August really is the Sunday of Summer. And let’s be honest, the only Sunday’s that are worth enjoying are Sundays during football season. I can’t believe in two short weeks I start classes and have to deal with the hustle and bustle of school again. I also cannot believe I am halfway done with college, but it’s something I choose not to talk about (too scary!).
I feel like I have spent the entire summer prepping for school to begin, and here it is, and I can’t imagine where to begin!
Sorority recruitment season is fast approaching, and I am one of the staff members in charge of planning. For the past two years, I have been on this Panhellenic side of recruitment rather than be in my own sorority’s room. I remember a mere two years ago when I was a scared girl going through recruitment, so I love working on this side and helping girls who were just like me. The end of summer has been full of meetings, planning, and overall prep since our recruitment week begins on September 7th.
Aside from that, I have a few other tips I’ve been using to prep myself for school:
1. Order textbooks in advance: Well, this is a rule that isn’t always the best idea. I am ordering a few of my books in advance because I can guarantee I will need them and it may take some time to ship. Otherwise, I usually advise waiting until the first class or so. Often times teachers will alert you to a shortcut to find the materials online or that you may not need a book altogether.
2. Get cute fall clothes: I spent my entire past weekend shopping … it was more retail therapy since I had a rough last week. At least that’s the excuse I gave myself. Now I have a plethora of new clothing that I cannot wait to wear.
3. Move in early & decorate: I got lucky and was able to move into my dorm early. Hence my room is completely prepped for fall and looks comfortable and homey. Which is one less thing to worry about when the school & craziness begins.
4. Get an agenda and plan out the first week or two: I’m overly organized so I’m obsessed with keeping everything written down. Having your first weeks scheduled as well as where you will be going to class is important simply so you don’t end up being that awkward person walking in to the wrong classroom!
5. Reunite/get to know your roommates: It’s been a long summer and I’m sure you guys missed each other! Make plans to get dinner and catch up with your favorite roommates and friends. If you have a new roommate, now is the time to get to know their habits and preferences so you can have a great year.
Obviously these are more to my own taste than anything, but following these steps assures a foolproof beginning of the year. I know I’ll be busy so it’s nice to prep in advance!
Lovelies, how do you get ready for back to school?
tulip / 24 posts
I don’t think I’ve ever been lucky enough to have a professor who told me I didn’t need the textbook, there have definitely been times when I maybe only needed to crack the book open once but not because I was warned of it beforehand. I always order my books as early as I can so I have a better chance of getting a used and cheaper copy, waiting until classes start almost always garented me a new copy at a much more expensive price.
daffodil / 1615 posts
I thankfully don’t live on campus so I don’t need to worry about getting to know roommates or moving in or any of that, but I am graduating in December sooooo I kind of need to start looking for a job now. And figure out what to tell people when they ask me what my plan is for after I graduate (the obvious answer is: get some form of job that isn’t in retail, but whatever).
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I just moved in to my chapter house for my junior year last Saturday. I have yet to finish unpacking haha. It is really sad to see summer come to an end but YAY preparing for recruitment!
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I’m going to be a junior tooo and i seriously cannot believe it! These are all really good tips. Usually I already order textbooks ahead of time if my professors tell me before classes start. I would also recommend renting instead of buying books, saves you so much $ !
rose / 934 posts
IME I only didn’t really use/need the textbooks in a few of my 100-levels. But most of my classes needed the book to get all of the material out of it – and I’m sure that if I’d read the book more in the few where I really didn’t read that much I’d have gotten As instead of Bs. All of my senior classes have needed books. I am renting the books that I can through my school as it’s going to be about as much as buying used and then reselling in the end, if not cheaper.
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Again…another post not geared to commuter students.
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I graduated in May, so it will be strange NOT to return to school… but work will certainly keep me busy (and no homework!)
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@newportbreeze@xanga - Yup. Totally irrelevant to me. I live at home and drive to my school.
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I wish I had money to get cute clothes for fall XD
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Yeah, like some people above said, I’m also a commuter. How about a post for commuters?
hydrangea / 58 posts
@zzzzzulavalle@xanga - @ashleynicole - I’m renting my books too. I loved cheapesttextbooks.com where it took me to a bunch of different sites with options for different rental periods. I got all five of my books for under $100. I was extremely proud of that!
Really, really wish I could afford new clothes for fall. All of mine are like 2-3 sizes too big. :/
rose / 934 posts
@deadroseawaiting - There’s another site, I can’t remember, that does the price comparison for you. Problem is that none of them seemed to be shipping to Canada
Even if I go through my school though it’s much cheaper than buying USED even. I have 5 textbooks (and an Iclicker which I had to buy new) for this semester and if I only get the 4 that are available through the school it will cost about 250, whereas to buy all used would be over 400 since none is cheaper than 100 at the used price. One of them isn’t avail in the newest edition though, but the last edition is super cheap, so I might just email and ask if the 1st edition would still work or if the newest is totally required.
As for clothes, try thrifting and look for dresses and maybe skirts. These are the easiest things to wear even if they are too big because you can always belt them. Most of my skirts are too big on my now and some of my dresses are on the baggy-ish side, so belts are AWESOME. and thrifting can be pretty cheap!
hydrangea / 58 posts
@ashleynicole - I live in a very small, rural town. We have goodwill and one thrift store within walking distance. It is a nice idea though and if I get to go out of town, I know where some awesome thrift stores are that actually carry my sizes! Going from a 22 to a 16 creates problems when you’re a broke student. Belting is a great idea. I’m wearing leggings, an oversized tunic with a belt, and ballet flats for my first day . . .hoping to not stand out as a 26 year old freshman lol.
I think Knetbooks ships to Canada but the shipping isn’t free unless you have a promo code. My Comp book by itself was 300 new, 200 used, and 30 to rent for half of a semester. I would totally pay 30-60 dollars over 200 anyday. That’s not counting the side books, math, psychology, and music books I had to have. If I had bought all new books, I’d been out another 700-1,000. Renting was the best idea ever. Oh, and campustextbooks is another good one, but they didn’t give promo codes when I tried them.
rose / 934 posts
@deadroseawaiting - Thankfully renting through my school is still pretty cheap! although through other sites it would have been even cheaper. But I don’t use the books post-classes and selling them back to the school/students only gets at most about half the money back, so if I’m spending about half of the cost already for rentals why not just rent instead of trying to find used? It’s ridiculous how expensive the books are when barely any of that money goes to the school and it’s basically just overpriced mark-up. Your books are pricey for freshman courses! I don’t think any of my books were above 200. My Latin book was like 23 bucks haha!
hydrangea / 58 posts
@ashleynicole - I think all of the books are way over priced, new or used. Its kind of ridiculous! I know there’s a church somewhere in my area that sponsors new college students and gets some sort of discount on the freshmen course books because they buy in bulk. Of course, I didn’t find that out until after I had mine rented.
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@deadroseawaiting - Why not try selling your clothes that are too big and using whatever money you get to buy new clothes? I do that all the time!
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I’m glad I graduated college this past May and will be moving into an apartment I will hopefully stay in for more than a year. Moving in and out of dorms was such a pain in the ass, and why I renewed my lease in the apartment I got half way in junior year even though I absolutely hated my landlord. and I’m happy to be making money come this fall instead of spending money. Definitely plus. Woo real world!
I do get to buy cute (but professional) clothes for work. I’m going to try to be the most adorable tax accountant ever.
rose / 759 posts
I never get books til the week of classes when I know for SURE they’re required. Most all of my classes have an online version or the professors have everything that matters in PowerPoint (and available) anyway… I try to rent if necessary to have.
Always go to “get on board” day or whatever the day is when they have all the social, school gov groups, etc out. Lots of tables have free stuff, including free PLANNERS! my fav. x] Saves $.
hydrangea / 58 posts
@zzzzzulavalle@xanga - That is a fantastic idea! I had never thought of that. Thanks!
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@deadroseawaiting - no problem