6 Life Hacks That Will Help You Succeed In College

PETER JACOBS

 EDUCATION

 SEP. 5, 2014

REUTERS/Mike Segar

A student reads under the afternoon sun on the main campus of Columbia University in New York October 5, 2009.

We found a thread on Reddit that asked: what are your best college life hacks?

The answers covered everything from going to professors’ office hours to scouting out the best bathrooms on campus.

Here’s some of the best advice we found:

1. Take advantage of the access you have to professors

“Find a professor that you like, and keep in touch with them often. Go to their office hours with questions, e-mail them, and keep them in the loop in regards to your academic career. When you are applying for grad school, medical school, etc. you will need at least one letter of recommendation from someone familiar with your work, and that can attest to your qualifications. And no, your mom cannot write one for you.” — Wendy14618

“Go to office hours. 95% of the time, I’m sitting there on Reddit hoping someone will stop by. Every prof I know is in a similar state except the week before the test. We will absolutely help you out and you’ll get more out of the class than just showing up to class.” — Paraglad

“I volunteered to help my professors with research, by year 3 I was being paid $9 an hour. Year 4 I was published in an academic journal as an undergrad. It opened many doors.” — Uploaded_by_iLurk

AP Images/Ryan Anson

2. It’s not that hard to keep your room as hot or cold as you like it

“Our air conditioning in our dorm would only go so low, so it was always hot in our room. We took a washrag and ran it under hot water, then laid it on top of the thermostat. Instant cool.” — wisherg40

“Or, like I got most of my coaches to do in the sauna we called a high school, get an old desk lamp that gets really hot, and put it really close to the thermostat so the thermometer thinks it is really hot and doesn’t ever stop cooling down.” — DaMan11

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

3. Put some thought into who you spend time with

“Date and befriend incredibly smart and responsible people. Even if you aren’t incredibly smart or responsible they’ll rub off on you or at least they won’t get you in trouble.” — g123g012y

“Figure out who in your class works hard and is competent. Make friends with them. Do projects with them while pulling your weight. The next four years will be so much easier with built in group members and good study friends.” — anaccidentalmemory

AP Photo/Paul Schemm

4. Life will be easier if you actually do your work

“It takes the exact same amount of time to read the lecture notes before class or after class. It takes the exact same amount of time to sit through lecture prepared or unprepared. Read the lecture notes before class, think about it for a bit, and then go to the lecture.” — stochasticMath

“College is not high school. Meaning you can’t study for an exam the day before the test and expect an A. Try to study a week before a big test and you’ll do great.” — Thats_him

AP Photo/Craig Ruttle

5. Always be on the lookout for free stuff

“Join lots of clubs. Attend club meetings for free food. Better yet, start your own club, and then you can pick the food and have the school pay for it, depending on whether or not you get a budget.” — Roketderp

“In my dorm, people would leave a bunch of sh-t in the lounge at the end of the year. Picked up good stuff like posters, racks, and sh-t. Lots of kids didn’t want to bring that stuff home if they were flying.” —HyperionCantos

Via Flickr

6. A clean and private restroom is more important that you might think

“Your goal is to find the bathroom on campus that’s used infrequently and find out when they clean it. When you find the perfect time and location, don’t tell anyone until you graduate.”