If you’re like most college freshmen, you won’t be bringing your car with you to school. You may have the opportunity to have a vehicle on campus in the next few years, but as a freshman, it’s much less likely. Because you’ve probably been relying on it for the past several years as your primary means of transportation, you may not be used to traveling using other means. So you’ve left your car at home . . . now what?

The easiest, cheapest, and most common method of car-free travel is walking. Most college campuses are small enough to walk between your destinations without too much trouble. You don’t have to wait for a bus, beg for a ride, or get your bike ready. You can just lace up your shoes and go. Walking is the primary means of transportation for the vast majority of students. Many campuses are close enough to places like grocery stores, movie theatres, gas stations, liquor stores, and restaurants that you can get to almost everywhere that you need to go fairly easily.

If you have to go a little farther, such as across a big campus, or a few miles away to a grocery store or friend’s house, you may want to invest in a bike. Using CraigsList is a great way to get a bike without spending too much money. If you already have a bike, you don’t have to worry about this—just bring it to campus, keep it in your dorm room, or lock it up outside. While you can’t carry as many things on a bike as you can in a car, you can add a rack and panniers to your bike and have enough storage room for two grocery bags. This should be more than enough to get you through your day-to-day routine. Having a bike on campus makes living without a car much easier, and is often the best way for students to get around.

Mass transit is an efficient and environmentally-friendly way to get from place to place if you have to travel several miles very quickly. Many campuses offer free shuttle services between buildings or campuses. This provides the advantage of not having to walk from a bus stop to where you need to go; you can probably get dropped off right in front of it. If you need to go somewhere else, like to the mall, or downtown to the bars or clubs, you can hop on a city bus for a few bucks. It’s a lot cheaper than getting a cab, and you can fit a much larger group on a bus than in a car.

If you’re not planning on bringing a car to campus your freshmen year, there’s no need to worry about how to get around. If you can’t walk somewhere, you can probably bike there. If it’s too far to bike, hop a bus! You’ll learn very quickly which methods of transportation you’ll need while you’re in school, and you’ll find that living without a car is a lot easier than it may seem.

There are no two ways about it—college will be one of the most stressful times of your life. You’ll have to face the clash of social and academic schedules, you’ll have tests that seem impossible, professors that don’t seem to like you, roommates you don’t see eye-to-eye with, and any number of possible other situations that cause stress. However, it is possible to manage these stressors and learn to deal with the stress that they cause.

When it comes to managing stress, time management is paramount. One of the decisions that you’ll have to make every day is how to prioritize different things in your life. These can include your social life, athletics, a job, academics, and anything that might take up even a small amount of your time. Learning to balance all of these things is a skill that takes years to develop; however, if you focus on discovering the best way to organize your day, you’ll be a step ahead of the game. Keeping a schedule, either on paper, on a PDA or cell phone, or on your computer will aid your time management efforts. Use it to plan all of your activities—but don’t be afraid to change them when needed. Don’t let your schedule cause more stress than the things that you put in it.

Finding a relaxing activity that you enjoy is one of the more valuable things you can do in the battle against stress. There are as many different stress-relieving activities as there are people. Some popular ones include reading, journaling, watching movies, exercising or just holding a non-school-related conversation. Find something that you like to do that takes your mind off of the problems that you have. You’ll find that you feel a lot better if you can schedule this activity into at least most days.

Finally, don’t be afraid to use on-campus resources. People like your RA, a counselor or a chaplain can provide very helpful information as well as listening ear, which can be just as important as the above strategies. Going to talk about stress or problems that you’re having is nothing to be ashamed of—in fact, once you seek help from these people once, you’re very likely to go again. It’s an effective way of getting advice from someone who has a greater amount of experience than you do.

While stress is something that you’ll be feeling a lot of throughout your college career, you don’t have to let it control your life. Be pro-active and take steps to manage your stress; the earlier you start, the easier it will become.

The ultimate source for student reviews of colleges and universities is now live at StuVu.com!  The recent release of our website has been exciting, especially with the timing for high school students.  November is the month where most colleges have their deadlines for applications, and it’s also the month where college bound high schoolers are thinking about which college they want to go to.

That’s where StuVu.com comes in.  StuVu.com is a place for high school students to research schools that they want to attend, and get an idea of what being a student at that particular campus is like through the eyes of a student.  All of the videos, photos and reviews on the site are created by students at those universities, which ensures that everyone gets an authentic view of a “day in the life” of a university student at that particular college.  College bound high school students, and even undergraduates looking for grad schools can base their decision on student reviews of colleges and universities rather than statistics and guide books written by people who haven’t been in college in years.

StuVu.com is also a place for current college and university students to share reviews, photos and videos of all kinds of facilities, restaurants, services and events around campus with their fellow students.  As a newer student on campus, you may not be familiar with certain campus services, or hot spots in town that other students may know about. StuVu.com can bridge that gap of knowledge and make sure that everyone on campus knows where to go and what things they should avoid.

The bottom line is that most high school students currently base their college decision on top 100 lists, statistics and pamphlets created by the schools themselves.  StuVu.com provides a community that allows college students to be the voice that directs college bound students to the right colleges based on what’s important to them, because in the end, there’s a lot more to college than just statistics.

When you first start college freshman year it’s totally possible to get overly excited by all the club opportunities on campus. Make sure you don’t stretch yourself too thin and remember that you’re technically there for school, not clubs. They’ll look good on your resume for grad school, but not if you failed any classes because you were so busy being club president. Which leads to some cautions:

Don’t accept a leadership position until at least sophomore year. By then you have a handle on your studying habits and how you handle maximum stress so you’re better able to manage your time. If you try as a freshman you may get overwhelmed, depressed, and not know what to do.

Only do two clubs your first year and then decide if they really provided everything you expected the second year. If you’re still happy with them stick with it and jump on a few more, just make sure you can manage your time. Also, make sure your study sessions take top priority over a meeting; you’re not getting credit to hang out with your friends.

Get yourself out there if you’re really passionate about the club you joined. Championing for your cause and getting your voice heard is the best way to build self esteem and your network with the campus faculty. This comes in handy in later years when you’re looking for a job and going to interviews needing recommendations from professors.

If you like the people in your club make friends with them outside of club time. It will make finding new friends easier and make campus events more fun when you have a new posse that you’re already comfortable with.

It’s hard to create a savings account or even a checking account when you can barely scrounge enough during the semester for a coffee. If you do manage a job either off campus or as a work study, the last thing you want to do is put that money away where you can’t touch it. Here are some tips to manage money without owing the bank any of that hard earned cash.

Establish at least one credit card, purchase one thing on it, and then put it away so you can’t use it. This will afford you an awesome line of credit and more credit card opportunities without breaking your bank. Spend only the amount you have to spend in your normal account and then pay it off right away. Viola, instant money management when you can’t pay right away, but you know in the next week at most, that you can.
Check your daily balance online, over the phone, or at an ATM whenever you can during the week, every week. The age of paper statements is at a close and it’s so much better to save tress then waste them on monthly account updates. However, this means for the most part you have to stay on top of what your balance is yourself through whatever means possible. Nothing is worse than getting overdraft fees that you can’t afford because you spent money you didn’t have in your account.

Save all your change and then find Commerce Bank. They have free coin stars instead of having to pay half the amount you’ve had counted. When you’re a college student you want to save money, not give it away mindlessly and most coin counting machines profit off your laziness. Worse comes to worst, count it yourself and save yourself the trip period.

If you do incur charges that you cannot pay, if you work with the bank, they will work with you. Tell them you’re a college student, answer all their questions, and they will often put a hold on the account and stop charging you fees. It pays to be aware, honest, and face any problem head on.