As an incoming freshman, there is a lot to learn about your new school. There are many new things to get used to, and it's impossible to take everything in at once. IU operates heavily off of their online database One.IU, which students are just expected to know how to use perfectly. These are some tips that aren't necessarily taught at orientations, but will be useful to students at all of the IU campuses to know. Your time at IU will sail much smoother if you know how to work the technology to your advantage.

1. Know how to use One.IU.

Everyone is going to expect that you know how to use One.IU. It's your dashboard for everything IU-related. You'll use it to pay your bill, check your email, apply for scholarships, view your account information and even buy your parking pass. One.IU is a pretty great system. Everything is set up like apps, so all you have to do is search for whatever you're looking for and launch the app for it. Learn how to use it.

2. Download the Canvas app.

Most of your classes will use the online classroom service Canvas. You will use it on the computer most of the time, but you can also download the app to your phone. This will save your ass if you need to check when an assignment is due and can't access your syllabus. All of your classes (that use Canvas, of course) are right there on your phone! The app is available for iOS and Android users.

3. Android users: add the Canvas widget to your home screen.

This widget is great for people who can't remember when assignments are due and hate calendars. Canvas has an Android widget that tells you all of the upcoming assignments you have due and when. Here's how to add it to your home screen. Note that you need to have the Canvas app installed first. It's pretty handy, but it's only for Android users, because iOS doesn't allow you to add widgets to your home screen.

4. Use iGPS to plan your schedule.

iGPS is your online degree map/lifesaver. It allows you to plan out your entire college schedule. There are premade degree maps for your major that you can use, all you have to do is search for your major and save the map to your plan. From here, you can add courses right to your shopping cart. You can view all the available times, locations, dates, professors and number of open seats for the specific courses. My advice is to always have the next semester planned out. Type in "iGPS" on One.IU and click "iGPS Plan (Student)."

5. Set your IU email up to your phone.

As soon as you make your IU account, you are set up with an IU email address. IU's official means of communication is IU email, so it's important to check it daily. If someone from the school emails you, they're going to expect a reply shortly after. This will help so you won't miss any important information. Professors will also use this email to communicate about class, like if a class is cancelled, and you can get Canvas notifications sent to your email. Doing this will save everyone some time. Here's how to do it for iPhone and Android (follow the instructions for Umail, not Imail).

6. See your adviser as early as possible.

You will come across the dreaded advising hold once registration time for next semester comes up. Towards the middle of each semester, the admissions office places an advising hold on your account. This hold cannot be lifted until you have visited with your adviser, and you can't register for any classes until the hold is lifted. This is so your adviser (who is usually a faculty member in your department) can make sure you're signing up for the right classes before you go and waste your money on a class you don't need. Know who your adviser is, and know when and how to sign up for an advising appointment with them.

7. Add courses to your enrollment shopping cart to make registration fast.

Once the class schedule for the next semester comes online (usually shortly before the advising period), start looking for dates and times of the classes you'll need (which you can plan out using iGPS...this is why I suggested planning a semester ahead) and add these courses to your enrollment shopping cart. Doing this doesn't actually register you for the classes, but it means you'll be ready when it's time for you to enroll. As I heard a faculty member say, "it's like adding something to your Amazon shopping cart and leaving it there." The courses you add will stay there until you either register or remove them. It's good to get in the habit of doing this because your smaller major-focused classes will fill up quickly and you'll need to get registered quickly if you want to be in them.

8. See a list of all the clubs offered at your school online.

Getting involved on campus is going to help you connect and network, and you'll have a great time too. There are a lot more clubs that you might think. Most of them keep updated online either through Facebook or your school's official club website. IU Bloomington students: with over 750 clubs on your campus, there's no way you can know all of them exist. Check out beINvolved to see a list. IUPUI boasts over 400 clubs that you can also see online. At IU South Bend, use TitanAtlas to see the list of over 100 clubs. There are similar lists of clubs at the other campuses: IU East, IU Kokomo, IU Southeast, IPFW and IU Northwest.

9. Add the dates on your syllabi to a calendar.

Whether it's a calendar on your laptop, phone or your wall, having the dates written out is going to help you visualize what you're going to be doing in class. Don't just write down due dates for assignments, write down everything. This way you won't miss any readings or overlook anything and you'll be prepared.

10. Email efficiently.

If you're emailing one of the offices about a question, it's likely they'll need to check your account. Help the staff out by including your ID number in the email. This way, they can find your solution and respond to you faster.

11. If you have a question, it's probably in your syllabus.

This isn't really exclusive to IU, but still useful to know. Any student could tell you that your syllabi are basically class Bibles. Look at them, live them, worship them. Each class will have a syllabus, which will consist of your professor's contact information, class/university policies, grading scales, how assignments add up and a tentative schedule of when things will be due. Don't ask your professor any questions until you've looked over the syllabus a few times.

12. There's nothing wrong with attending an IU satellite campus.

If you've chosen to attend an IU satellite campus, please know that you made a great choice. There are a few IU satellite campuses throughout Indiana, obviously Bloomington is the main campus. There's no shame in attending a satellite campus. Students who attend satellite campuses often have flexibility with their school and work schedules and are focused on graduating. The tuition is less expensive, there are many different programs to choose from and you'll still graduate with an IU degree. You can still get the "college experience" without going to the main IU campus. Several of the campuses offer apartment-style housing with Greek life. Just keep in mind that no matter which campus you attend, we'll all be graduating with that IU degree.

There are over 114,000 students enrolled at IU campuses throughout the state. I hope these tips will be helpful to at least some of them. Help a friend out and pass these pieces of advice along to them. Any questions can be addressed in the comments below.