Things I Wish I Knew Before Getting Into College

In order to make sure they have enough room for all the students who plan on coming to campus, many colleges ask students to make a small financial deposit to the school once they've been admitted. In most cases, students have until May 1st of their senior year to send this deposit in, and students who have limited financial resources can request a waiver of the deposit--but you have to ask for that waiver by May 1.

This may seem like a small thing, but I hope you can see what could happen if a lot of students showed up in the fall who didn't put in a deposit. Suddenly, there wouldn't be enough beds for students living on campus, or enough classes for students to take, or enough instructors to teach them. That's why they need to know you're coming.

What about sending deposits to more than one school?It's also important to deposit at only one school. Some students who can't make up their minds about what college to attend will put in a deposit at more than one school on May 1, then simply show up that fall at the one college they finally choose. That's a problem, too, but for a different reason. If 100 students deposit at a college, then don't show up in the fall, that means the college has too many beds, and too many classes--and not nearly enough money. Double depositing can literally cost a college millions of dollars in lost tuition, and that's not a good idea. So don't forget to deposit, and only do it once.

It probably goes without saying, but you still have to graduate from high school in order to go to college. When a college offers you admission, it's on the condition you earn your high school diploma, and that you continue to do strong work in your classes. That means you can't expect the college will still want you to attend if your grades drop to all Ds. You need to finish strong.

This also applies to your conduct record at school. Some students make the mistake of thinking that getting into a college allows them to skip classes, engage in pranks, or do things at school that take away from everyone's learning experience.

You really want to think twice about doing anything like that. When your high school sent in your transcript, they probably also had to send in verification that you hadn't been suspended or disciplined for anything extreme while you were in high school. If that changes at the end of senior year, the high school has to report that to the college--and the college can then revoke their offer of admission. The stakes are too high here, so take the high road.

Since most colleges require students to graduate from high school, you have to give the college proof you've earned your diploma. Most of the time, this is a pretty easy process--you tell your counselor what college you're going to, and they send a final transcript with the date of your graduation on it. This is the simplest part of finishing up your college plans, but don't forget to do it.

Most students are done with their financial aid forms when they return a required part of the Student Aid Report (SAR) to the college, indicating the student accepts the financial aid offer the college has proposed. In other cases, the college will ask for additional materials to verify that you qualify for financial aid, including tax forms, letters from your employer or your parents' employers, copies of bank statements, copies of mortgage payments, and more.

There's no doubt that finding many of these forms can be time-consuming, and if one of your parents lives out-of-state, getting some of this information can be just plain hard. But the longer you wait to get started, the less time you will have to actually submit the forms--and colleges just won't give you aid until all the right forms are submitted. If a college asks for verification materials, ask your parents for help in tracking down what you need--and if you need more time, call the financial aid office right away.

This is the number one reason most students end up not going to college, so don't overlook these requests.

Some colleges don't consider your application complete until you attend an orientation to the college, and register for classes. Most of these orientations are held in the summer, and you have to go online to register for them. Others are held for all students just a couple of days before school starts. Either way, you need to attend.

A few colleges don't offer an orientation program, but offer students the chance to register for classes online. If that's the case, they may require you to sign up for classes before you get to campus, with the condition that failure to sign up for classes by a certain date can mean you aren't coming to campus after all. Every college has its own unique requirement about orientation and registration, so read that information carefully. It's usually included with your letter of admission, but sometimes it comes in a separate email.

Speaking of email, you're going to want to continue to check your email account until the day you leave for college. There certainly are faster ways to communicate with students, but texting isn't really the best way to send a long message, and hardly anyone reads snail mail anymore. Colleges email all kinds of requests to students, including requests for health records, additional financial aid verification, transcripts, orientation information, and more. Check your email daily the summer after senior year, and pay close attention to your spam filter. Colleges love to send emails in large batches, and that means the important message they sent you could be interpreted by your computer to be junk mail.

Not every student lives on campus during college, and no college is known to require roommates to communicate before college starts. At the same time, it's a good idea to get to know a little about your future roommate ahead of time, if only to coordinate who's going to bring what to furnish the room, and what color sheets and towels you're both going to bring. Early communication is also a good way to build strong communication skills early, something that will come in handy when you're both running around like crazy, trying to get to class, and not having enough time to have a meal together. Colleges offer all kinds of ways to connect over the summer. Take full advantage of them.

The summer before college is also the time to talk with your parents about how to handle your college finances. Most colleges create a separate account for paying tuition, room, and board, and parents generally have access to that account. Some colleges will also offer students a debit card that doubles as their student ID, allowing students to make deposits and withdrawals on this account at college-based ATMs.

Most students start college with a good understanding of how to manage a debit account, but fewer students have a firm grip on how to use a credit card. Some parents will decide to add a college student to their credit card account, with the understanding that the credit card is only to be used for emergencies. Other parents are more comfortable with having students call them when a big money purchase is necessary, and with making arrangements for such needs on a case-by-case basis.

The decision to have a credit card is very much an individual one, since students under 25 need an adult to co-sign on most credit accounts. Sources like CreditCard.com and BankRate.com can help you sort out the best choice for you.

If you're surprised by the number of students who never make it from high school graduation to college, you'll likely be just as amazed by the number of students who drop out of college in the first year. While the number of students who fail to return for year two varies greatly from college to college, it's not unusual for it to be as high as one-third of those who started as freshmen. If you're thinking a lot of this has to do with money, you're right--and one of the big reasons students run out of money is because they forget they have to file a new FAFSA every year they're in college.

Beyond money, there are three big reasons students don't come back to a college. All three of them relate to the same important goal--students have to feel comfortable with college. It's important to take challenging classes, and there has to be enough to do to make college interesting outside the classroom, but the following three factors are the biggest reasons students give up on their college plans; practice these disciplines ASAP: