Beware the first semester
When I ask my students about their biggest college regret, it is almost universally, “my first semester.”Graduates often lament that they spent their entire college career trying to recover from the damage inflicted to their GPA in the first semester.
The change in class structure and freedom catches students off guard.
Professors don’t coddle like high school teachers.
Most won’t even force students to attend class.
For students in dorms, parents can’t act like a check on bad habits.
Students without a strong sense of discipline find themselves sleeping through 8 AM classes, failing to study for exams and unable to complete assignments.
Most of these students sober up and gain discipline when they see their grades for the first semester, and live with a sense of regret thereafter.
Those that don’t drop out at the end of freshman year.