Once you have your reading lists in hand, get yourself to your university’s library ASAP. If they have copies of your required textbooks available, you can check one out. If they don’t, you can request one via Interlibrary Loan (ILL), which is kind of a hack unto itself. Certain ILL transfers will come with fees for postage or photocopying, which you’ll have to pay—but it’s still cheaper than a brand-new biology textbook.

If you don’t need a physical copy of your textbooks, you may be able to get free PDFs from programs like the University of Minnesota’s Open Textbook Library, Rice University’s Openstax.org, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Open Courseware. These roundups from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s IT department and Collegelifetoday.com have even more options. Free PDFs are especially good for smaller, specialty titles—like the ones you’ll read for literature and language programs.

A student ID can get you a lot of stuff for free, or at least at a steep discount. Streaming services, Amazon Prime, movie tickets, museum admission, gym memberships, transit, car insurance, computers and other gadgets, concerts and events—you name it, there’s probably a student discount for it. Make heavy use of your student status while you’re in school and keep it around after graduation for good measure. You never know when it’ll come in handy.

If your post-graduation plans include renting an apartment or leasing a car, you’ll need a decent credit score. Unless you’ve already started paying off your student loans, yours is probably low or nonexistent—and you may not have a relative who’s able and willing to act as a cosigner. To build credit while you’re still in school, consider getting a low-limit or secured credit card. As long as you pay your bill on time every month (ideally in full), you’ll graduate with your credit score in a decent spot.

For a variety of dumb, cruel reasons, it’s not always easy to get a credit card without already having a credit score, but it is possible. You usually need to prove some form of income, so you may need to get a work-study gig or part-time job. Local credit unions usually have better interest rates than big banks, so start there if you can.

Your brain works differently from your classmates’, which means there’s no one system for successfully taking notes. Experimentation is key: Try out lots of different methods until you find one that works for you. The same goes for studying—just try different techniques until something clicks.

Freshman year is the ideal time to tweak your note-taking and study habits. Your course load will probably be both more varied and lower-stakes than it will be in a year or two—perfect for testing out what works and what doesn’t. If you find that you’re struggling to keep up, make use of your college or university’s academic support services.

Alcohol is literal poison and can kill you when ingested in large enough quantities, making it a dark horse candidate for the most dangerous part of the college experience. The best way to stay safe is also the easiest to remember: Never, ever party on an empty stomach.

This isn’t just about hangovers. Filling your stomach with plenty of food makes the line between “a raging good time” and “holy shit, someone call 911” a lot wider. The ideal drinking cushion involves lots of fat, protein, and carbs, so don’t have a salad and call it good.

On a more serious note, every college student should know the signs of alcohol poisoning and when to call 911. If your college or university offers naloxone training, which many do, take advantage of it—naloxone saves lives.

If you wake up with a hangover despite your best efforts, you’ve got options. Bacon sandwiches, sleep, and electrolytes are always a safe bet, but personally, back when I was still drinking way too much, I swore by Alka-Seltzer. The baking soda helps with nausea, the aspirin helps with headaches, and you can pop the tablets in any beverage. (For a real pick-me-up, take a few big swigs from a bottle of Gatorade, then toss in your Alka-Seltzer. You’re welcome.)

However, be careful when mixing booze with over-the-counter pain medications like aspirin, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen. Using too much of any of these can cause or worsen ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding, especially acetaminophen (aka Tylenol). As you can imagine, soothing the after-effects of frequent binge drinking with high doses of OTC pain meds isn’t a great idea. If you drink so much that you can’t make it through the next morning without popping Advil like it’s candy, it’s time to cut back.

Living with roommates for the first time is a big challenge, but it can be an amazing experience, so long as everyone dedicates themselves to not being an asshole. There’s no real hack here: You just have to get used to doing small, boring tasks every day. Spaces that need regular cleaning—especially the kitchen and bathrooms—present more conflict potential than others, and it’s on you to pull your own weight.

Even when it’s a net positive, going off to college is a huge disruption to your daily life. When you throw academic pressure, financial stress, heavy drinking, and recreational drug use into the mix, it can take a serious toll on your mental health.

It sounds corny, but you’ve simply got to keep tabs on your emotional and mental well-being. There’s no shame in having no idea what this means or how to do it; honestly, most people don’t. Try using the pain scale to assess your status: It’s a quick, simple technique for taking stock of your feelings so you can figure out where you’re at.

Once you know how you’re feeling, it’s easier to determine your next steps. Our guide to seeking help for your mental health is a great crash course, and if you’re concerned about your privacy, this guide has specific tips for protecting it when seeking mental healthcare on campus.

Exercising is almost absurdly good for you. It relieves stress, helps manage anxiety and depression symptoms, and makes you feel physically stronger. If you want to thrive in college—and long after graduation—find a physical activity you like enough to do every day. (Or at least a few times a week.)

Ideally, you should do something to challenge your upper body to counteract all that slouching over books and computers, but there’s no wrong answer here. Literally anything that gets you moving in a way you like is perfect, whether it’s running, walking, hiking, cycling, lifting weights, getting into a team or solo sport, swimming, or even gardening. Don’t be afraid to try something new—you may end up with a lifelong passion.

If you’re a graduating senior, you probably already know the shortcuts to finding full-time post-graduation employment in your field. What you may not know is how to avoid getting taken advantage of as a newbie job-seeker in a fairly brutal market.

Entry-level jobs are supposed to be for recent graduates with minimal experience looking to get a foothold in an industry. In practice, that’s not who gets them. Many companies use entry-level job descriptions to proudly display their red flag collection, so it helps to know what to avoid.

If the qualifications and responsibilities are way overpowered for the title, the company is probably trying to entice workers with more experience into a job with lower pay and fewer benefits, and you should apply somewhere else. With any luck, you’ll land the job of your dreams—or at least one you can live with while you figure them out.