One of the biggest lessons I learned in college is that I alone am responsible for my academic success. But it’s a lesson that should be learned even earlier, while a student is still in high school.

A recent Deloitte survey of low-income students and parents found that only 22 percent say their high school has done an “excellent” job of preparing them for college. Only about a quarter of students said they feel “very prepared” to handle college courses.

The 2009 Education Survey also found that only nine percent of teachers say preparing students for college is their mission, while more than 40 percent of the parents and students say they thought that was the most important purpose of high school.

There’s a lot of discussion about the purpose of high school, but since college is your future, let’s go ahead and get you prepared. That way, you won’t be disappointed if the help you’re expecting to receive from teachers and guidance counselors doesn’t happen.

Here are four tips from College Rules! How to Study, Survive and Succeed in College, by Sherrie Nist-Olejnik and Jodi Patrick Holschuh, who are professors at my alma mater, the University of Georgia.

• Follow the 40-hour mindset if you want to succeed academically. Be involved in academics at least 40 hours a week, like a full-time job.
• Prepare to make some changes in how you think about school, learning, and studying. That may mean improving your motivation, self-discipline, and strategies for learning.
• Set studying hours and studying goals to keep on track.
• Be flexible and use different strategies for studying depending on the task and the subject. You may study science differently than you study a language.

–Lori Johnston