Freshman year is full of new experiences. Learning the ropes and adapting to a new set of social and academic rules and customs can be a bit daunting.  Fortunately there is a lot of advice and guidance available.

Academic Blogs

  • College Thrive – One thing you can count on, you will write and write and write. This blog offers excellent writing guidance.  The blog covers everything from freshman papers to speech writing to dissertations.  The blog also offers study and research guidelines.

  • The Thesis Whisperer – According to the blog, it is “just like the horse whisperer but with more pages.”  The site offers tips and guidelines on writing, presentations, note taking and blogging.  You’ll also find downloadable worksheets and writing bibliographies. While the blog contains a lot of information that is geared toward PHD candidates, the basic research and note taking guides can prove invaluable to students of any level.

  • GearFire – While mostly an academic blog, GearFire does provide some life tips as well. The blog offers advice on note taking, useful software, and study tips, note taking, road trips, how to use Wikipedia for research and even powernaps.

College Life Blogs

  • Chegg Blog – Written by and for students, the blog offers advice ranging from the fun to the practical.  Recent posts cover dealing with roommate issues, working out, fun campus clubs (like the Rock-Paper-Scissors Club in Kentucky) and how to make new friends at college. Searching the blogs archives yields advice on just about every college life situation imaginable.

  • Hack College – This blog’s motto is “Work Smarter, Not Harder” and every article helps you do so. The blog covers both academic and social life and offers real world advice and tricks for real world situations. Recent posts include writing tips, apartment hunting guidelines, how to stay organized, how to avoid procrastination and even iPhone 5 tips.

  • The College Solution – Lynn O’Shaughnessy, a higher-ed journalist, consultant and author writes this blog.  O’Shaughnessy is also the consulting director of college planning at the University of California San Diego extension, so the blog is a bit more formal that the others we have listed. The information is very useful and is broken down into sections covering Admissions, Academics, College Life, Money and Research.

  • College Info Geek – This blog is designed to help you “Be Awesome at College”.  The blog is truly wide ranging covering such topics as using twitter to learn Japanese, how to much freedom kills your productivity and essential iPad apps. The site offers regular podcasts as well dealing with topics like freshman survival tips, setting up a home office and how to make money while at college without taking on a part-time job. More article