Success

Whether you and your college-bound classmates are heading to a research university across the country or a small liberal arts college just up the road, it’s exciting (and potentially a bit intimidating) to think about a completely new academic environment.

Accordingly, we have compiled some advice to help guide your success in the next phase of your life. We’ve distilled some of our own experiences from working at high schools and colleges, along with some of the feedback we’ve received from college students, to give you the essence of what you need to be successful over the next four years.

Combine these suggestions with your ability and best efforts, and you will succeed brilliantly over the next four years. We wish you the best of luck.A college education is a classic process-versus-product paradigm. Plenty of students complain about their work or obsess about their G.P.A., but that’s just wasted energy and time. Don’t get caught up in any academic ennui. Instead, focus on your assignments, papers and projects for their intrinsic learning value; the grades will come naturallyUnless you have a spartan single and concentration powers of steel, your room is the worst place to study because of the comfort and the distractions.

Given the realities of dorm life, it’s far too easy to wander across the hall and talk to your neighbor, or to have Facebook on while you glance back and forth from your book to the screen.

Find a spot that works for you, and call it your “homework home.” A carrel in the upper stacks of the main library usually works perfectly; there are no distractions. Oftentimes, smaller, more lightly used libraries on campus have great study spaces and light traffic. Unoccupied classrooms or common areas with less traffic can have excellent lighting, privacy and plenty of space to spread your materials.