Only a P1, but since I'm doing decent half-way through the semester, might as well put in my 2 cents
1. Motivation: is very important. I used to slack off in undergrad because I felt like I wouldn't use most of those info once I got out (wrong: organic chemistry continues to haunt
), but now that I'm in pharmacy school, I always force myself to learn the
important stuff. When I start working and someone asks me for information I'm supposed to know, I can't say "Sorry failed that test can't tell ya"
. This single factor has helped me out the most so far. Also, I want to do well because it gives me more options in the future.
2. Prioritize: like many others have commented, not everything is equally important. If you've spent 5 hours studying for a 10-point quiz, you have too much free time. (unless the class is out of 100 points total, LOL)
3. Have a group of friends,
early: I think this is extremely, if not the most important thing. Going to class will always be less boring if you have someone(s) to sit by and share your various sentiments during lectures (yawning, getting frustrated, almost passing out in class, etc.)
Friends will also keep you on your toes when you can't avoid missing class, give you feedback on experiential education sites they've done, etc. I don't know about other schools, but my class is not very big (~ 130 students), so while everyone has someone to talk to and you don't, it just feels extremely miserable (vs. undergrad. with 300 people in a lecture hall, I felt okay not knowing anyone in there).
4. Try to enjoy your experiential education: granted, some are more exciting than others, but just try to find the ones you think are interesting (versus doing 99% of them at chain pharmacies; why would you want to have the same experience over and over again?). Those preceptors are also potential employers, so go there with the best attitude you can gather; it'll only help in the future!!!
5. Talk to upperclassmen as much as you can; they often have very helpful information, like which professor is generally straightforward and which one you should study your butt off for, or which preceptors are really cool and let you do various tasks at their site instead of just watching, etc. But don't take their words for granted either ie. if people tell you professor A will recycle all of the old test questions and that you should just study from old tests, don't.do.it.
Things always change from year to year.
Also, another advice is you shouldn't do what you don't feel comfortable doing. A lot of people join
certain organizations just because everyone else is joining, then becomes very unhappy. True, those organizations help a lot with networking (I would imagine), but they're not the only way to go about. Just get out, talk to your professors and preceptors, participate in school & volunteer events (where you can talk to upperclassmen; otherwise you don't really see them that often), and you should be fine.