1. Easy Mac, Uncle Ben's rice in bags, spaghettios, and frozen dinners are your friend.

2. GET A DORM FRIDGE. Better yet, get one with a small freezer compartment. You can keep a dinner in there or some ice cream. I love mine for that reason. Or ice cubes, but my dorm has an ice machine close at hand.

3. Get a single if you can. People will try to dissaude you from doing so saying it will be antisocial. It won't if you try. I wasn't social when I had a double because my stooopid roommate had serious issues and no one wanted to come to our room. I live in singles. They are like mini apartments and I love them. The showers and toilets are great and clean because we are responsible for cleaning.

4. Get a room on an academic floor if possible. If they have a minimum GPA, it will weed out the loud, obnoxious idiots. If you don't want to be partying 24/7, do this! Trust me, you'll thank me. My freshman year, I lived in a non-academic dorm and all the students were either involved in playing EXTREMELY loud music, screaming, playing soccer in the hall at 3AM, etc. Scary. One time I didn't sleep for a week because the girl above me was playing DDR until 4 AM every night and there was nothing they could do about it.

5. If you have a roommate, you DON'T get along (God forbid) and you have a chance to switch, DO IT. I didn't and I still regret it.

6. Buy nice bed linens and wash them often. Your bed will be your couch, chair, bed, study space, really everything!

7. Shower caddy all the way!

8. Buy sweats. Most likely everyone on your campus will be wearing them to class. No, I'm not kidding!

9. Befriend your RA and try to get involved on your floor. I was the floor governor and it was helpful because I KNEW I would be accountable if floor issues arose. I could take it to student government and get something done. A lot of these people won't care to help if you don't know them because they are very busy, but definitely seek out your RA and try and get involved!

10. Be kind to your neighbors and they will be kind to you. Usually, you can ask them if you will be doing something loud - having a movie night or something - and if this will be okay. They aren't likely to say no and won't bitch if you ask. If you don't ask, they will bitch and probably turn up their music really loud when you are studying for midterms. My roommate got us in a LOT of trouble with this my freshman year.

11. Defintely get to know your professors - and more importantly your AI's/TA's (grad students). You will want to know those profs for letters of recommendation for SURE. They guy I met and really got to know my freshman year is the guy who is supervising my dissertation and writing me letters of rec. He gives OUTSTANDING advice and really has been a major help for me. TA's/AI's appreciate you coming in to discuss your work if you have a question. They will walk you through and help you get a better mark next time. You can learn a LOT about how your TA/AI grades by just talking over a paper with them. You will always learn something!

GasMenagerie wrote:
Misinformation: informing FiSHes for 3 years now.