If you are standing outside of Galbadian Garden and have not entered the Garden yet, and have just joined the strategy guide at this point in the game, you may wish to consider returning to the previous page in order to obtain some important items in Yaulny Canyon.
Click on the “Previous Page” button for more information. If not, continue with the guide below…
More specifically, make sure that you’ve stocked up on:
Steel Pipes 
Dragon SkinsWindmillsA short cinematic will play when you enter Galbadia Garden for the first time.
Walk up towards the entrance when you regain control of your characters.
A short bit of dialogue will occur when your team reaches the front turnstiles. Quistis will ask you to “leave this one up to her” and she will head off by herself to meet up with the headmaster of Galbadia Garden. You will have to replace her in your party if she was one of your active party members.
Head into the center of Galbadia Garden. There is a Save Point near the entrance which you can use to save your game. Search the very center of the main hall to find a Draw Point that contains 
Haste magic (as shown in the screenshot below).
As soon as you enter this area an announcement will occur over the intercom instructing you to “please wait in the [2F reception room]”. Take the exit on the northwest side of the hall and then take the stairs to the second level. Enter the doorway on the south (bottom) side of the hall to reach the reception area.
Talk to each of your party members in the reception room. Eventually Quistis will enter the room and Squall will ask her how it went. She will then tell the concerned group that the attack on the President in Timber is being considered an independent action and that Balamb Garden will not be held responsible.
There’s quite a bit of additional dialogue that takes place in the reception room. Continue talking to each of your party members when you regain control of Squall until Squall leaves the reception area in a fit of rage.
Head back towards the front entrance and Squall will be ambushed by Raijin and Fujin. They will claim that they know Seifer is still alive before leaving the area. Continue making your way towards the front of the garden.
Talk to Rinoa and some more dialogue and a cutscene will take place. The SeeD team will be given their next set of orders from Headmaster Martine. You will now be joined by your sixth and final party member: Irvine Kinneas.
Irvine Kinneas tends to be a fairly popular party member to include - you can learn more about each of the characters, including Irvine, by clicking on the link below:
You should also consider checking out the “Best Party” section if you would like to know more information about the optimal party setup.
Keep in mind that you can successfully complete the game using any of the party members you like, but feel free to read the following section if you would like to optimize your play as much as possible:
Irvine will attempt to split up the party so that he ends up with Selphie and Rinoa. Such a horn dog! Choose your party members and make sure to complete a junction exchange if you need to.
Triple Triad: Level 6 Boss CardsThere is a Triple Triad player inside Galbadia Garden that, from time to time, will play Level 6 Boss Cards in her hand. This is the first time you can challenge a card player to a game and win these high level cards. Consider saving your game outside of Galbadia Garden and heading back into Galbadia to find and challenge this card player.
She can be found by travelling back to the main hall, taking the hallway on the northeast (top-right) side of the hall, and going through the doorway on the right side of the hall.
There will be three Galbadian students in this room. The girl with the red scarf is the one who will sometimes have Level 6 Boss Cards.
Make your way to the train station which is just a few steps away from Galbadia Garden. Choose to pay the 3,000 gil to board the train. There’s a bit more dialogue with your new party member, Irvine, that you’ll have to endure before the train will continue on its tracks to the city of Deling.
As a quick reminder, you should consider engaging in a few battles in this area outside Galbadia Garden before you move on to the next part of the story. Make sure you have stocked up a few Windmills which either drop or can be stolen from them
This is another reminder to consider bumping up your SeeD ranking to earn some extra gil.
Earning gil tends to be fairly easy in Final Fantasy VIII and there are some tips and tricks you can utilize if you are desperate for money to spend, but you will also earn a wage from your SeeD Ranking from time-to-time which can help boost your coffers while you’re not even paying attention. To do this, all you have to do is take SeeD Exams which will bump up your rank. Check out the SeeD Rank Guide for the answers to the test.
