College life is full of big questions. But what about those little questions that still need answers—who's gonna help you with those? We are! No question is too small, no query too mundane for us to tackle. So here you go: Simple answers to your simplest questions about college life.

My sister is a college sophomore, and she says the work is hard. I'm one of those people who hardly ever studies but still gets pretty good grades. She says that won't fly in college. How do I learn to study?

Fear not, soul-mate of mine. Take it from someone who hardly cracked a book in high school: You can learn to study. And it will make a difference.

Secret No. 1 is the three-ring binder. While you might not do much note-taking in high school, college is the land of notes, so start practicing now. Get yourself a three-ring binder and create a section for each class. Better yet, get a separate three-ring binder for each class. Then, let's say you're in a physics class. You listen to the teacher and jot down a few key points in your nice, new binder. That's note-taking. Start a new page with each class, write the date and give the page a title, like "Nuclear Physics for Today's Teen," or whatever. If your teacher uses handouts and worksheets, add them to the binder (you'll have to track down a hole punch to do this—try the library).

Secret No. 2 is to use those notes to help you remember what you learned. If you're really on the ball, take a few minutes after each class to look over your notes. Fill in any gaps, or write down your general impressions on the day's lecture. These notes to yourself will help jog your memory when you actually start to study for a test two months after the lecture.

About a week before test time, take the pages out of your binder and organize your notes by subject, putting all the notes about the history of the atom together, for example. (This is where the three-ring thing is so great. You can move notes around without having to tear pages out.) Read through your notes and use a highlighter to mark the important main points. If you need to know dates and places, highlight those too. Then, read through the notes again and start learning the supporting facts for those main points. Read through your notes every night during the week of your test and before you know it, you'll actually understand what you've been learning. Cool, eh?

I've got a whole room full of stuff I want to take to college. Not only will I never get it all in the dorm room, I don't know how I'll get it all in the car.

OK, first things first. You will, I repeat, will come back to your room someday, maybe even a few weeks after you leave for college, so you don't have to take every single thing you own to college. Your possessions won't run off without you. So instead of trying to re-create your room once you get to college, you've got to get selective. Maybe you don't need to take all your yearbooks, just the one from your senior year. And you probably don't need to take every stuffed animal or sports trophy you've ever treasured, just a few that mean the most to you. And you don't have to bring all your winter clothes right away. You can pick 'em up later in the fall or have your folks send 'em to you. Check out a sample packing list on page 87.

On the other hand, maybe your parents (or younger brother) are making you pack up the whole room so they can put in that hot tub they've been dreaming of. Then keep the stuff you can't live without handy and store the rest. To do that, get yourself some sturdy cardboard boxes, pack by subject (like books, sweaters, junk you can't throw out), label the boxes well and haul them to the attic.

To get all your college stuff in the trunk of your car, start with the least flexible stuff, like your suitcase or big boxes. If you don't have a suitcase yet, let me highly recommend you get a duffel bag instead of a hard-sided suitcase. It holds more and can be stuffed into odd spaces, like a full car trunk or an overhead bin on a plane. Once you get all the inflexible stuff in the trunk of the car, fill the empty spaces in between with small things, like your alarm clock and your shoes, or squishy things, like sweatshirts and stuffed animals. Once you've got that stuff in, lay any flat things, like posters or your bulletin board, on top. Finally, lay all your hanging clothes, still on their hangers, on top of the whole shebang. Lay your towels over your clothes to keep them clean and you're set.

Or you could just get a moving van.

I hate to admit it, but I've never done my own laundry. I know I'll have to once I get to college, so I guess I'd better learn. Got any advice?

Hey pal, you're not alone. But before I fill you in on the secrets of clean laundry, go find your mom, or whoever has been doing your laundry for all these years, and say thank you.

On to the laundry! In addition to your mountain of dirty clothes, you'll need a bunch of quarters and laundry detergent (powder is cheaper, but liquid tends to dissolve better—let your budget be your guide).

Once you get to the laundry room, it's time to sort. You have to separate the dark-colored clothes from the light stuff or your whole wardrobe will be an ugly shade of pinkish-gray. So make two piles—dark stuff and light stuff. If you have a lot of red clothes, you can make a separate pile for those, since red is one color that bleeds like crazy the first few times it's washed. You may have some nice clothes, like dress pants or a sweater, that can't be washed. If you're in doubt about what can and can't go in the machine, check the label. If it says "hand wash" or "dry-clean only," don't throw it in the washing machine.

Now comes the actual washing part. The washing machine will give you lots of options on how you want your clothes washed, but you only need to know this: Light stuff gets washed in warm water, dark stuff gets washed in cold. Set the dials on the machine, put your quarters in, then let the machine fill with an inch or so of water. Next, add a cup or a scoop or whatever the package says of detergent to the water. Now add your clothes. Close the lid and you're set.

Once your wash is done, it's time for drying. Not everything goes in the dryer. If you've got a pair of pants that would be absolutely unwearable if they shrank a half an inch, don't put 'em in the dryer. Not everything shrinks in the dryer, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Still, your underwear, socks, T-shirts and sheets are pretty safe. Anyway, dry your stuff in the same loads you washed them in—dark and light. Dryer sheets, those little papery things that reduce static and make your clothes smell good, are a luxury, not a necessity, so if you don't have 'em, don't sweat it.

Again, you have some say in how your clothes are dried. Avoid high heat for anything except towels and sheets. The rest of your stuff can be dried on medium heat. Of course, some dryers are hotter than others, and the bigger your load, the longer it will take to dry. After a few loads you'll know which settings work best.

Once your stuff is dry, you're all done—almost. Be courteous and get those clothes out of the dryer before someone else has to move them—or decides to wear them. And fold everything right away to avoid wrinkles, unless of course you're really into ironing.

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