Preparing to come to USA! 5 Tips for Freshmen and Transfer Students

 Making the transition from high school or community college to university can be overwhelming. There is so much you have to remember to do before you make that big change, and sometimes you have no idea what you need to do or where you need to start. I know that when I was preparing to start my freshman year at South, I was so overwhelmed and had a million questions.

In this week's post, I'll share with you five tips to help you prepare to make that exciting transition much easier and less stressful.

1. Housing

One of the most important things to think about is your living situation. Are you planning to live on campus? or rent an apartment? or live at home and commute? Regardless of your answer to that question you will need to prepare in advance so that you won't be stressed trying to figure everything out right before classes start.

If you plan to live on campus, you'll need to apply for Housing. If you haven't already applied to Housing at South you still have time to submit your housing contract. If you don't have anyone you'd like to room with, don't worry. South has a roommate matching program that will pair you up based on your preferences.

2. Register for orientation

Everyone is required to attend orientation at South. It's really important that you attend because you'll be registering for classes, getting you school ID, and learning more about the resources and services South has for us students.
I highly suggest you register for the earliest orientation session you can. That way you can be assured that you'll register for all the classes you need because sometimes the slots do fill up. That leads me to my next tip.

3. Figure out what classes you need to take

 I wish someone would have told me that I could look at the list of offered courses on PAWS before attending orientation. If you already have an idea of the major you want to choose, you can go to that department's website and see all the courses that you would be required to take for that specific major.
You'll get all that information at orientation, but I know I would have been way less stressed making my schedule that day if I would have known I could know what my curriculum looked like beforehand. 

4.  Make lists and fill out a calendar

I needed to write out everything that I needed to get done before starting at South so that I wouldn't forget. There's so much you need to do and there's so much information given to you when you're preparing to start university. It's really difficult to keep track of everything without writing out a list or putting it in your calendar. That will help you stay more organized and ensure you don't miss any important deadlines. Always check your jagmail for any communication from South!

5. don't be afraid to reach out

 You can always reach out to your recruitment counselor by email, phone or text. If you don't know who your recruitment counselor is you can go to this page https://www.southalabama.edu/departments/admissions/recruitmentteam/ and find out who your recruitment counselor is based on where you live or go to school (if you live in Mobile).

You're recruitment counselor is there to answer any questions you have and help you as you make the transition to South from high school/community college.


-Paola