10 Must-Do's the First Week of College

With the start of the academic year, it's time to switch out of vacation mode and into work mode. Pronto. Not in a few days, or a few weeks—or, horror of horrors, a few months. Because what you do the very first week of the semester can have a major impact on what comes out the other end gradewise. So don't skip these must-do's for the first week of college.

1. Take charge. At college, there's no one looking over your shoulder or holding your hand to make sure that you get off on the right foot. It's all up to you—and your foot. So, do it.

2. Get your a** to class. In a class that meets 35 times in a semester, each class has about 3 percent of the content. Blow off the first week, and you're already 8 percent behind.

3. Grade the prof. At the first couple of meetings, make a careful assessment about whether the professor teaching your course is one you can actually learn from. Is he or she clear and organized? Can you make sense of what's going by? If not, drop the course (or courses) ASAP. If you don't like the teacher on Day 1, things will get really ugly by day 40.

4. Be sure you're in the right league. Some classes—especially in math, sciences, and foreign languages—are taught at many different levels. Be sure that you haven't signed up for a class that's either too hard or too easy for you, given your prior training and abilities. Placement tests or various formulas for picking aren't always right, so trust your own sense of the course. Avert disaster, make changes Week 1.

5. Scrutinize the syllabus. Figure out what counts and what doesn't. And start figuring out the plot of the course—how it's structured and what the basic point of it all is.

6. Start your (note-taking) engines. Get in the habit of writing everything down from the very first meeting of the class. Keeping your hands moving (we mean taking notes) will help you actively engage with the lecture and will pay dividends when you discover that 80 percent of the midterm is based on class lectures.

7. Buy the books. You'll want to own your own copy of all the required books. And consider (cheaper) alternatives to the campus bookstore: amazon.com, bn.com, and half.com among online retailers; chegg.com and bookrenter.com for semester-long book rentals; coursemart.com, cafescribe.com, and flatworldknowledge.com for E-books; and uloop.com, craigslist.com, and even the online version of the student newspaper for student-to-student book exchange. Check 'em out!

Extra pointer: Before you buy a book bundled with a DVD or workbook, make sure that those "extras" are actually going to be used in your course. Not all professors require them.

8. Program your schedule. Get out your calendar and mark (or enter, if you have an electronic calendar) all the important dates: the dates and times of all your exams, your professors' office hours, paper due dates, and university holidays and vacations. Be on the lookout for possible conflicts, which should be resolved right away.

Five-Star Tip: Now would be a really good time to familiarize yourself with calenderizing software for your PC or Mac. Some of the best programs include Google and Yahoo Calendar, AirSet, 30 Boxes, iCal (for Mac)—the inexpensive plug-in Spanning Sync will sync iCal with Yahoo or Google Calendar. Also check out your cellphone and/or PDA—you'll never miss a deadline when your schedule is in your pocket or purse

9. Find yourself a cave. It's not too early to scope out a quiet place where you'll do your (dare we say it) studying. And when you get there, turn off the gadgets. Texting, cellphones, IMing, Facebook, and Twitter are responsible for more bad grades in college than all the parties combined.

10. Get down to business. The preparation business. Most professors do assign homework the first week of classes and actually expect you to do it. Even if there's no test or quiz 'til the fourth week. So, get off to a good start. Keep in mind that you (or someone you know) is paying for this college thing.

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