1) If you do go to college, live on campus! Commuters tend to fall into two categories. Those who miss out on lots of fun stuff and those who live at home and never grow out of their high school friends.
2) Schoolwork comes second. This does mean get failing grades or drink all day long (but one semester of that might not hurt). It means that you should take advantage of your ample spare time to do something fun or interesting. It's OK to miss a class here or there to get the most out of the overall experience. And if you don't have ample spare time, take fewer/easier classes.
3) Figure out a way to learn something real. Do research, take courses in areas you don't know much about, get a non-trivial part time job, do contract work, something, anything. Because if you're good at something, why coast through classes and do busy work? Why not get better at something you suck at? Got a bunch of assignments that are too easy, but time consuming? Tell your professor, then negotiate with them to do less, but more valuable work.
The dorms filled up before I got a room, so I spent my first year off-campus (but not at home); as a consequence, I missed out on getting to know people until, well, even now in my 4th year. Being an active participant of a club helped counteract this tremendously.
On the positive side, I spent less money, had more room, and had unfiltered internet.
Some other random tips:
1) If you do go to college, live on campus! Commuters tend to fall into two categories. Those who miss out on lots of fun stuff and those who live at home and never grow out of their high school friends.
2) Schoolwork comes second. This does mean get failing grades or drink all day long (but one semester of that might not hurt). It means that you should take advantage of your ample spare time to do something fun or interesting. It's OK to miss a class here or there to get the most out of the overall experience. And if you don't have ample spare time, take fewer/easier classes.
3) Figure out a way to learn something real. Do research, take courses in areas you don't know much about, get a non-trivial part time job, do contract work, something, anything. Because if you're good at something, why coast through classes and do busy work? Why not get better at something you suck at? Got a bunch of assignments that are too easy, but time consuming? Tell your professor, then negotiate with them to do less, but more valuable work.