生活在国外：来自留美大学生的建议（下）

American colleges provide many resources for you. You should explore and make full use of them. 

Firstly, you should go to the office hours, which are offered by each professor, maybe once or twice a week. At that time, you can have a one-to-one discussion with your professors, solve learning problems and have a closer relationship with the professors to let them know about you. Office hours are especially useful for Chinese students because they sometimes don't have courage to ask in class and may have more problems than native speakers. Secondly, go to the TA sessions, which also help you solve questions you don't understand. Thirdly, go to the writing center to let others proofread your essays before due. The tutors in writing center will pick up your grammatical mistakes and revise the essay. Fourthly, go to the library and gym frequently to read books and exercise. There are also many other resources, which I won’t discuss here. Just remember to be active and find resources on your own.

It’s better to be more familiar with the new American life before getting into college, like traveling to America several months before the beginning of term. This will allow you to improve listening and reading to reach the standard of American colleges. Listening to English news or watching American TV series every day will improve your listening so that you won’t get lost in class. Also, remember to read more English books. Thus, you won't feel extremely stressful in college because the amount of readings in American colleges is more than you would think. You need to be on a really high reading level to complete all the required reading assignments. Moreover, you should increase your vocabulary, which is helpful in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Knowing more vocabulary will enable you to understand better and communicate with others more smoothly. Don't waste time and only have fun before college. Making preparations in advance is really important.

Dishonesty is unacceptable and unforgivable in American colleges. You will probably be kicked out if you plagiarize or cheat on exams. Most Chinese students care a lot about their GPA, but if you take inappropriate methods of getting a great grade, you will be punished and this humiliating case will be an ineradicable blur in your life. No matter how determined you are to get a high grade, remember not to cheat. What you can do is be more diligent in your study and all your efforts will turn into a good result.

I believe you have heard about many scary stories about the death of students abroad. Most of the American universities are safe, but remember not to get drunk in parties off campus and never go out alone after midnight, which increases the danger. Furthermore，you should get along with others well and do not irritate others, which may cause the revenge.

Please remember to bring delicious food from China, like Lao Gan Ma, spicy bar or you will freak out because the food in school canteens is almost the same every day. The stomachs of Chinese people cannot get used to American food in long term.