Back to school season is officially here! The start of school can be stressful: looking for roommates in San Francisco, fighting to get a spot on a 100+ waitlist for your last prerec, figuring out whether or not you’ll actually need the $300 textbook for that class… Whether you are a college student living in our student housing in San Francisco, an international student exploring your new city, or a San Francisco grad student in dorm rooms for your last year, you should always feel prepared before and during the first few weeks of school so that you can begin your school year on a positive note! With that being said, let’s get into some helpful tips and tricks for back to school to start your semester off right!
- Organization
Remember that time when you had an important event to attend, but ended up being 30-minutes late because you had forgotten about it? Or the time you needed to find the handout that your professor gave you a few weeks ago to review for an upcoming test, but just can’t seem to find it? It is never too late to start getting organized for the upcoming school year, which means having good time management, and getting the right supplies.
It’s never a bad idea to effectively date and plan out upcoming events, due dates, and other important occasions. So take advantage of calendars and agendas to keep track with everything happening at school and develop a good time managing skill and never miss another deadline! Use the few days before classes really pick up to plan ahead for your semester – pull key test and project dates from the syllabi you got on the first day and put them down in your calendar, block off class time on your calendar for every week so you never double book (pro tip: don’t forget to put the building and class number on your calendar for easy reference – it will save you the first week!), and highlight the deadline for club applications, campus events, or any other extracurricular dates you don’t want to forget. Additionally, you should always keep track of the different classes you are taking so that you won’t confuse them. When necessary, keep a folder for all the different subjects so that you won’t have to rummage through that huge stack of papers in the corner of your room to find that one English essay! Lasty, the key to staying organized is to also have all the supplies, which brings us to…
- Getting The Right Supplies
Before heading to the store and grabbing whatever you first see on the shelves, make a checklist of all the supplies that you need for your classes. Don’t forget to check your course syllabus in advance if it is available to see if any of the supplies are already listed. Apart from the usual supplies (pencils, paper, notebooks, etc.), here is a short customizable list of essentials that we made which you might find helpful!
- Sticky Notes
- Wall calendar/Agenda
- Binders and Subject Dividers
- Highlighters
- Permanent Markers
- White-Out
- Hole-puncher
- Stapler
- Scissors
- Glue or Tape
- Calculator (Don’t forget to check which type to purchase!)
Since different classes require different supplies, be sure to check the type of courses you are taking before heading out to the store!
- Get Involved
Getting involved with the community around you through extracurriculars is an excellent way to make new friends and have a better school experience. Whether you are interested in sports, music, theater, or debate there will surely be a way for you to get involved and meet people with the same interests as you. Check out all of the clubs and organizations that your school offers before deciding on one that you want to join, and if your school doesn’t have the particular program that you are interested in, you can always talk with an administrator and start your own organization. Of course, if you are the adventurous type, you can also join something new or different and discover an interest that you never knew you had!
- Do a Little Every Day
We all know the feeling of dread when a due date approaches after you have been hit with a case of procrastination. Skip the cramming and staying up till 2 a.m. and develop a healthy study habit by devoting a certain amount of time daily to homework or readings. Find out the time of day that works best for you and commit it to finishing up an assignment or project. This will also help with the stress of midterms and finals when those come up, since you would have already memorized and finished most of the content by doing a little every day!
- Treat Yourself
After a long day of lectures, it is no surprise that you might feel completely worn out and all you want to do now is to jump straight into your bed in your student room in San Francisco. Remember that it is okay to relax and take a break from your school work and treat yourself to something nice! A short nap on your comfy bed, soaking in a warm bubble bath, or even just watching some of your favorite TV shows after a long day may be enough to clear your mind of stress. So just breathe, relax, and don’t forget to have fun during your time at school!
We hope these tips are helpful to you and wish you well in your upcoming school year!
If you are looking for a fall semester sublet, check out all of our available San Francisco apartments and room rentals! We have a number of vacancies on student housing and rooms in San Francisco, click here to see what is available!
Interested in more fun things to do in San Francisco? Check out our other blog posts!
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