It’s true; make it to your junior year of college and the hard part is over. It’s just a matter of time until you graduate.

In fact, if you complete your second year of college, the odds of your earning a B.A. or B.S. degree are high. That’s because very few students drop out between the completion of their sophomore year and the beginning of their junior year.

The “killer” year is year one. Lots of freshmen leave college before completing two semesters. Others complete the year, but do not subsequently return. If you are scheduled to begin college in the not-too-distant future, here are a few suggestions to keep you from being among them.

1. Do not miss classes. If you do, you’re sunk, even if it’s not obvious to you at the time.

2. Manage your time intelligently by making a schedule and having the self-discipline to stay with it. Do not ever study or sleep fewer hours than scheduled.

3. Don’t get behind. Review the syllabus in each of your courses, be aware of when assignments are due, and know when the busiest periods of the semester will be for you. That way you can do your best work without having to cram or be under the kind of stress students feel when they have not stayed on top of their coursework.

4. Remember the “all things in moderation” speech that your parents or teachers gave you? If not, as painful as it may be to hear again, ask them to repeat it. That’s because it’s true. If you stay up all night, drink too much, and spend more time seeking romance than looking for the answers to your math problems, you could be joining the work force before you planned to, and in a different position than the one to which you aspired.

5. Become a part of the college community. Make new friends, join at least one campus organization, and spend most of your weekends on campus.

The five rules above aren’t very complicated. And, they shouldn’t be terribly hard to follow. Yet, if everyone adhered to them, the average six year college graduation rate in the United States would probably jump from its currently disappointing 55% to the 90% plus seen at some of our most selective institutions.