7 Things You Need To Do To Prepare For Your New Semester Of Classes

With a new semester quickly approaching, it is time once again to start preparing for heading back to school. One important thing that needs to be prepared for, is starting new classes. It’s exciting, but also overwhelming, when you start new classes because we often don’t know what to expect. But getting a head start with a few simple tips can make that time less stressful and allow you to be ready when you need to be. In some cases, you may not get the syllabus until you walk into class on the first day. However, there are a few things that you can do before to get started.

Enter known dates.

Whether you are using a planner or a calendar online, it is important to enter in dates that you need to be aware of. Most colleges provide an academic calendar on the school website, so you can go ahead and write down breaks and holidays that you need to be aware of. It is important to know when the campus will be closed and helps in making early travel plans. This way you don’t have to keep looking up or asking someone else when breaks are.

Choose a planner.

If you haven’t already, now would be a good time. I recommend purchasing a planner you are actually excited about using. If you buy a planner you don’t like or think is boring, you are likely not going to use it. So buy one that is practical and that you want to use. You might have to invest a little more money than you thought, but I promise it’s worth it.

Go through things from last semester.

It’s likely that once you got home for summer you tossed all your school stuff to the side and forgot about it. So it’s good to take some time to go through that stuff and decide what you should keep and what you should toss. If there are notes or assignments you don’t think will be useful to you anymore, it’s good to get rid of them. This will reduce clutter and make room for the new classes.

Get new supplies.

I love school supply shopping. It is my favorite part. I love buying fresh supplies and getting ready to start a new semester off right. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of new pens. Stock up on all the things you will need for the semester. I also recommend buying some backups while you are there. You might be thankful later.

Organize your desk.

Now that you have decluttered and purchased new supplies, it’s time to find a home for everything. Having a neat desk is essential because you will have so much work to do once classes begin. Knowing where everything is now will make your life easier in the long run. Keep the essentials and commonly used items on top so you don’t have to dig through things to find them.

Once you have your syllabus, there are a couple of things I recommend doing immediately. They will help you later on when the semester is in full swing and you have a million things to do.

Create an assignment schedule.

Write your assignments down in your planner. Set aside time every day to work on assignments and get things done. This will help keep you from procrastinating. It also makes sure that you never miss a deadline. The timeline of knowing when things are due and how long it will take to complete them helps keep me focused and helps me better prepare for when I need to begin.

Buy textbooks.

Many people wait until the last minute to buy their textbooks. Whether you go to the bookstore or online, make sure you buy your textbooks as soon as you can. This way you know you have the right one and you have it in time to start doing assignments. You never want to fall behind if you can help it.

Preparing for a new semester of classes can be stressful, but following this guide will help. I do these things to help get a head start on all that is coming. I don’t feel as overloaded when classes start and I always feel prepared and ready to go.

What tips have helped you with a new semester?

Featured image via Alex Samuels on Unsplash