College Life: Resources and Tips for College Students
Whether you're going off to college for the very first time, or are a returning student, you can find the help you need with our College Life Web Guide. Succeed academically, physically, financially and emotionally during your college years with advice on dorm life, health and finances, as well as Web tools for academic success. Don't go off to school without first checking our College Life Web Guide.
Expand All Guide SectionsDorm Life and Keeping in Touch with Friends
For many students, going to college involves a physical move away from family and old friends and the transition from a comfortable, familiar life into a new, exciting, and sometimes intimidating world. On the Web you'll find sites with tips to help you adjust and make the most of college life, as well as some Web applications that can help you keep in touch with friends and family from home.
Dulcinea's Insight
- The best resource to help you make the most of your college "career" will probably be your college or university itself. Many schools have resources such as clubs and activities, sports, student support (academic, physical, and mental), gyms, libraries, computer labs, and much more; most of these resources are provided to students at little or no cost. The easiest way to find out what resources your school offers is to check its Web site. MIT has a list of college sites.
- For some ideas for decorating your dorm, try our findingDucinea Decorating Guide.
- Some college admissions offices are now enlisting students to write honest (and sometimes uncensored) blogs about student life. MIT, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins are just a few examples of universities using this practice. Check to see if your school has anything like this in place. If not, check out the ones mentioned above to get a feel for the joys and frustrations of college life.
- A fast, cheap way to stay in touch is through e-mail; most universities provide students with an e-mail account for free. If a friend or family member does not have an e-mail account where you can reach them, let them know that it is easy to set up an account with a free provider such as Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo!.
- Starting a blog can be a good way to let friends and family know what you're up to without having to call or e-mail each person individually. Many blog sites give you your own blog for free; some examples are Wordpress, Blogger, and LiveJournal.
- For more resources for keeping in touch with friends or family, see our findingDulcinea Family Guide.
Dulcinea's Picks
To help you adjust to college/dorm life ...
Students.gov
is a government site with plenty of links to help you stay healthy and happy during college. Try the "Campus Life" section for information about relocating to college, consumer information, an extensive list of links to health information, and more.
Next Step Magazine
has articles to help make your life as a student happy and full of activity. Although the majority of the information on Next Step's homepage has information for prospective students, there is plenty of information for current college students, too, if you know where to look. Use the pull-down menu on the articles to browse by topic; college students will find the "How to survive student life," "How to play college sports," and "How to study abroad" sections especially helpful.
CollegeBoard.com
has a list of short articles that can help you make the most of your college career. Find tips on how to adjust to college life and how to choose your college classes, advice to help you write a college paper, even a checklist of items to bring with you to college.
CollegeJournal
is a handy reading resource for students in college and is owned by The Wall Street Journal. This online publication offers plenty of articles packed with advice you can use during college and to help you plan for your career after school. You'll also find a variety of free resources such as "College Calculators" that help you calculate things such as GPA and the value of your education, and track your budget.
To help you keep in touch with friends in school and around the world ...
Meebo
lets you access almost any of your instant messaging programs from any location. You won't have to install any new software to use Meebo-especially valuable when you are traveling or not on your home computer.
Adium
is a free, downloadable application for Macs that combines instant messaging programs so that you can see and chat with all of your "buddies" from one program. Although you can't access Adium remotely as you can with Meebo, Adium is compatible with more instant messaging programs.
Facebook
allows you to search and connect with other users by school, name, or shared profile details. Through the many applications (both internal and those created by third parties) you can share photos and "tag" friends in a digital photo album, write messages on public "walls," send private messages to friends, give virtual "gifts" to friends, and much more. This is a good way to keep up with the happenings of your friends without a great deal of effort.
MySpace
offers you the ability to display some of your "top friends" on your own profile page, set a favorite song to play when others look at your profile, and even imbed video onto your profile page. Many celebrities, music groups, comedians, and video producers who want to showcase their talent or craft all have MySpace profiles.
For parents of new or soon-to-be college students ...
College Parents of America
provides a mix of books, Web sites, and articles that can help ease the transition to college for your children, help manage your finances (and theirs), find tips for their success in academics, find resources for physical and mental health, even a list of "Words to Know" that will help you understand what your children are talking about when they come home from school.
Staying organized in college
One way to make sure that you are successful in college is to keep yourself organized; the Internet ... read more »
Note-taking and academic tools for university students
Getting organized is one giant step toward academic success, but there are plenty of other tools ... read more »
College Health and Nutrition
Academic success is not the only goal for a college student; your college years are also a good ... read more »
Student Financial Aid, College Budgeting, and Saving Money
Just as developing a healthy lifestyle in college is important, developing money-management skills ... read more »
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