College and University Blog
12 Bad Habits to Break Before Starting College
Being a Big (Wo)Man on Campus might make you feel great about yourself. Your beloved Senior T-shirt screams authority, letting all of the lowly underclassmen know you鈥檝e already 鈥渂een there, done that鈥� and are on the road to college.
But after you don your cap and gown, walk across the stage and smile for the cameras while receiving your hard-earned high school diploma, things will become drastically different. Your senior status will be nothing but a memory, and once you move into the dorms or start classes in the fall, you will be the low one on the totem pole. Age and year aren鈥檛 nearly as 鈥渋mportant鈥� in college as they seemed during high school.
There are other differences, too. Make an effort to break these bad habits before starting college:
1. Bragging about yourself. Your 2300 SAT score might be 脺ber impressive, but no one will really care about that in college. The same goes for the fact that you were valedictorian or senior class president. It鈥檚 okay to talk about yourself鈥攈ow else will people learn more about you when you first meet?鈥攂ut quit the bragging.
2. Dropping names. Bragging about your accomplishments is annoying, but name dropping is nearly as bad. Letting everyone know that your rich cousin hangs out with celebrities or your parents work with bigwigs will start to drive everyone crazy pretty quickly.
3. Playing hooky. Senioritis happens to even the most scholarly students, but don鈥檛 ditch class to head to the mall or the beach during college鈥攜es, even if the professor doesn鈥檛 take attendance. Whether you realize it or not, you鈥檙e spending an awful lot of money on those classes and the stuff that you miss might be covered on upcoming quizzes or exams.
4. Lying and making excuses. Your high school teachers didn鈥檛 fall for the dog ate my homework excuse, but you might feel fine concocting other creative explanations about your late or missing assignments. In college, don鈥檛 even bother. Quit lying to your teachers now so you won鈥檛 even be tempted to lie to your professors.
5. Showing up for class unprepared. Bring required textbooks to class. Bring paper and pens or pencils. In fact, bring anything that you think you might possibly need to help you get used to the habit. College isn鈥檛 the time to borrow a notebook from the guy sitting next to you. He鈥檒l probably look at you like you鈥檙e nuts.
6. Constantly running late. There are no warning bells in college that remind you to rush to class. Some professors even lock the door when class begins and will not let late students enter the room. Start now鈥攚hether you鈥檙e driving or walking, give yourself extra time to get where you鈥檙e going.
7. Surviving on junk food. Chips, candy and your other favorites are fine every now and then, but subsisting on pizza and ice cream will most likely cause you to gain weight (hello, Freshman Fifteen!) and feel so lethargic you don鈥檛 want to do anything. Eat real food.
8. Letting Mom do your laundry. A lot of teenagers鈥攅ven ones who know how to do laundry鈥攍et their mom wash their clothes just because she鈥檚 always done it. Stop now so you can get used to doing it yourself. College comes with more freedom, but more boring responsibilities, too.
9. Having a messy room. If you have to wade through clothes, papers, books, CDs and other miscellaneous stuff to get from your doorway to your bed, grow up and clean your room. A messy room won鈥檛 fly when you have someone else living with you.
10. Faking sickness. Pretending to be sick so your mom will let you stay home from school might seem like an easy way to get out of tests, but faking illness in college won鈥檛 do much good. If you miss an exam, you miss an exam鈥攕orry!
11. Oversleeping. If you鈥檙e prone to oversleeping, set a regular alarm clock as well as one on your phone. Don鈥檛 expect yourself to stay awake until 4 AM and get up by 6:30, either. You鈥檒l either roll over to go back to sleep or act like a zombie for the rest of the morning.
12. Being a perfectionist. Good grades are important鈥攅specially when you鈥檙e trying to get into college鈥攂ut they aren鈥檛 everything. There are certainly exceptions, but for most things if you spend so much time worrying whether or not it鈥檚 perfect, you will do little more than drive yourself crazy and waste a lot of time.
Melissa Rhone earned her Bachelor of Music in Education from the University of Tampa. She resides in the Tampa Bay area and enjoys writing about college, pop culture, and epilepsy awareness.