This post is part of a series of posts originally written for my blog at Forbes.com that I’m copying to my personal site, so I have a (more) stable (-ish) archive of them. This is just the text of the original post, from August 2015.

We’re past the midpoint of August now, which means a lot of universities are opening their doors to a new crop of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed students fresh out of high school and eager to start their college careers. This also means it’s the season for bloggers and op-ed writers to offer unsolicited advice to those incoming first-year students, and who am I to buck that tide?

So, here are a few suggestions for students just starting college who are planning to major in STEM fields over the next four-ish years. These come from my own experience as a former science major, and fourteen years as a physics professor at a small college, much of that time spent teaching first-year science and engineering students, so I do have some idea what I’m talking about, here…

Learn to Do Algebra

You’ll find lots of advice posts out there talking up calculus, but really,the biggest mathematical stumbling block for the first-year students I see isn’t calculus. I can write functions on the board all day long, and nine out of ten students will know how to take the derivative right off, and seven of ten can do a definite integral.

The point where students get tripped up is algebra. This surprises a lot of folks, because algebra is supposed to be simpler than calculus, but the problem is that too many students in too many schools rush through to calculus without taking the time to really get comfortable with algebra, and as a result they struggle with any problem that requires symbolic manipulation. But once you get past the most basic formula-regurgitating stage of the intro classes, algebra is everywhere.

So, my advice is: get comfortable with algebra. Granted, this probably would’ve been more help two years ago rather than two weeks before you start college, but even at a late stage, you can do something about it. You’re not going to effortlessly grasp the process of simplifying horrible fractions, but even with simple problems, push yourself to do them symbolically as far as possible, only plugging in non-zero numbers at the final step.

This is an essential skill for higher-level science classes, and a path to insight. I regularly assign problems in intro mechanics where one of the parameters (usually the mass) does not affect the final answer, and I’ll sometimes give those really horrible numerical values–117.3 kilograms. Working the problem out symbolically lets you see that the answer doesn’t need that, because the solution requires you to first multiply by the mass and then divide by that same mass. If you just plug numbers in, though, you’re pointlessly typing four-digit decimals into a calculator twice, increasing your chances of error.

Learn Some Statistics

This is an embarrassing gap in my own education– I don’t understand statistics as well as I should, because my background is in a field where we rarely need really sophisticated statistical data analysis to pull out our signals. This is not a path I would recommend, though. Knowing something about probability and statistics is absolutely invaluable for understanding modern science, and finds applications in other fields, as well.

Happily, the rise of wonks like poll aggregator extraordinaire Nate Silver and the folks at FiveThirtyEight, Vox, and The Upshot, among others, means that statistical analysis is becoming more common and accepted in mass media commentary. And the popularity of fantasy sports gives number-crunching an important role outside the pencil-neck-geek crowd, as well.

So, learn some statistics. Like algebra, it can get a little scary, and some Nobel-caliber smart folks will get tripped up by the finer points. But get the basics down, and you’ll become a better scientist, be less likely to be fooled by political hacks, and dominate your fantasy football league. Wins all across the board.

Learn to Program

I’ll outsource a bit of this to my friend and colleague Rhett Allain, who explained why your intro physics class should include computer programming last week. I wholeheartedly agree with Rhett– computer simulations need to be a part of the intro science courses, and we use the same Matter and Interactions curriculum he mentions.

When we start doing programming, I tell students that this matters because there are only about a dozen problems in physics that you can readily solve exactly with pencil and paper, and many of them are not that interesting. And that goes double, maybe triple for engineering, where you can’t get away with the simplifying spherical-cow approximations we’re so fond of in physics. Any really interesting problem in any technical field is going to require some numerical simulation, and the sooner you learn to do that, the better.

The best way to handle this is to have it integrated into your intro courses in your chosen major field– the best way to learn to code is to have a problem you need a computer to solve. If you’re not at a school that does this, though, take some programming classes. It doesn’t really matter what language you learn- the critical thing is the mode of thinking needed to get instructions into a computer-friendly form. If you master that in one language, you can pick up any of the others quickly enough.

Learn to Communicate

This may seem like an odd one, but it’s essential. Science, broadly defined, is a four-step process– I have a whole book on this— and the last step of that is communicating your results to others. If you want to have a successful career in science, you need to be able to write papers that other people can read and understand, and give presentations that convince other people you know what you’re doing. If you’re going into the corporate world, you need to be able to sell your clients and bosses on whatever course of action you’re proposing, which again means writing good reports and giving good presentations.

Even at the most specialized technical university, you will be required to take some classes where you read books and write papers– DO NOT BLOW THESE OFF. Yes, literature is a squishy subject, and it sometimes seems like a big game where you twist works to fit a pre-determined position. Learn to play that game. The specific rhetorical tricks employed in lit classes won’t necessarily be useful, but the general idea of persuasive writing will be essential down the road.

Likewise, if you’re terrified of public speaking, find a way to get past that. Give oral presentations in class, take part in discussions. Take an improv class, if they offer one. Even in the nerdiest scientific field– and believe me, it doesn’t get nerdier than physics– you are expected to give talks and poster presentations on a regular basis. The sooner you learn to do that, the better.

Get Involved in Research

While you might think you love science based on your experience in classes, classwork is a pale imitation of actual science. One of my colleagues at Williams used a phrase that I love, and quote all the time, saying that “the hardest thing to teach new research students is that this is not a three-hour lab.” In classes, you are only asked to attack problems that can actually be solved in a reasonable amount of time– your homework sets might take hours to write out, but they won’t contain problems that can’t be solved with the techniques you’re discussed in class, and the labs are designed to be completed within the time block assigned by the Registrar. In research, neither of those are true– a real research question doesn’t have a known answer, and might even turn out to be impossible to answer.

This difference is sometimes a rude shock to students who have always done well in class. The transition from knowing that there’s an answer out there to fumbling around trying to invent an answer that nobody has previously found is a tricky one. Some students who excel in class will crash and burn in research, and some indifferent students will turn out to be outstanding researchers.

The best way to find this out is to get involved in research projects as quickly as you can manage. This is easier to do at a smaller school– one of the reasons why small colleges are great for science students— but even at big places, there will be opportunities available, you’ll just have to work harder to get them. But put in the effort– get to know at least one of your intro professors well, and ask about research opportunities. Even if that particular professor doesn’t have a spot for you, he or she may be able to point you to a colleague who does.

Getting involved in research early is a big resume boost, but more importantly, it will tell you whether you like doing research. And that’s absolutely essential information to have, because going on in science past the undergrad level is all about research. If it’s not something you want to spend a lot of time doing, better to find that out as soon as possible, so you can adjust your plans accordingly.

So, there you go: five things to do on the way to your college degree in a STEM field. Or not– if doing one of these helps convince you that you really don’t want to major in science, that’s fine, too. All of these actions will get you experiences and skills that will be useful to you, no matter what you go on to do.

Bonus Etiquette Advice: College faculty get a little touchy about titles, and calling your instructor “Mr./Ms.” (or, worse, “Hey, dude…”) will make a bad impression. A good rule of thumb is to remember that very few people will take offense at being addressed with a higher-status title than they actually hold– addressing a grad student as “Dr. Lastname” will usually make them happy; addressing a full professor as “Mr. Lastname” will get you a spot in an anecdote about Kids These Days in the faculty lunchroom.

Unless you have been specifically told otherwise, assume that the person teaching your class holds the title “Professor,” and address them as such. (This is especially important if the person in question is not an older white man– science faculty do not all look like Einstein cartoons.) Even if they aren’t really a professor, it will make them think better of you, and that’s always a good thing.