This comprehensive, hands-on guide to the total college experience goes beyond study skills, test taking, and time management to help students 1) manage the transition into college, assess their strengths and weaknesses, get a larger perspective on what they can learn, and clarify their purposes; 2) move through college by understanding what we know about learning, maximizing their learning from courses and out-of-class experiences, managing interpersonal relationships, and using good study skills; and 3) plan their transition to life after college, reviewing what they are taking with them and anticipating various life span challenges. Anchored in sixty years of research concerning educationally powerful environments and college impacts on student development and learning, it features an abundance of illustrative cases and innovative self-diagnostic exercises and planning activities—giving students powerful tools to maximize their own learning and personal development by applying basic concepts and strategies to their own conditions, situations, and behavior. Throughout, all basic concepts are presented in straightforward language illustrated with quotations and examples from contemporary undergraduates.