I have to agree with a lot of things Shamdeo has pointed out. Alas, I myself have been in college the past two years. I've both commuted and lived in a dormitory. I will tell you first hand that the most taxing thing with college is getting everything set before your classes start. That includes getting in contact with your adviser, scheduling your courses, getting as many grants and/or scholarships as you possibly can, buying your books, and even getting in contact with your roommate if you're going to be living on campus.
Scheduling your classes should be done ASAP. Loitering will drop you into classes you may not necessarily like. Although I suppose is some cases when you first enter a college, they will make the schedule for you. After that though, the ball is all in your court. College is about growing up and gaining a good career, after all. It's all your responsibility.
Book costs can really add up too. Square-Enix already pointed out Half.com, where you can get books for a lot cheaper there. Sometimes you can even just buy the edition before (Frankly, they don't add all that much between additions). Buying textbooks for college frustrates me, to be honest, because save a few courses, I never really paged through many of them and still made the grade. But that's just me, and we all have our ways of getting through classes.
Um... Contacting your adviser, especially having a meeting with them, would be your best bet to getting you on the road to where you need to go. Although at least with my college, if you go on their website, you can submit a major evaluation to get an idea of what classes you should take each semester to graduate on time, I suppose you could say. If you're
undecided, that's cool. You can still take general courses. Most majors require you to take at least one maths, science, history (of your country and an international course), an ethics course, language, and of course, English.
As for the whole bit about getting in touch with your roommate (of course, that's if you even have one), that would be good so that you two can decide between each other who brings what and generally getting to know the other. I mean even if you two can just tolerate one another, you're off to a good start. Of course, I never had a roommate more than a few days since she had to be moved to a dorm hall closer to her classes (she had a condition that made it hard for her to walk). So, I can't tell much.
To answer your questions, Enchanted Rose:
1. Do you find your friends to be mostly those living with you, or those in your classes?
I found myself finding friends more so when I living in my dorm. While you don't necessarily constantly interact with them, I think it's because it's just much for convenient for you to walk a little as opposed to all the way to the other side of the building (pending on how they have it structured in the first place). Making friends in classes I always found more difficult in college. But then, I'm not a social butterfly. I think you'll make more friends around where you live, but if you're just that type of person that likes to find friends and hang out, I'm sure you'll make some in class too.
2. How many nights a week do you go out?
I've found that a lot of college campuses, at least the ones I visited, don't have much to go out to. Some colleges are the only reason that little town might exist, and my own happens to be one of those. I'm sure there's activities you can find out about and go to, such as clubs and what have you. To be honest though, I never went out all that much. But I'm just not very outgoing like that.
3. How much time do you spend studying each week?
Um... Studying? What's that? Frankly, I don't do it much myself. And that's a very bad habit to get into, but at the same time, I'm one of those types that even if I study a lot, everything just sifts through my mind. I remember seeing the head of my floor always studying though. In fact, she was either studying, at class, out to eat, or sleeping. XD; I say it depends on who you are. But studying is a good habit to get into, yes.
4. What was the first week like?
The first week was... Well, it was awkward. Getting up without dealing with my parents and not having five cats and a dog felt very alien to me. Then, hiking over to the Dining Hall to eat felt even stranger. It only ever felt a bit more like home when I hit the classroom, but even there it wasn't by much. I felt out of place and unsure about things. But at the same time, I came to realize that college was nothing like I thought it would have been. It really felt like highschool again... except I had to do a lot more walking and all the silly drama with social groups and whatnot died.
I agree. I mean I'm not antisocial myself, its just that I don't want a roomate who's like "Hey! LETS PARTY!!" and drink and crap to distract me. I'm down with playing video games and stuff once in a while but I want to take it easy for my first year and focus on my studies
And that's not a bad route to take. I mean I've heard all sorts of stories about rowdy roommates. Doesn't necessarily mean they're bad people. But if they're getting in the way of your education, you should move to another room or something. I was and still am not a fan of the big college parties. I go to get my degree and get out of there.
But I digress. College is a real pain to get into. The whole process is very frustrating. But once you're there, it's a breeze. At least it was to me. So long as your classes aren't all that boring and you aren't in a crappy mood all the time. It's like highschool. Just with a bit more workload, a lot more running on your grades, and the professors aren't going to push you. You have to do it yourself. As long as you don't panic though, you should be fine.
*I will say that I think living on campus is much more convenient than commuting.
