The typical suggestion I’ve typically seen at our University, and probably generalizes well, is:
- Refresh/brush up your math basics. Especially when you’re like I was back then and your school time lies back a couple years.
- Get a general feeling for programming – read books and try a couple of tutorials, check the basic data structures, sorting algorithms, logic.
- Get some basic computer user knowledge, especially how to install and use Linux.
- Read the curriculum of your bachelor’s program, see what the courses of the first year are about. See if there is material online so you’ll know what to expect.
An interesting observation I made which perhaps not generalizes so well:
Most fear mongering happened with regards to Mathematics. This goes so far that there were lots of people who postponed their math courses to the very end of their studies – and never finished them without even trying the exam once.