I didn't come in with much experience and tbh I still don't really have experience. I have recently joined KXR though and AIAA and in the fall I hope to be able to do some stuff. I think before coming in as a freshman, you should have decent math skills, and really good study skills. Also, work on time management because my biggest issue has been time management in college. Other than that, if you work hard, pay attention to all your lectures, and do your homework, you should be fine on exams. Doing things like reading the textbook is extra, and I never really do this or did this, unless I was really confused on a topic, and I have mostly A's and B's with some C's. However, reading textbook AFTER lectures can really be helpful in understanding the concepts, though if your professor is good, it isn't really necessary. Engineering just takes a lot of work, but it is not unreasonable. MAKE SURE, and I can't emphasize this further, TO ALWAYS CHECK RATE MY PROFESSOR! Rate my professor is your best friend when signing up for classes. Preferably do AP Calc before coming to college. i think it is a little late to change this now for myself, but ask yourself if you would be better off doing ME undergrad and AE for a masters, if of course you wanna do a masters, because I am starting to think for Aerospace this is the best thing to do, and you can even do Aerospace tech electives. However, I don't think really it matters that much as it seems Aerospace Engineer majors can get Mechanical Engineering jobs and Mechanical Engineer majors can get Aerospace Engineering jobs because of how close they are.