1: THE THREE RULES FOR COLLEGE SUCCESS 
 
College is hard, but the rules for college success are simple. The trick is, even though the rules are simple in theory, they are often very difficult in practice. But, here’s my official college professor’s guarantee: If you consistently and conscientiously follow these rules throughout your college years, you will ace your courses, impress your friends and family, and have prospective employers or graduate schools begging you to walk through their doors.
 
 
FIRST RULE: GO TO CLASS 
 
Ever since your first day of kindergarten, when your mom tearfully sent you off to school with a kiss and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, everyone has been telling you that you have to go to school. For thirteen long years you did just that, even when you felt tired, bored, vaguely ill, or whatever excuse you could come up with that day. But guess what? Now that you’re in college, no one will make you go to class. You can lie in bed every day until dinner and—although you will probably convince your roommate you have the motivation of a houseplant—no one will really care. The college president will not call your parents nor will most professors bother to track you down.
 
But your professors will notice. Even in large lecture courses, your absence will become evident by your poor test scores if not by your empty seat. In smaller courses and seminars, skipping classes is like wearing a flashing red sign on your head that says: Please give me a bad grade.
 
Nothing in college is more important than showing up for your classes. And I don’t mean just at the beginning of the semester...