After being accepted to your first-choice school, you may be worried about how to succeed during your first year at a US Uni. At Vela Education we love helping students through the admissions process, but we also want to make sure they have a great university experience. Adjusting to US uni life can be a challenge! Below, read our top tips for a great first year at university.  

Most students are looking forward to a different kind of environment after secondary school. However, this new school will require learning different norms and meeting new expectations.  There are great online resources to help you think through these new challenges. Vela Education recommends US News and World Report’s  12 Ways to Prep for University!  This article provides thoughtful advice about summer reading, soft skills, and contacting professors. If you are interested in a professor’s perspective, we recommend Professor Michelle Adam’s great article on how to adjust to college! 

Vela Education also recommends that you attend office hours. Office hours are a time set aside by faculty and teaching assistants to meet one-on-one with students. Going to office hours is especially important if you are in large lecture class and may not have the opportunity to ask questions or voice your thoughts during class time. Phoebe Bronstein, offers this important perspective on office hours:

Office hours are a college student’s secret weapon—and far too few students know how to use them. One-on-one time with professors helps students improve their work and, by extension, their grades. They’re also a necessary way to help students form independent relationships with their professors, something that becomes essential when it’s time to ask for recommendations for internships, scholarships, jobs, and graduate school.

Though the essay does acknowledge that students may not understand what office hours are for, Bronstein provides a clear explanation and gives great advice about how to use this time, so students get the most out of their university experience. Read the whole essay here.

At Vela Education we were delighted to host a webinar on how to succeed your first year at a US Uni.  This webinar has advice from professors at UVA, NYU, Columbia, and Upenn about how to succeed! You are welcome to view this webinar on our website!

If you have any questions about any aspect of US universities, please feel free to reach out to us!