It is never too soon to prepare for college. In fact, some of your best times to start are in high school.
The effort to prepare for college can be a difficult one if you’re waiting until senior year. But starting any time in high school will set you up for a much smoother transition as you enroll at a university and start your first day of classes.
Why wouldn’t it? You’ve never been 100 percent on your own before. There’s much to learn. Sticking with the following suggestions will help you get there!
1. Listen in Class
Listening in class is a great way to build your brain power. The more you listen, the more you train your brain to understand and recognize the sounds you hear. The more you listen, the more you’ll learn about how to communicate effectively with the people around you.
If you don’t listen in class, you won’t know what’s going on. If you don’t know what’s going on, you won’t know what to do. If you don’t know what to do, you’re going to fail. Likewise, it’s important to listen to your teachers in order to build a relationship of trust with them.
2. Read the Teacher Syllabus
A syllabus is a detailed outline of the topics that will be covered in a course or subject. It’s important to read the syllabus for each of your courses because it gives you a sense of what your instructor expects from you as a student. The syllabus is a contract between you and your instructor.
The first benefit of reading your syllabus is that you’ll have an idea of what to expect from the class. Second, reading your syllabus will help you know what the professor is expecting from you. Third, reading your syllabus will help you know what the requirements of the class are.
3. Organize Your Materials by Subject
It’s important to get into the habit of being organized early because it will make things a lot easier for you later on. If you’re an organized student, you’ll be able to keep track of all your assignments and study materials, and you’ll be able to study effectively. Being organized will help you to get more done. If you’re organized then you’ll be able to keep track of all the deadlines you have for different assignments, projects, and exams.
If you’re organized then you’ll be able to find your books and your notes easily. It’s important to develop an organizational system in college because you’ll have a lot of tasks and assignments. An organizational system will allow you to stay on top of what you need to do, so you don’t have to worry about missing deadlines.
4. Show Concern for Your Grades
Grades are important because they teach you that it’s really important to work hard. When you get a good grade, it lets you know that you’re doing something right! When you get a bad grade, it’s a wake-up call. Studies show that when students are reminded of the importance of their grades, their performance increases.
If you don’t show concern for your grades, you won’t get any respect from your teachers. If you’re not putting in the work, you’re not going to get the right results, and you won’t be able to succeed in college. Grades also serve as good indication of the type of area you should major in when you do get to college.
5. Do Your Homework
Homework is important because it gives you the opportunity to practice what you’ve learned and see how it actually works in real life. It also allows you to see if there are any more questions you need to ask or any more things you need to learn about the topic you’re learning about.
You may not always get the right answer, but if you’re doing your homework, then you have the right questions. The best way to learn is to ask the right questions and by doing your homework, you’re asking the questions you need to ask in order to get the right answers.
6. Hang Out With the Right People
Hanging out with the wrong crowd can lead to a number of bad habits. For example, if you hang out with people who are always drinking, you’re more likely to start drinking, too. If you hang out with people who smoke, then you’ll probably start smoking, too.
Bad influences can really affect your school work. For example, if you hang out with students who don’t do their homework, you’ll probably be less likely to do it. If you hang out with students who cheat on their exams, you’ll probably be more likely to cheat on your exams. When you’re in college, you’ll be surrounded by people who have a lot more freedom than you do and who are often in the process of figuring out what they want to do with their life.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. You just want to make sure you surround yourself with individuals who are trying to make the right decisions, so it will be easier for you to do so as well.
7. Get Plenty of Rest
Sleep is a vital component of your education because it allows your brain to process and consolidate all of the information you’ve learned throughout the day. Sleep is the time when your brain is working the hardest, as it’s processing everything you learned throughout the day.
Not getting enough sleep can also cause a range of health problems like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. It can also have a significant impact on your mental health, too. Lack of sleep can lead to depression, anxiety, and even memory loss.
It’s a terrible idea to stay up all night every night studying. It’s tempting when you have a lot of work to do and you think if you stay up all night you can get it all done. But you’re seriously messing with your ability to learn and your ability to retain information.
8. Adopt an Independent Fitness Routine
It’s never too early to start working out. In fact, it’s important to start working out even before high school. Working out and being active in high school can help set you up for success. It’s good to exercise as a way to relieve stress and to keep your body healthy.
For many people, college is the first time that they’re on their own and are responsible for planning their own fitness and exercise routines. You don’t have a coach, a physical education teacher, or your parents telling you what to do on a daily basis. The transition will not be as difficult if you develop an independent fitness routine early.
9. Police Your Eating Habits
Your metabolism slows down a small but noticeable amount from high school to college, but it’s not because of the food or the lack of exercise. The freshman 15 is caused by two things. First, you’re likely living on your own for the first time and, two, you’re going out to eat a lot more often than you usually would. Meals out tend to come with higher calorie counts because you don’t realize many of the extra ingredients that restaurants use to enhance flavor (butter and liberal amounts of cheese come to mind).
If you’ve been dependent on extracurricular activities to keep you active, that can pose a problem once all that goes away in college. A slowdown in activity and increase in eating out can result in significant weight gain. From there, it becomes harder to kickstart your metabolism.
10. Start Minimizing
Look, you’re going to be moving around like crazy. Get rid of as much as you can now to avoid the hassles of moving later!
These Tips Will Help You Prepare for College Now
Start to prepare for college while you’re still in high school. Doing so will keep you from a rougher transition down the road. It can also set you up with some healthy habits for life. Good luck as you set out on this journey!
Aric Mitchell's work appears regularly here at 4tests.com and across the web for sites, such as The Inquisitr and Life'd. A former high school teacher, his passion for education has only intensified since leaving the classroom. At 4tests, he hopes to continue passing along words of encouragement and study tips to ensure you leave school ready to face an ever-changing world.
