Advice for College Freshmen from Real College Students

Updated: September 26, 2016

(I am an Amazon Affiliate, but there is no way I would recommend this book if I did not LOVE IT. See the footbar below for complete details.)

I recently read the book: Now You Tell Me! 12 College Students Give the Best Advice They Never Got, mostly because it kept appearing on my “recommendations” on Amazon and because I am all about getting advice about the college experience.

I was instantly hooked because the first college student to take his turn at giving a behind the scenes look at college life went to Oklahoma State University, which is right here in my neck of the woods. He instantly offered two pieces of essential wisdom: “You are not confined to one single, perfect match in education; there are many fine schools out there, ….” and to bring headphones! My college son’s freshman roommate was a stay-up-all-night playing video games, sleep-all-day kind of guy, which was not particularly compatible with my early-to-rise, early-to-bed, run at 6:30am, then class, kind of kid. Headphones can be a true life (the life of the offending roommate, that is) and sleep saver. First degree murder does not look good on a resume, and the trial, the prison time and the tatoos will significantly delay your child’s life plans, so don’t forget the headphones.

The book continues with 11 other college students and graduates from all over the US. I chuckled at one critic of the book on Amazon, who complained that every person had different advice and that there was no one “right” answer to things like sororities and fraternities and when to pick a major. Part of growing up is learning that often there is not one right answer. Answers in the college setting depend greatly on what the student is trying to accomplish, the student’s personality and many other individual circumstances. Because the book offers the opinions of 12 different students in 12 different college environments, every reader will be able to find one or several writers to whom they relate.

I found some of the chapters to be skim-worthy and some to be highlight-almost-every-line-worthy. One of the best chapters is written by a film school student in Los Angeles. He has some of the most unconventional, but yet REAL advice: “Don’t bring your autographed picture of Darth Vader to the dorm, and do eat your veggies; don’t grow a beard, and do realize that though the college years are great, your best years are yet to come.” While his morals are a little looser than I would prefer, he has arrived at this enlightened realization, “come to terms with the fact that you’re not going to find lasting romance drunk in someone’s yard off-campus.” His chapter is a MUST READ!

Whether you are buying for someone who is college bound or someone who is already in college, Now You Tell Me! 12 College Students Give the Best Advice They Never Got, will be appreciated for its candid, spirited and inside information about college life.