Off to college tips....

[Bullet Pulse]

I'll be starting college in about a month to get my Computer Science degree, and I just wanted to hear all of your suggestions on how to do well, and etc.

[dandymcgee]

Homework and Attendance are HUGE in college, ever more so in high school. You can pass most every class if you do well on homework and show up to lectures, regardless of how well you are at taking exams. It may be a pain in the ass to focus on homework (especially living on campus), but it is most certainly worth every bit of trouble in the end.

P.S. Don't tell anyone I told you this, but while attendance is very important there are certain classes where you could skip out and nobody would ever notice. They'll be pretty easy to recognize if you find yourself in one. I'm certainly not recommending never showing up, but if your alarm happens to break once or twice a semester during that class.. oops.
Shit.. I shouldn't be telling someone who has yet to even arrive at college things like this.

[hurstshifter]

ProTip: Save all your bong hits for the weekends.


In all seriousness though, do your best to show up to each and every class and always bring your homework. Especially if some of the classes are smaller the professors WILL notice this and I've had it affect my grades in a significant way on more than one occasion.

[zeid]

Do 1 elective unit that is full of girls. Computer science has like a 1:100 girl to guy ratio.

Not sure how it is in America but from where I am your lecturers aren't going to force you to work or yell at you for slacking. This means if you take it easy and leave things last minute you will fail classes. This isn't highschool your not a big boy your a man *grrr manly noises* so you will be expected to behave like one and be responsible.

Being interested enough to do extra study means you will actually learn from your college experience. Rather then just drifting through classes doing the minimum. Keeping motivated is the absolute best thing you can do.

this...

Homework and Attendance are HUGE in college

*If you show up regularly your lecturers will get to know you. If your lecturers knows you and/or like you they are more likely to cut you a little slack when it comes to assignment marking time.

and this...

ProTip: Save all your bong hits for the weekends.

*Seriously :P But I would like to say try not to party too much. I partied away my first year or so and afterwards my average wasn't looking to flash. Enjoy the times when assignments aren't due but get in and do them when they are. Again if you enjoy the work then the problem becomes, "go out more you hermit".

[hurstshifter]

Do 1 elective unit that is full of girls.

Good advice. To add to this I would say try to make good friends with at least 1 or 2 people in each and every class, preferably in the first week. Girls are especially good for this because they tend to be a bit more dedicated and focused on their education (sorry for being sexist guys but you know its true). This way if you need to miss a class or you are having trouble you will have someone to talk to about it/study with. This will seriously help.

[mattheweston]

As others have said the homework and class attendance are vital. The biggest reason for this is that in Computer Science everything builds upon something else where what you are doing in week one is being used in the last week of class. If you get behind things can snowball on you.

Don't be too prideful to ask questions. If you don't know something, ask. Also if you have any open ended assignments, go beyond the minimum. Think of it this way. Doing the minimum on a project or assignment may get you a C where as going beyond will get you the A that you know you can get.

Learn to work in groups or on teams. There may be instances where a large part of your grade could depend on being able to finish a project in a group or team.

One last thing. Some colleges have "Capstone" courses or classes that you take that are designed to simulate a real world environment and put what you have learned to the test. If you know you'll have to take something like this, you might start preparing for that class a year or two ahead of time. Our Capstone class project was to develop a game from an Idea to a product you could box up and sell and we have about 3 months to do it. It would have been very helpful to have studied more game development stuff prior to this class. Unfortunately, I didn't get into game dev till a semester before.

[dandymcgee]

To add to this I would say try to make good friends with at least 1 or 2 people in each and every class, preferably in the first week.

This is also excellent advice. During the first week or so of school everybody there is going to be extremely willing to take a chance and talk to whoever walks up to them (even girls!). TAKE ADVANTAGE of this sort of "grace period" and introduce yourself to every person you see. It will make socializing a thousand times easier later on when people find their little groups of friends and stop talking to everyone as much. Don't pretend you're someone you aren't, but feel free to reinvent yourself if there's something you never liked about yourself in high school (ie. personally, I was a lot more shy in high school).

[trufun202]

Make the very most of every single programming project. Go above and beyond the call of duty, and show the professor what you're made of.

If the assignment calls for adding two numbers together, make a fully functional calculator. If the assignment calls for scrolling text, make a game with a credits screen. If the assignment calls for a bouncing ball, make a basketball game.

That's the approach I took, and my professors loved it. It even got me out of a final exam on time!

EDIT: Hurray, 1000 posts!

[Ginto8]

It even got me out of a final exam on time!

What? If that means what I think it means, that's pretty awesome.

[avansc]

In accordance with zeids remark, read dandymcgee's sig.

Yanno, everyone that has gone through it can give you pearls of wisdom, but take it from someone who has stuggled alot,
If lifes problmes are an onion, and you peel away at it, right smack dab in the middle you'll find booze and bitches.

That being said you wont listen, no one does. just enjoy the ride. the ups and downs.

[Bakkon]

Buy a shitty pair of flip-flops for the shower. Everyone masturbates in there.

[avansc]

Buy a shitty pair of flip-flops for the shower. Everyone masturbates in there.

experience?

[Bakkon]

Buy a shitty pair of flip-flops for the shower. Everyone masturbates in there.

experience?

That white glob on the shower floor isn't shampoo...

[avansc]

I was just pulling fun at the "everyone".

[trufun202]

Buy a shitty pair of flip-flops for the shower. Everyone masturbates in there.

experience?

That white glob on the shower floor isn't shampoo...

Ya know...at times I feel that I missed out on portions of college by living at home. Suddenly, I feel much better.