Summer is a great time for soon to be college students and current college students. You get to come home, reconnect with friends and family and enjoy life. But, there are some things you should do over the summer to make your upcoming school year the best it can be. Here are some tips that I’ve used (and have seen others use) that help to keep college easy and fun.

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Tips For The Upcoming School Year

Reach Out To Your Roommate: If you are a freshman, chances are you were assigned to live with someone you don’t know. Make it a point to call them up and get to know them a little bit. Talk about what they plan to bring and what you can bring. This will make the move in process much easier, and cut down on you having two of some things and zero of other things.

Buy Your Books: When I went to college, I had to wait until I got to campus to buy my books because buying used textbooks online wasn’t around yet. But when I went to graduate school, I was able to buy my books ahead of time. When I did buy them, I sat down for 15 or 20 minutes here and there and paged through the book. I didn’t start studying or reading ahead, rather I just got a feel for what the class was going to be about.

I feel this helped me out tremendously as I wasn’t surprised when we started to talk about certain subjects. I remembered seeing it in the text book and that brought me comfort.

Get Your Finances In Order: Create a rough budget for the school year. Factor in books for the year, along with groceries, gas (if you have a car), pizza, etc. Then look to see how much money you have already and what you need to earn so that you can survive the upcoming year financially.

Look For A Job: Most college kids are enjoying summer and aren’t thinking about September right now. This gives you a great shot at getting the part time job you want. Look online for part time jobs in the city or town where your college is. Then reach out to employers and tell them you are interested in working part time. Having a part time job lined up before hand will make the transition back to college much easier since you won’t have to worry about finding a job or how to pay for things without an income.

Scout Out Internships: In addition to finding a job, you should start researching internship opportunities. Your first stop should be your advisor and your career center. You can find out what companies typically hire interns from your college and then begin researching those companies to see which one(s) you would like to work for.

From there, start scouting out the company. Is there anyone there you know? Maybe your advisor or another faculty member can help you talk to someone there. Any progress you can make will go a long way in securing an internship during the upcoming school year.

Final Thoughts

By doing a little work over the summer, you can put yourself in great shape for the upcoming school year. By taking care of things ahead of time, you can focus more on your studies and less on trying to find a job or getting acclimated with your new roommate. And the less time you have to worry about these things, the less stressed you will be. Take it from me, when I am stressed, studying is not a fun thing. My mind wanders and I waste time. When I take care of things ahead time, I reduce my stress and perform better in the classroom.