other days to work on long-term projects. You need to be consulting your schedule, so you can tweak your system to work for you.

Other Tips:

• Consider forming an ‘accountability pack’ with a friend, classmate, study group member or roommate. Statistics show when we have someone holding us accountable, we are more likely to rise to occasion.
• Don’t be tempted to party the weekend before a big paper is due. Stick to your schedule.
• If you somehow have gotten off-schedule, because you got sick, opted not to study, whatever, do not worry and get back on schedule! That 10-20% extra time you budgeted into your schedule should help you get back on track.

Scheduling your time and sticking to your college schedule will help you have a great college experience. Click here for more College Life Tips.

Seth Godin brings up this point in his blog post education at the crossroads. He writes:

School was the big thing for a long time. School is tests and credits and notetaking and meeting standards. Learning, on the other hand, is ‘getting it’. It’s the conceptual breakthrough that permits the student to understand it then move on to something else. Learning doesn’t care about workbooks or long checklists.

Now, you [or your parents along with you] have worked really hard to get you to college.  What you need to understand is once you are there, you now have to do the work to ‘get the learning’.

You are the one who will have to:

• crack open the book,
• explore the material until you experience your own ‘A-ha moments’ in ‘getting it’,
• then you will need to figure out a way to apply your newly learned knowledge to your own every-day-life,
• and then you will do it again and again….everyday.  Oh, and BTW you’ll be doing this with all your classes.

Learning is the everything about your college education.

For more College Life Tips, check out my eBook.

Social Experiences:

• Smile: Statistics prove people who smile attract attention and are more popular. And who doesn’t need a little popularity in their lives?
• Join a Study Group: This is a no brainer, you will meet new people and get some studying done!
• Rush a Fraternity/Sorority: If this is your cup of tea, go for it.
• Got Roommate? Get Alternative Study Space: See if you can work out a schedule, so each of you have the whole room to yourselves 1 to 2 nights each week. Post the schedule and find your alternative study space [See Find an Alternative Study Space below]. Plus, you get your dorm room to yourself some nights as well.
• Join Groups: Free food is just the beginning. You will find all sorts of interesting groups exploring different topics. Shop around!

Academic Experiences:

• All Semesters Count: Do not be lead to think you can blow-off your first semester or any semester, for that matter. Your grade point average GPA is calculated on ALL your courses taken within your entire college career. Oh, and prospective employers do ask for college transcripts.
• Schedule Your Time and Stick to Your Schedule: You are responsible for your study, work and deadlines. Once you have all your syllabi, chart your due dates on whatever calendar you will use: paper, PDA, your computer, which ever way you will remember. Then, check your calendar daily and plan accordingly. Don’t be tempted to party the weekend before a big paper is due. Stick to your schedule.
• Find an Alternative Study Space:It might be the library, an alcove in your dorm, the union, the local coffee shop, or maybe all of these! Where ever your auxiliary study spaces are, use them when ever you need to get away from your dorm room or just want a change of pace. [Tip: Your alternative study space should have an electrical outlet and you should travel with an power strip complete with surge protector].

Stealing these tips will help you have a great college experience. Check out my eBook for more college life tips. And visit often.

This wonderful vintage globe will make a great conversation starter in your college dorm.  Ask friends to find where they are from or where they want to travel.

More dorm accessory ideas, dorm essentials, and other essential college life tips can be found in my eBook:

College Life Tips: for Living the College Life

Sure, at college, they will tell you to manage your time, be careful to make a balanced class schedule, and warn you not to take too many credits at once.

What they might not tell you is: do not install ANY games on your computer!

Nothing will waste your time faster than Half-Life 2, Out of the Park Baseball or Orange Box or whatever your favorite game is.   Don’t be fooled thinking you can stay up all night playing and still function in your 8 am Chem class.  Save the games for holidays- trust us on this one.

If you don’t have game on your computer, you won’t be tempted to fritter away your time playing and have more energy for your studies.

For more great tips, download my eBook:

College Life Tips: for Living the College Life.

I grew up in a house where I was encouraged to be curious. Those skills of curiosity, questioning, and wonder were instilled in me from an early age and they have served me well in life.

So, what’s my number 1 College Tip? Keep learning. Always!

• Always be curious.
• Always ask questions.
• Always wonder.

Another perk of always learning?  You won’t be bored. Nor will you be boring.

Want more College Life Tips?

Get my FREE College Life Tips: for Living the College Life.  It will help you in your preparations as you get ready for living your best college life.