If you find yourself in a situation where college is too overwhelming, you’re not alone. Honestly, a lot of people find that their first year or two of college is stressful, overwhelming, and frustrating. College is a different ballpark from high school, and it can be difficult to adjust to. It’s even worse when you did well in high school and suddenly find yourself drowning in college. You don’t need to give up or feel like a failure. Here’s what to do when you start finding college overwhelming.

Examine Your Schedule.

The first thing to do when you start feeling overwhelmed is to take a look at your schedule. How do you spend your time? If you’re partying all night and then feeling behind in your classes, there’s an easy fix. It’s not always that simple. Maybe you have overextended yourself with good activities like clubs, a sorority, religious groups, etc. On the other hand, maybe you’re occupying all of your time with school and homework and never doing anything for yourself. Try to see if you can strike a better balance between school and social life, making sure you have enough time to get everything but still being able to destress and do activities you care about.

Get a Routine Down.

If college in general is overwhelming, it really helps to have a solid routine. Make yourself a schedule that says when all of your classes are, when you will study for each class, when your various meetings are, etc. Also plan on a reasonable bedtime and waking time. Just getting enough sleep makes a huge difference. If you can, plan on some time for physical exercise, which can help relieve stress. Commit to sticking to your new schedule for at least and then evaluate if it helped. You may need to tweak it a bit before you find a good fit.

Seek Help.

If there is a certain class or two that is specifically stressing you out, see what opportunities there are to get help. Meet with your professor during office hours and let them know you’re struggling and see what they recommend. If any of your classes offer tutoring, be sure to take that up. Another solution is to try and find a study group in your hard classes. If a study group doesn’t already exist, create one!

Keep Your Adviser in the Loop.

Your academic advisor is there to do more than just tell what classes to enroll in every semester. Their job is to help you succeed. They will know about all of the resources available to you and may be able to recommend something you haven’t thought of. If you do want to drop a class to lighten your load, they will know all of the logistics of that and can help keep you on schedule to graduate. It can be intimidating to tell someone else how much you’re struggling, but it’s worth it!

Consider Dropping a Class.

Speaking of dropping a class, sometimes that’s your best option. If you’re truly in over your head, dropping a class can free up your time and mind space to focus more on your other classes. It’s better to withdraw from one class and pass the other ones than to fail all of them. There are often procedures for dropping a class you will need to be aware, so do it with your advisor. Don’t just stop showing up to class; that won’t help at all!

Seek Professional Help.

Sometimes there is more at play than classes simply being hard or college life being hard to adjust to. If you find yourself feeling more anxious, withdrawn, empty, or other much worse, you may be struggling with a mental health condition. Mental illnesses are more common in college than you may think, and there is no shame in getting help so that you can succeed.

Just because you are overwhelmed in college right now doesn’t mean that you are a failure! Everyone gets overwhelmed and struggles sometimes. If you’re smart about the steps you take, you can overcome this. You’ve got this!