You have probably gotten all kinds of advice for college, but most of it likely involves doing well in your classes and making friends.

While both of those things are important, it’s equally important to make sure you are comfortable completing some basic skills you may have taken for granted while living at home with your parents!

Before you take your first step on campus as a full-time student, make sure you learn these 5 skills:

1. Laundry Basics

If your parents have done your laundry for you all the way up to the summer before college, consider yourself lucky. But now it is time to learn to do your laundry yourself, unless you want to trek back to your parents’ house for help every weekend.

If your clothes always end up crisp and clean when your parents do your laundry, have them walk you through the process. Then load up on quarters and detergent the summer before college!

2. Cooking Simple Meals

The best advice to know on the first day of college is the kind you will use every day, and cooking tips certainly qualify. You will get tired of eating toaster pastries, pizza delivery and ramen noodles daily. In fact, you will eventually crave a home-cooked meal. This is why you should learn how to take advantage of your dorm’s kitchen.

Get some recipes from your parents, and try them out the summer before college so you are all ready to use the oven and stove in your dorm building. Even if your dorm does not have a full kitchen, you may have a microwave in your room. There are entire cookbooks devoted to healthy meals you can make in the microwave –  check them out today, before you need them tomorrow!

3. Cleaning

You might be in charge of making your bed at home and keeping your room tidy, but your parents probably do all the deep cleaning. Once you get to the dorms, you will be in charge of that, so start preparing for it the summer before college.

You will need to dust regularly, vacuum and occasionally clean out your mini fridge. Since you will be eating in your dorm room often, remember to pick up crumbs and throw plates and old pizza boxes in the trash. Otherwise, you can expect a bug problem — or worse.

Plus, if you have a bathroom attached to your room, it is up to you and your roommate to keep it clean, so ask your parents for bathroom cleaning advice before college.

4. Basic Car Maintenance

The summer before college begins, you should make sure you know how to check your car’s oil, brake fluid and coolant levels. Keeping your vehicle well-stocked on these fluids can prevent major car problems. Learning how to check your tire pressure is another important task to do before you bring your car to campus, since keeping too little air in your tires can damage them or even cause them to blow out while you are driving.

5. Taking Public Transportation

Sometimes car problems are unavoidable. Or maybe you won’t have a vehicle on campus. Either way, you should make sure you know how to use public transportation. Find out if there is a bus route or subway near you, and get a copy of the schedules.

Your college may also have a shuttle that can take you from school to local amenities, such as the grocery store or mall. Some good advice for college is to get the phone number of the shuttle service, along with a cab company just in case you have no other options for getting around.

Can you think of any other life skills you are not taught in college, but need to know? If you are already a college student, which skills do you wish you had learned the summer before college?

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