College life may not seem much hard but if you are not paying attention to small things, chances are high that you might end to returning back to school. Graduating from college can become even harder if you don’t organize yourself, prepare yourself for the exam and don’t submit your college essays on time. Most of the students around think that college is just another piece of cake and they can eat it with no hustle at all. But actually college life is much harder than it looks like. Your grades in college will decide your educational and professional future. So if you are not paying attention to your studies, you might end up repeating college again or in worst case dropping out. America has got the highest college dropout rate as compared to the rest of the world. College education is necessary and average Americans are very much enthusiastic about going to college. But almost 60% of the students get dropped out due to a number of reasons.

After the Obama administration abandoned the “No child left behind policy”, there have been numerous changes in educational systems as well as educational policies. Colleges and schools have been providing good amount of scholarships to motivate students, yet the dropout rate is still rising. This article is all about surviving college years and successfully graduating out of it. In 7 steps we will tell you how you can outperform your classmates and how you can successfully graduate from college. Furthermore, we will also elaborate on what mistakes average students make, while studying in college.

Don’t procrastinate: Procrastination is the biggest threat to productivity

Average students are much excited about their college education, so when they get admission in college the hustle of the campus life often get them deceived. Most of the students spend time enjoying and hanging out with friends and when it comes to studies and work, they usually procrastinate. Procrastination is the biggest threat to productivity, and if you keep on doing that you might end up with serious consequences.

College life brings in a lot of fun and enjoyment with friends throwing night parties and much more. This is the biggest delusion of college life, you get invited to a party, stay there for the whole night and then you end up sleeping till afternoon. When you wake up the only thing you see is your 15-page assignment which is due in the next 12 hrs. This is how all hell broke loose, and you haven’t even started yet. Putting things to the last hour is highly unprofessional. Get yourself disciplined in the first place; don’t leave any of your study work for the last hour. This is how you will save a lot of time and you can even have parties if you are done working on your assignments.

Start Planning: If you have 4 hours to cut down a tree, you better spend 3 planning about it

In college, you get to learn a lot of things apart from your studies and academics. Discipline, management, and planning are some of the key traits you will develop in your personality if you are a keen learner and always strive to progress. So planning is one of the great traits you should develop while studying in college. You must train yourself to plan ahead of your classmates. This is the only way you can achieve good grades and perform well in your class.

For example, if you have 3 assignments pending on Thursday and you are planning to complete each every day and planning to get some time for the dinner party. Don’t even think about going for it, if you have three days you should be completing your assignments before the deadline and submit them. If you have some spare time you can learn new thing on a daily basis. Planning your studies in college will gain you a lot of extra time, which you can utilize to learn new things. You can go talk to your seniors for some advice on a subject you are having difficulty in. You can work on improving your writing skills as well, or you can also spend this time learning a new language.

Get Organized: Discipline is the key to every success

During college year getting yourself disciplined, is the hardest part of college life. However, if you can acquire this skill, you can become successful every ever you go. Discipline is the only key that can lead you towards your goals. Be it your studies, exams, presentations or assignments, if you are disciplined and organized you can achieve it all. Getting disciplined mean organizing your personal life, getting disciplined means organizing your college life, getting disciplined mean organizing every single move you are willing to take. You will understand the value of discipline when you will get to your professional life. And thing you have learned while your time in college will make you a successful professional.

Read more: 10 Quick Ways To Write A Successful College Application Essay

Take control: You are now responsible for what you do

Going from high school to college the most common difference you will face is that there is no one to tell you what to do. In college, no one will stand over your head to instruct you. No one will ask you if you have taken your classes or not. No one will tell you to submit your paper on time. This is where you should think of another big step in your life. Take control, as of now you are solely responsible for your grades, you are responsible for your studies and you are responsible for what will come forth in your life. Take control of your studies; don’t let anyone waste your time in college. Don’t let anyone disturb you while you are studying. Take control of your health, get yourself organized and workout on a regular basis. A healthy body resides a healthy mind, this is how you can keep a good focus on your studies.

Never miss a class

In college, many students think about skipping classes and they have already calculated the amount of class they can miss and still be under the attendance limit. You might often listen to students like these “No problem I will get some note for this one”. Do not ever miss any class, you might end up being short over your attendance and most of all you are missing a huge part of your studies. If you skip a class that means you have skipped what the teacher has delivered and think about it if you miss 35 % of your classes you have missed 35% of the content delivered by your teacher. No matter how good notes you may get from your classmate, but still they are of no match to what a teacher delivers in the class.

Take your tests trice

Before going for an exam you must go through a self-designed test. You can use questions from the study guide. Repeat each test three times so that you may grasp the core contents of the subject. Read through your books on a regular basis, so that you might come across something new. Going through self-developed test sessions can help you get ready for the exam. You will get used to the time constraint and you will have better control over your senses. Practice makes a man perfect and it will perfect your skill both in writing as well as content delivery.

Connect to your Professor

In college, the only source of knowledge is you’re your professor. This is the most underutilized resource in the college. Not just available in office hours now you can contact your professor through emails and Skype. All the professors are required to sit in their offices to meet students. This is the time that has been dedicated to students and your college administration makes sure you have a professor available. Go meet your professor in person whenever you find anything hard to understand. You can perform well even in your tests and exams if you have a good connection with your professor. Go talk to him in person or over email, just ask your professor whatever you are finding difficult to understand. It is a thousand times better to ask your professor, than asking any classmate of a senior student.

Final Words

Whatever you do in college, always remember there are things you should do and there are things you should never do in college. Most importantly you must struggle hard to save your time as much as possible. Saving time can buy you everything and wasting it can cost you even your college degree. Never underestimate your true intelligence, always appreciate yourself for making it this far. Always remember college life is not just about having fun, you have to work hard to get through it. Last but not the least; you are the only person who can help yourself achieve it. None others will come forth to make it happen. Students fail even in the best of the colleges, that’s because they don’t accept to work hard.