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6. Organizing Yourself for College

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You Know You Are Ready for College When You:

10
Know How You Learn Best
9
 Know, Disclose, Document Disability
8
 Have Take College Placement Tests
7
 Know About College Disability Services
6
 Organize Yourself for College
5
 Know Your Rights and Responsibilities
4
 Understand Academic Adjustments
3
 Use Technology to Support Learning
2
 Develop a Disability Support Plan
1
 Manage your Learning Supports
?
 Are Your Ready?

Getting and staying organized makes life a lot easier in college. You may be a super organized person already. If you are, your job will be to adapt your systems to meet the demands of college. If your organization could use some work, now is a great time to start. For those of you who are already super organized and disciplined, scan the headings for something you might have missed or jump to summary for Checkpoint 6 then go on to Checkpoint 5.

It's About Time

Time is a key to organization.

  • What time is it now?
  • What time do I need to do certain things today?
  • How long does it take to get from here to there?
  • How long will it take me to read an assigned chapter?

Some people have no problem with time. They know what time it is, where they need to be at 4:30 and when they need to start getting ready for their date. Other people have a little more difficulty. If you need many reminders to be places, do not know when your appointments are or always seem to be late; chances are you could use some "time tips".

Storing Your Stuff

Have you had teachers that try to get you to organize your papers? Maybe they have said:

"Bring two notebooks, one for lab and one for class notes" or "Use a three ring binder in my class where there is a section for notes, papers in progress, papers and tests returned..."

Do not count on that at college. You will need to develop and use your own system to organize your stuff. And, it's not just your schoolwork! Many college students get bank statements, credit card bills, telephone bills, information from the financial aid office, documents from the residence hall and more. It all needs a home and you will be the housekeeper. Now is a great time to begin to think about how to store your stuff. A good way to develop useful storage systems is to adapt systems that already work for you. Click here more on adapting your successful storage systems....

Think Ahead

Are you one of those people who plan everything out beforehand? If you are, chances are you spend your time wisely. If you work on keeping track of time and organizing your stuff, planning should be a snap. After all, it is the logical next step! You organize your time and know where you put things because there is work to be done and fun to be had. Therefore, the final tip on organization is: plan before you do. You can do your planning on pocket notebook, a daily planning form, or electonic personal organizers. Follow this link for ideas on how to make a basic "To Do List"

Summary

  1. Get a watch and an alarm clock and get in the habit of using them -- be your own timekeeper.
  2. Use a calendar to keep track of the scheduled events in your life
  3. Think about the storage and organization systems that work for you now and how you might adapt them for college
  4. Use a file system that will hold important papers such as homework, bills, pamphlets, etc.
  5. Begin to plan ahead by using "To Do" lists.