For the next few weeks, most of my articles are going to be aimed at freshmen. I remember how weird it was to adjust to college, and I want to help you adjust to being a great student.

This week’s article is going to be about good habits you should form your first year--preferably your first semester if you want a good graduating gpa. Rather than break it down into steps or numbers, I’m going to break it up chronologically--just to spice things up a bit.

When school first starts, you’re going to get a lot of information all at once. Things like dates, grade percentages, and assignments are important to keep track of. One of the best things you can learn to do is to write these things down and keep track of them. There are a lot of different ways you can do this.

The first is to keep an agenda or planner and write down the dates of tests and when assignments are due.

Another is to keep an excel or Google sheet of all the different assignments, quizzes and tests you’ll have along with the grade percentage and grade received.

I suggest both because it will help you keep up to date on your grades without having to rush to find them two weeks before finals.

Some free or really cheap printables’ are available so you can do this all in one place. I suggest Hexaneandheel’s student planner if you are really interested in keeping your grades up.

As the weeks progress, you are going to find yourself busier as you become involved with different groups and as the class work gets more rigorous.

It is important that you keep up with the assigned reading, the extra credit and the long term assignments because the grades you make within the first 2 months of school can decide between an A and a C.

One way to do this is to set aside specific times a day to read, work on an assignment, or to research extra credit. This might seem like a no brainer but you will be surprised how quickly these things become less prioritized as you make friends and join organizations.

This is a really important habit for all students because it can be easy to forget that first and foremost we are students and we pay a butt load to go to school and no matter how important anything else might seem school should come first.

One problem most students face is how quickly the semester goes by. Before you know it, midterms will be upon you and you will want to be secure with your regular class grades, so if you mess up the midterm you can still do well.

The best way to do this is to go to class every day so you get good attendance and participation grades, do the homework on time, and always turn assignments in. This might seem like habits you should form within the first week but lets be honest what you do the first week of school often doesn’t stick the rest of the semester.

You might miss class for any number of reasons, but your midterms should be a wakeup for you to refocus on school.

The time between midterms and finals is always the hardest part of the semester for most students, because it seems to move the slowest.

It can be easy to slip into the lazy college student persona, but try and keep up the habits you have formed previously. Don’t forget to exercise, eat and sleep regularly. When you have all of the great Halloween and Homecoming parties to look forward to it can be hard to remember to do the basics, so take care of your health so you don’t get sick before finals.

About four weeks before finals start, you should start reviewing previous topics you have learned through out the semester so you don’t have to cram the night before a test. Out of all of the habits this is the most difficult because it takes focus that most students don’t have at this point in the semester.

If you can set times to study and keep up, you will be surprised how little stress you feel the week of finals. It is probably the most helpful thing you can do for yourself the entire semester and can really help your final grade.

There are two great tumblr posts that can help you with organizing notes to review here and create a study plan here. I highly recommend reading them and starting them ASAP, but definitely four weeks before finals.

As the semester winds down, there are only finals left and this should be the week you study the least in my opinion.

Obviously you’ll need to review some newer topics but nothing too crazy--it should be a week where you focus on relaxing and applying the knowledge you have accrued over the semester.

If you have formed the right habits throughout the semester, then finals week should be pretty simple. It is just a bunch of tests that help to set in stone what percentage of the course you are comfortable with.

Just breathe and get ready to be on break, because by then, you’ve earned it.