Attend, engage, submit: Top tips to succeed in first year at college

1 Attend your orientation and any follow-up support meetings. 2 Turn up to all lectures and tutorials — this can be the deal-breaker. It builds good learning patterns and puts you on the ‘inside track’ — much information won’t be posted on a virtual learning environment. 3 One hour’s timetabled requirement generally equates to an additional two/three hours of your own input. 4 Get to know your tutor — they can help you with problems settling in, or point you in the right direction. 5 Submit everything. It might be only 5 or 10pc of the module, but can mean the difference between progressing to second year and repeating. 6 Talk to someone. All universities and colleges are now well equipped with careers, counselling, and retention officers. It is common to have doubts about your programme choice or feel emotional pressures. 7 Engage — with your programme, other students and your lecturing team. Create allies for yourself. Everyone is in the same boat. It takes time to develop new relationships. 8 If you have personal circumstances such as special needs or a learning disability, you need to get registered early. It will be considered in your results. 9 Love your librarian: more important than ever in this digital age. 10 ENJOY. All of the above are important in a successful academic transition, but they will also contribute to ensuring that the college experience will stand to you and stay with you.

Mary O’Rawe lectures in Management and Innovation Management at the School of Hospitality Management and Tourism, DIT, and manages the school’s orientation and first-year transition initiative ‘Get Smart!’