This is no longer high school. Expect to work harder. Most students were not challenged in high school. University instructors will try to extract from you your best.
Start working hard from the first day. It is especially easy for students who have had an earlier Calculus course to decide that they know this material and that they do not need to study it again. You need to understand more deeply the concepts of Calculus, and that means that you will confront quiz and examination problems more difficult than those you may have seen in high school courses.
Take responsibility for learning the course. The instructor's responsibility is to set the pace, to provide the broad outlines, and to emphasize the main concepts and themes. It is not the instructor's function to "spoon feed" mouthfuls of material to be regurgitated on exams. The purpose of a university course is to force the student to think his/her way to a conceptual understanding of the material.
In general your instructor will move through the course material at a rapid pace. You must keep up: they will not slow down to accommodate the lagging, and they may not notice that you are lagging. You must not suppose that there is a safety net under you which prevents you from failing. It will be your own hard work and commitment, and only that, which will keep you aloft.
Attend classes and recitations. According to the adage, "half the battle is simply showing up". Do not fail to come to class. Do not postpone doing an assignment. Do not dodge a quiz or exam. You could be digging a deeper and deeper hole for yourself, out of which you may be unable to climb. Doing some problems on an assignment or quiz is better than doing none. Understanding half a lecture is better than not hearing it at all.
Do your homework regularly and in abundance, including both the homework assigned (if any; not all instructors will insist on assignments to be turned in) and problems which you assign yourself from the text to test your understanding.
Work together with friends in class. Many studies have shown that, for the most part, students who work in groups do better than loners. It is especially useful to prepare together for exams, asking each other questions and helping on the answers.
Take this course seriously as a first step as a professional in your chosen field. From your first day at the University at Buffalo, you should think of yourself as a professional. Calculus is an essential part of many workplaces. Take the assignment to learn calculus as seriously as you will take an assigned task in your workplace after graduation.
Prepare your work neatly and carefully. You are presenting your ideas. A sloppy presentation could indicate sloppy thinking, and a lack of concern. Such attitudes are unfavorable in university life as well as professional life.
Seek help when you need it. Take advantage of your instructor's help and office hours. The instructor and the teaching assistant are the first resource to which you should turn for help. Additional tutoring help is available on-line and through various University programs.
There are many pitfalls and obstacles in the study of Mathematics. Hard work, perseverance and confidence are the traits of successful students. If you do not have these traits - you will cultivate them!
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