While college is a social as well as an academic experience, these must be balanced in order to maximize success in both areas. Procrastinating may have been an acceptable exercise in high school but will likely become problematic in college. While getting to know other students/faculty, establish deadlines for assignments that minimize your stress level.
In as much as college is a time when many people feel overwhelmed with the requirements of life, don’t let this go on for long. Consider seeing a professional counselor to help you organize, prioritize and better manage the demands being placed upon you.
Facing considerably more freedom than the high school years, coupled with a lack of accountability it becomes easy to fall short of completing the necessary reading and studying to increase your odds of academic success in college. Failure to dedicate the appropriate time to studying and reading is likely to have a negative impact on grades. Some ideas to increase your odds of success are to be in class, every class if possible, be accountable to others for you academic performance, know each course, the syllabi, the requirements and the professor along with his/her expectations.
Know what your resources are and develop an appropriate spending plan. Seek the advice of a financial planner or counselor. Don’t spend money unnecessarily or borrow money that may be difficult or even impossible to repay. Only the federal government can do that. Be careful about being drawn into credit card opportunities offered to college students. “Easy cash” is never easy and may also come with high interest rates.