Having gone through a good portion of my first semester in college, I can offer lots of advice, tips, and suggestions to future incoming college students. College is very different from high school, in both good ways and bad. In college, the student has much more freedom; some students do well with this, while others do not. The success that a student has in college is largely based on their own choices. While you should always make some time to have fun, a student must also remember that their main reason for being in college is to gain a degree and learn about yourself and life. While your parents are probably only a phone call away, it is not looked upon highly to call your parents for all the smaller things you probably would have while you were still in high school.
College will be some of the best years of your life. No other time will you live this life style that really is unimaginable in other times of your life. You will make so many lasting relationships and have so many fond memories; I know from my own experience that I will not forget certain things that have already happened to me in my first semester here. Make sure that you try to make some lasting bonds here, and from my own experience try to keep a good relationship with your roommate. If you are lucky your roommate will be there for you in good times and in bad, and he/she will be one of the people that you never forget. Sometimes you have to let the little things that bother you that your roommate does go, but if something is truly bothering you tell your roommate. Also, try to meet a variety of people at college. Not everyone will have the same goals, priorities, or values as you, so it's nice to meet all sorts of people and see which ones you fit in well with.
If you are living on campus, life will definitely be completely different for you. You will have so much more freedom, there is absolutely no one looking out for except for your friends, and often you have to make your own decisions. You may have to decide if whether going out one night is an okay move to make base on your workload at the moment, or if it is wiser to stay in and complete your work so you don't fall even more behind. In the end most of your decisions will be solely yours, but it is always wise to seek the help of others if you think you may need it.
When it comes to work, I didn't feel that college was much harder. However, in high school I was also in many AP and honor level classes. The one way that college courses differ from high school is that in high school there are many other grades, such as class work or homework that will supplement your test grades; in college, there may be other grades factored into your test scores, but almost always your test makes up the majority of your grade. One other thing is to make sure that you keep track of your assignments; professors may remind you that you have an exam but only the lecture before. Also, if professors give you a certain amount of time to complete the assignment, use it. Starting an assignment last minute also adds stress to you, and it is likely that the quality of the assignment will not be as good either. Also, find study patterns that work for you. Some people study best in the library, while others work best in the lounge or their dorm room.
One other big thing I noticed was that how much you like the class is not only based on the subject and your professor, but the TA that you have. I sometimes wish that you could choose a class based on the TA, especially for your lab science classes, but that is not the case. So sometimes you will get lucky with a TA who will highly help your understanding of course materials, but other times your TA might just make the course harder for you. From my own experience, I often felt that my lab was frustrated with my BSCI 105 TA. He was a nice person, but he often made things more confusing then needed, and he seemed to be a tougher grader than some of the other TAs for that course. So my advice to all incoming freshmen would be to have a good time, but remember that college is more than just having a good time; keep your priorities straight.