What to Do when You First Arrive on Campus

Going away to college for the first time is an exciting and frightening experience for a young person. It is the start of a life of independence, self-reliance, and responsibility.

If you are lucky, you will have had the chance to tour the campus through the freshman orientation program, and that should have given you some of the basic knowledge you will need to know before you actually do arrive on campus.

Most schools will have incoming freshmen students arrive on campus the weekend before classes are to begin.

There are many things that one should do when they first arrive on campus. Here is a look at some of the most important things you will need to do after getting there.

1) Find your dorm room.

The very first thing to do when arriving on campus is quite obvious: find your dorm room. This is where you will live for your first year, and you will want to meet your roommate and get settled in. While your parents are with you, you might want to take the time to set up your room the way you’d like to have it.

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2) Say hello to your roommate and floor mates.

Make sure you introduce yourself to your roommate and your floor mates. Take the time to meet the Resident Adviser because this will be the person you go to when you need assistance. Introduce your parents to the people you are meeting. If their parents are around, chances are, they will do the same.

3) Get an I.D. Card.

The next thing you will want to do is get an identification card. You won’t be able to do much on campus without it. An I.D. card will be the necessary identification you will need when you want to register for classes.

4) Find the cafeteria.

Finding the place where you will be eating is essential. You may want to do this with your parents so that you can assure them that the school won’t be starving you. Check out the meal times so that you can plan accordingly. It’s important to make sure that you make the meal times because you are already paying for the meal plan, and you don’t want to have to spend more money just because you’ve missed meals.

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5) Arrange to meet with your faculty adviser.

You will need to meet with your faculty adviser to talk about what classes you will take. Getting some input from your faculty adviser can prevent you from making a mistake and registering for an advanced course when you don’t have the prerequisites. Your adviser points you in the right direction regardless of whether you know what you want to major in or not.

6) Register for your classes.

Before classes start, you will need to register for your classes. The process will be far easier if you have discussed what you intend to take with your adviser.

7) Find out where your classes will meet.

Taking the time to find out where your classes will meet before you have to attend class will prevent you from possibly being late to class. It will also help you know your way around the campus better. The more familiar you get with the campus, the easier it will be for you to get acclimated to college life.

8) Buy your textbooks.

Before your classes start, find out whether your books have been ordered and whether the store that sells textbooks has them in. Getting them ahead of time will make life a lot easier for you, and you won’t have to worry about whether or not the store will run out of the books.

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Final Word

These are the most obvious things that you should do when you arrive on campus. These are things that will be necessary to make the start of school go more smoothly.

Learning your way around the campus, registering for your classes, meeting your faculty adviser and purchasing your books will all go a long way to alleviate the potential stress that may result from the newness and unfamiliarity of college life as a whole.