Back-to-school is right around the corner, and for many of you, the inevitable final year of college is looming.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.
It’s going to be OK.

Heading into your senior year well-prepared (and well-hydrated) makes all the difference, so here’s 9 things to keep in mind before you embark on the beginning of the end:

1. Check on Everything:
First things first, make a meeting with your academic advisor (yes, you have one) and make sure you have all the classes you need to graduate. If not – sign up for them immediately. Don’t wait to take your second required P.E. class until the last semester  — the classes could fill up and leave the only option available something that doesn’t fit with your academic schedule. (Or worse, it could be at 8am on a Friday.) Figure out if you have departmental requirements to fulfill. Find out when deadlines are and what the expectations are. Be aware of every step required towards you wearing your cap and gown and grabbing that diploma at the end of the year.

2. Senior Participation:
If your school has any special senior traditions or rights-of-passages, prepare for them. Do you need to decorate a special gown to wear for on-campus events? If so, get busy and decorate! Plan to participate in everything. Your hard work over the last three years has earned you this upperclassmen status, so bask in its glory!

3. Prep:
If you are planning to attend any kind of graduate school or professional program after college, set up a schedule for what needs to get done. If you are taking an exam such as the LSAT or GRE, and you haven’t started studying – figure out what you’re doing. If you’re ready to start applying to schools, ask for your letters of recommendation (while your professors still remember you/have time to write one!) and set a date to send your personal statement out. Make sure you have a schedule to stick to because once school gets going, things get crazy.

4. Leave the past behind:
If you had a huge fight with your best friend over the summer, either make-up or go your separate ways. Don’t hold onto grudges and drama from previous years – it won’t add anything to your senior year. This is your last hoorah so enjoy yourself, not the drama of college life around you.

5. Figure out what means the most to you:
For a minute, think about what makes you happy when it comes to your social life. What do you want more of during your senior year? More Thirsty Thursday parties? Plan ahead. Want to go climb that local mountain one last time with your boyfriend? Do it. Want to streak across campus? Just strip and do it. Don’t put it off – it’s the last year, so you won’t get another chance use “Whatever, I was in college” as an excuse. Create some kind of College Bucket List and hold yourself to it.

6. Expect a rollercoaster of emotions:
Senior year will be emotional, there’s no doubt about it. You will always have your ups and downs in college, but not having a safety net of returning to school next year really stirs up a lot of uncomfortable nervousness. Know that you will feel anxious and upset sometimes while you’re trying to figure things out, but don’t let it get to you too much. Cry about it if you must, but don’t dwell on it. And don’t hold it in! Be honest with your friends and family, and yourself. Everyone in your graduating class is in the same boat as you, so you won’t be alone.

7. Student Loans:
Get your crap together when it comes to student loans. If you have them, get real and realize you will have to pay them back – so keep that in mind when thinking about post-college plans. Find out how much you owe and what you need to do with your school’s financial aid department before the end of the year (you probably will need to go through an exit counseling session). Although you may want to freak out (and dive head first into a bowl of brownie batter), don’t necessarily let that get to you. Be smart. Understand your options and stay up on current student loan news. This will be something that could impact your entire life, so take it seriously.

8. Get Passionate:
Think about your passions. You may be an economics major, but if painting is what makes you happy – think about how you can carry that into your life beyond college. Explore all your interests. If you always wanted to take a yoga class, do it. Open yourself up because you definitely won’t be the same person at the end of your senior year as you were at the beginning.  This will make looking for jobs, internships, and planning for graduate school all the better. Even though you may be a journalism major, maybe you’re really into marketing – so applying to a marketing company instead of pursing a journalism graduate degree may be better for what you want in the long run. Step outside of every day plans and veer off your original course if necessary.

9. Take Advantage of All Options:
Just because your parents tell you that you must go to graduate school doesn’t mean it’s your only option. Maybe traveling for a year after college is what will suit you best, so consider it before you jump into another few years of school. Think about different places you want to live. Consider programs such as Teach for America or Ameri Corps. If college has taught you anything, it should be that you should try everything – so go into your senior year knowing the world is out there for you to figure it out, but it doesn’t have to all happen in a perfectly planned out way, so take advantage of what you can!

With all this in mind, you will surely start your year off on the right foot — leaving you lots of time to enjoy the remaining months of college to come!

It’s that time of year, when people start packing up their lives to fit into the ridiculously small storage closets they call dorm rooms.  For some of us, we will be heading back to familiar sights and sounds, having already navigated our way through a couple years of school.  For the rest of us, it will be the first time on campus and the start of a much-hyped period in your life: the college years.

There have been several books written to prepare incoming freshman for all the crazy shiz that will go down during their first year of school.  Their relatives, friends, guidance counselors and even complete strangers will also advise them on how to stay healthy in the cafeteria and how to sneak alcohol into their dorm room.

To really be prepared for your freshman year, however, you should get familiar with the people that will surround you on a daily basis.  Will your roommate be a Loner or a Homesick Child?  Will your lab partner be an Athlete/Ultimate Fan and therefore too busy checking on player stats and scores to write the chemistry report with you?  Only time will tell, so you might as well be prepared.

Here’s the 10 types of freshmen you’ll meet on campus:

The Party Boy/Girl

These kids came to college for one reason and one reason only: to partaaaaaaay!  They definitely spent too much time watching exaggerated college movies and are expecting nightly games of beer pong and hot, half-naked coeds everywhere.  They will be somewhat disappointed by the reality, but will make up for it by partying extra hard on the weekends.  Expect them to have converted their closet door into a makeshift beer pong table for their dorm room.  This kid is where the party is and always will be.

The Loner

If this kid didn’t go to class or appear in the dining hall once in a while, no one would know he even existed.  He/she is always on their computer with huge headphones on, completely oblivious to the rest of the world.  You’re not quite sure if you’ve ever heard them speak or seen them sleep, but they got into college somehow, so they must be somewhat intelligent.  In lecture halls, they are usually on a hand-held device or on their laptop, always in the corner or back.  Mad props if you hear this person speak or engage them in conversation or an activity of any kind.

The Homesick Child

They miss their mommies.  They also miss their bedroom, their dog, their siblings, all the home-cooked meals and a plethora of other things.  College is full of strange, unfamiliar things and they don’t like that.  The Homesick Child would rather stay in their dorm room and call/text their parents all day, complaining about everything from the cafeteria food to their roommate who “just doesn’t understand.”  On the plus side, they always seem to be getting care packages from home, so they’ll have cookies to share.

The Honors Geek

You’ll find this person in the library, hard at work finishing homework that’s due three weeks from now.  They’ve already accepted a research position for their favorite professor (whom they read about online before they even got to campus) and they are taking a healthy mix of honors and graduate-level courses.  Honors Geeks rarely have time to socialize outside of their labs or research offices, but they are pretty nice kids (once you get past the social anxiety that usually follows them around).  Maybe if you ask sweetly enough they’ll help you with your calculus homework (they’re guaranteed to have a bad ass calculator)…

The Good Kids Gone Bad

These kids were the ones in high school had had pretty good grades, some good friends, and a very normal life.  They then get to campus and are corrupted by the immediate availability of alcohol, sex, and whatnot.  Suddenly, that good kid you knew from high school is doing body shots off that sorority girl and skipping all his morning classes.  Most recover from their lapse of judgment, but some will continue to degenerate even further.

The Fraternity/Sorority Whore

Her mother was in Kappa Gamma Iota and his father was in Delta Chi Omega (both of those are completely made up, btw), so they will be rushing from the moment they step foot on campus.  They speak constantly about the sister/brotherhood, only wear clothes donning their precious letters, and go completely MIA for weeks due to rushing/pledging/whatever else they do in that giant house of theirs.

The Athlete/Ultimate Fan

This student came on either an athletic scholarship or on the love of your university’s football/basketball/hockey team.  They are the loudest at any sporting event and have been known to paint parts of their body in school colors.  Good luck getting them out of their dorm room on the weekends, because if they don’t have tickets to the game, then they’re gonna park it on their couch in their college colors rooting on the boys.

The Tortured Artist

You’ll be able to identify the Tortured Artists by the sketchbook/DSLR camera/guitar they tote around with them everywhere.  They hated all the droids of high school and the conformist society that surrounded them, so they’re already ingrained with a sense of community loathing.  This will make for awkward conversation in dorm hallways/lecture halls/cafeterias.  However, the Tortured Artist always has something interesting in their room (maybe a still life set up for photography class homework or a naked model for sketching) and they chain smoke like nobody’s business, so if you ever need a cigarette, go to them.

The Hippie Stoner

The Hippie Stoner doesn’t quite know how they got into college, but there’s a bunch of weed here so they’re not complaining.  This dude/chick never seems to leave their room and is always surrounded by a cloud of smoke. Whenever you come by to visit, they invite you in for some video games and invariably offer you some MJ.  Although the Hippie Stoner never attends class, he/she tends to major in Philosophy, Art History or something similarly useless.

The High School Wannabes

These are the people who graduated physically from high school, but haven’t left it mentally.  They still hang with all their high school friends, go home on weekends, and are probably dating someone who actually is in high school.  You’ll probably hear them in the cafeteria or on the phone reminiscing about the “good ‘ole days” back before they graduated.