Be mindful of your program's retention rate. My first CS class has a very bimodal distribution (this is common in CS classes), and about half the students weren't in the followup class next semester. We lost another third after that semester. The engineering program at my school was run similarly--only about a third of students entering the program would graduate with an engineering degree.
Not every school is run like this, but it's something to be aware of.
Don't immediately freak out if you get a 70% on your first Physics exam. A lot of science and math classes are graded on curves, and professors don't want to see too many (or any) perfect scores. I had one class where 25% was the lowest passing score on an exam.
Especially at research universities, professors are often more interested in research than teaching. Even when it's not obviously that bad, they're worse at teaching and care less than the average high school teacher.
Try to get out and have some fun.
Also do something that's somehow very different than programming. I majored in CS, but got three minors (two in liberal arts), and even found time to take a golf class and a scientific glassblowing class. But even intramural sports are good.
How did you have time to get three minors? I got a 4 year business degree from a liberal arts college, and between the business school requirements, the major requirements, and the gen-ed requirements, I had maybe 2 open elective slots. And this was even with AP course waivers.
The CS courses got me half of the way to a Math minor, well-planned GEs did the same for English and History minors. Then I had a heavy load my last semester to finish them up (with one last CS course). I think I was two courses from an electrical engineering minor, too, and I did this in 8 semesters.
Not every school is run like this, but it's something to be aware of.
Don't immediately freak out if you get a 70% on your first Physics exam. A lot of science and math classes are graded on curves, and professors don't want to see too many (or any) perfect scores. I had one class where 25% was the lowest passing score on an exam.
Especially at research universities, professors are often more interested in research than teaching. Even when it's not obviously that bad, they're worse at teaching and care less than the average high school teacher.
Try to get out and have some fun.
Also do something that's somehow very different than programming. I majored in CS, but got three minors (two in liberal arts), and even found time to take a golf class and a scientific glassblowing class. But even intramural sports are good.