In addition to becoming familiar with who you are as a scholar and taking all the necessary steps to ensure success in the classroom, you must also make connections with key administrative units and people at the university to ensure that your matriculation is a smooth one.

This can be easily accomplished by browsing your university’s website and subsequently visiting each of the relevant administrative units to meet with staff and other personnel.

Perhaps the first unit you need to visit is the counseling center. During those times when the rigor of university life becomes too much to bear, and you find that your friends and family are unable to help, the university’s counseling center can help you.

Do not be ashamed or think you’re "weird" if you need help. EVERYONE needs help to make it through college, and because you seek to not simply "make it through," but to succeed and journey onward to graduate school, your road may be even more difficult than most.