first year is all about sacrifice. How much fun are you willing to sacrifice in the beginning years of college to make your life easier for your final college years? You can have a lot of fun partying and drinking, etc and do ok but not likely great. Or you can not party so much and just focus on studies and give yourself a big gpa buffer for your later years which will be considerately harder. Most find a good balance but I think you should party it up freshman year as it is the most forgiving... and focus on studies your junior/senior year