Ace is giving some great stuff here so I'm just going to add on a little. I haven't graduated yet, so I'm still kind of a noob at this, but I can at least warn you about some of the stuff that ended up throwing me for a loop my first year.
Warning in advance for poor English skills; I'm a math major >_>
1) You are not special. Harsh right? In high-school I was all A's, slacked on homework, didn't study, but still flew in front of the herd with rainbows at my side. Once I got to college I realized everyone could have done or did that in high-school. These were all wicked smart kids, and they were all actually studying and giving 100% in their homework. It took me up until the first exam to realize that, as crazy as this may sound, you need to work hard for those grades, nothing is a free A. You've got to take good notes, organize everything well so that you can study later, actually study later, and then work hard in your homework.
Two things branch off of this for my next points.
1a) Find a study group. Again, you're not special, you can't, and really shouldn't even try, doing this all on your own. It's humbling to ask a classmate how to do something, but hey, the teacher isn't exactly living next door. Freshmen year I had a lot of trouble getting comfortable asking questions to other classmates. You can try to figure it out on your own, and hey, you probably will, but a fellow student could probably easily explain it in a fraction of that time.
1b) Homework is important. Depending on the class, 30-50% of your grade is honestly just effort points. What I mean by that is, you can bomb Calc I, just not know anything, get stage-fright on tests, etc. but if you actually put forth an effort and did the homework, readings, extra practice problems, and so on, you have a solid 40% to lean on. So if you're getting 50's on the exams, you can still pass that class with a C, and if you're truly putting forth an effort, I can guarantee you you won't be getting anywhere close to a 50 on an exam anyway. All throughout freshmen year, you'll hear people say "I can't believe I got a __ on that exam, I studied SOOOOOOOOO hard!" when in reality they're just cramming from 10 until 3 the night/morning before. If you do your homework, and fully understand how to do your homework, you should understand the course as a whole.
2) Read the syllabus. It's just stupid not to and something that I will forever regret not doing. Don't skim it, it's like 3 pages. Just fully read it at least once, don't let silly things catch you by surprise.
3) Teachers are scary. Yeah, it's true, teachers can be terrifying. Some students can make friends with teachers, but once you go to ask the teacher a question, BOOM, instant fear. But in all seriousness, ask your teacher questions. Be THAT kid, swallow some pride, you're here because you don't know everything, so why should people expect you not to ask questions. One of the most shared fears I have heard is "If I ask a question, the teacher might ask me something later to make sure I'm understanding that, or know how to do that process, or work such and such problem." Well, that's good. If a teacher asks you to solve a problem, and you can't give any input to that problem... well then they'll explain it to you/the class in more detail. It can be a little embarrassing, but again, you're hear to learn.
4) Stressing is bad. So uhm, yeah, don't do that. One line of thought that helped me was
"Is there anything I can do about this situation."
"No" --> "Then stop worrying about it"
"Yes"-->"Then go do it and stop taking time worrying about it."
5) Don't use comic sans, apparently English teachers don't have much of a sense of humor when they don't give guidelines on which font to use...
6) Use EVERY minute. You'll immediately find yourself pressed for time with how busy you'll get, so never find yourself doing nothing.Finished homework and have a quiz in your next class, start cramming. I don't care if you studied for the past 2 days, try to find any little extra bit of information you can. Overslept and have homework due in 10 minutes. That's enough time to put your name, assignment#, and at least 2 of the problems down with a good amount of fast written work and answers jotted down for a few others. You may get a 1/10, but that's not a 0/10
Have 20 minutes in between classes? Get to your next lecture hall early and sleep a little.
That's all I have for now. Find time to meet friends, explore campus, and make memories.
