For me, CHEM237 (organic chemistry I) came as the greatest revelation to me. Not just the language barrier with the professor, but just learning how to study for this course. My TA for CHEM177 said that Organic chemistry was very easy in comparison to the other chemistries, however it turns out he was just lucky and had a really good professor. Even last semester, I tested out of CHEM146 (gen chem I) so the way that I studied for orgo was the same way I studied for chemistry in high school. It was very easy to fall behind the class and learning to catch up and taking accountability for my procrastination habits was the greatest revelation for me. The best strategy to succeed in courses like Orgo is really to study daily. There isn’t a shortcut for this course. You have to read the textbook in advance, go to office hours, study after lecture, do the homework (even if it isn’t required), and do lots of practice problems - something I failed to do making it really hard to succeed in the class. Most classes have the units built on each other so unless you fully master the previous material, you can’t move onto the next.
I haven’t had the greatest successes in developing strong relationships with faculty members and this is because everyone wants to get close with the professor or the TA. There are many people who have the time to go every single office hour to talk to the professor and have the time to build relationships. I just never had the motivation to do so because there weren’t many classes that I genuinely was extremely interested in. For example, CHEM237 is a pretty small class so many students will do everything in their power to get a research position for the summer or have a professor write a letter of recommendation for them, and because of that office hours are usually full of people who are passionate about organic chemistry. The best way to overcome this is to go with the crowd and try your hardest to stand out.
My relationship with fellow students enabled me to cope with the adjustment. Finding people that listen and support you is not easy, but they are there- UMD is a very big school. It is impossible to not find a friend while you are here. The biggest obstacle in finding these friends are the wrong friends. They drain your energy and surround yourself with negative energy. I know a lot of people find friends from clubs or activities, but personally I found my closest friends from scholars and my major (an LEP so there isn’t a lot of people.) My best friends don’t go to UMD, so I go home every weekend to hang out with them and that has helped me out a lot because it helps a lot with my mental health.
In aspects of university academic life, I was least prepared for the workload. In high school, I slacked off and still got As, so I never properly learned how to study and my fall semester I took a lot of easy courses and gen eds so I never learned to study then either. So taking academically challenging classes and trying to catch up with everyone else was really challenging. The best way to study is to study in advance. I found that college is more self studying and lectures are for reviews.