Select an instructor for the English composition.
Of course that's easier said than done. But this is the most important step.
Is it better to pick somebody who is easy? Or better to pick somebody who will help develop writing skills that will be useful for the next four years? Figure out what type of background you have in English? If you are ESL, find somebody who has worked with ESL students and converted them into English majors. For native speakers in remedial English, find somebody who has helped other students improve their writing by leaps and bounds. For science and engineering students, it is understandable that they want somebody easy because the vast majority of their courses do not require essays.
Ask around campus and check out the professor rating websites. In the long run, it is better to pick somebody who helps students improve their writing significantly, rather than somebody who is easy. You'll be writing lots of papers for the next four years, so definitely better to learn how to write well the first time.
Go to the first day of class and sit down at the front row.
You want to make sure your English composition instructor knows you mean business on the very first day, and not act lazy like the rest of the class. The instructor will give you higher quality feedback on your papers since she sees you trying very hard from the first day of class. First impressions always matter the most in life whether it's student-professor or somebody you're dating.
Go to the writing tutorial center at your college or university. The tutors can be very helpful in revising your papers, which you should do early and often.
Revise. Revise. Revise. Writing improves from continually revising the same paper over and over again. Hopefully the English composition instructor requires frequent revisions in the syllabus as well.
Go to the instructor's office hours to get extra feedback on what you can improve upon. Most instructors get very few visits from students during office hours. Only the best and most serious students attend office hours. That means you're going to office hours as needed.
Read college level material frequently to get a good idea of what good writing looks like. Some good sources with interesting articles include the New York Times and Time Magazine. Good sources have copy editors that protect readers from bad writing. Tabloids and entertainment magazines are not as good. While reading good material, pay attention to the grammar and the style of writing. This is how you should be writing by your senior year in college.
If serious remedial work in English is needed, it's worth it to get all the help you can get. Hire a tutor if the writing center is not working out for you. You wouldn't hire a tutor for a general education Music class you're struggling in as a Political Science major, but writing is something that will help you greatly in college. Remember, you will be writing papers a lot during your entire college career. The sooner you succeed in English composition, the easier the rest of college will be.