Being a freshman or transfer student can prevent various obstacles to those coming in. You may not be familiar with dealing with other students in a dorm-type setting which can present various pitfalls. The Northern Star would like to present soem things to do and not to do in an attempt to make the college experience smoother:

Do’s

• Do speak to your advisor about two times a semester. Do this starting freshmen year, or as soon as your transfer. Although it can seem easier to map out your schedule yourself, an advisor can save you from headaches down the road. You don’t’ want to wait till senior year, and find out you’re missing a class that’s only offered during either fall or spring. These people will make sure you get out on time.

• Do go outside of your normal comfort zone. Try to explore different things. One of the worst feelings can be finding something new towards the end of your college tenure, and realize you should have gotten into it sooner. Go to different events around campus, you never know how much you may end up enjoying it.

• Do attempt to make friends on your dorm floor. Yes it’s easy to keep to yourself and just talk to your roommate, but there’s also a good chance you’ll find things in common with others on your floor. Also, it’s an easy way to network. A tip is to keep your door open during the day, because it makes it inviting to others on the floor.

• Do schedule for classes early. It ensures you get the classes you want and or need, as well as gives you the best shot at a decent schedule. If you wait till the last minute you may end up with classes starting at 8 a.m. every day.

• Do make sure you keep track of your meal plan. This is especially important if you plan on being on campus during the weekend. You don’t want to be in the dorms starving, hoping to ration 7 bucks from Friday till Monday.

Don’ts

• Don’t invade your roommate’s personal space. The last person you want against you is the person you have to see every day. Feel out each other’s boundaries and then stick to them. Having a good relationship with your roommate can make your semester much better.

• Don’t go overboard with partying and drinking. Feel free to relax and chill sometimes. There will always be next week, always. You don’t want waking up late for classes or being hung over as reasons to drop or fail a class.

• Don’t leave your door unlocked if no one is in your room or suite. Even if you’ll only be gone a few minutes lock your door. A number of students find items stolen from their rooms even if they only went to the restroom for a minute. Better safe than sorry.

• Don’t go crazy with your refund check. It’s alright to treat yourself, but blowing through your money will put a damper on the rest of the semester, especially if you don’t have a job. This is more so important for transfers if you’re living outside of the dorms. Make sure you put away money for rent or bills, and also an emergency.

• Don’t forget to check your student e-mail regularly. Make a habit of it if you can. Important notices are constantly being sent out. Also, a lot of class cancellations are sent through the mail. You don’t want to be the lone person to show up for class, because instead you could have been sleeping, I mean studying.

Hopefully these tips will serve freshman and transfers in making the best of their NIU experience. With college presenting enough stressor on its own, there’s no need to add avoidable stress to your semester. So the Northern Star wishes good luck to all incoming students at NIU.