Advice for College Freshmen

[Kristina]

For some, like me, college is a long 2 months away and for others, it's just around the corner. I've been playing college counselor to lots of incoming freshmen, both for FIRST and non-FIRST people which has been fun. Then I realized that on this board, there is a plethora of college students (and graduates) with diverse backgrounds. Not only do we have people attending colleges big and small, all around the country, some technical and some not; but there are people with different fields of study and different experiences as well.

So, feel free to share any advice that you have for incoming college freshmen from anything about balancing school and FIRST to picking classes to dealing with psychotic roommates (that will be my field of specialty). I've only got one year under my belt so I'm sure I could learn a great deal as well. Questions would be good too!

[Kristina]

What I learned my first year of college...

-Research your professors! A lot of colleges have sites where you can look up professors and find reviews about them. Also, if you're fortunate and you know someone older who has a similar major, find out who good profs are. It seriously makes a world of difference.

-Sit in the front of the class. You've probably heard it and it sounds silly, but I conducted a little experiement. I did much better in classes where I was near the front. It's a lot easier to sleep, not pay attention, and talk in the back of the classroom. Just remember, you don't have that many hours of class in college so if you go to a lecture, you mine as well pay attention.

-Go to office hours. Especially useful in big universities. Professors and teaching assistants aren't as scary as they seem when they're not infront of a huge lecture hall. They love it when you stop by to ask questions or even just talk. You have to get to know them, they're not going to get to know all 500 people in their lecture. Knowing your prof/TA gives you a lot of bargaining power if you need help/grade change/extension later down the road. Plus, you never know when you need a letter of rec.

-Buy a laptop lock if you have a laptop. My friend had his stolen right after he finished his 10 page paper, that sucked.

-Keep your door open when you're there. Basically, get to know your neighbors right from the start. No latching onto high school friends! Everyone's especially super friendly the first 2 weeks of school so take advantage. Amazingly, if you keep your door open, people will just stop in to say hi and take awe of your wonderfully decorated room (or the mess). If you're lucky, your floor will be your family.

-Enjoy your freedom...in moderation. Join clubs, you don't even know how much they help in meeting people, getting advice for people in similiar majors, and just having fun. Heck, go out and party if that's your cup of tea. Do activities with your floor, get out! Anything in moderation can be great. Just don't end up in a pattern of taking 7 day weekends every week (translate, don't skip class EVERYDAY. you don't know how many people I know who did this.)

Ok, that's all I have for now....more to come later. BTW, I randomly have my packing list from last year that's been sent out to dozens of people nationwide. I heard it helps. IM, email, or PM me if you want it.

[MissInformation]

I'm sure there are lots of people here who can give good advice on classes/professors and all that stuff. All I can give is the advice of lessons learned (usually the hard way):

-Find a way to make sure your room key is on you at all times, being locked out isn't fun, especially if you are coming back from the shower and all you are wearing is a towel. 7 times in 1 semester can send you to the J-board (if your college/university has one).

-If you find yourself locked out after receiving a J-board warning for excessive lock outs and you have your boyfriend climb in through the window to unlock your door only to find you had your key the whole time, don't tell him! Instead, pretend to find the key (believe me, you'll both appreciate this).

-If you are under 21, do not put a soda can in a brown paper bag and prance by your RA while drinking it. They will think it's alcohol, and when shown that it is soda, they will be annoyed at you for making fools of them and watch you closely from then on out.

-Swedish fish make really good poker chips.

-Don't wait until the night before you go home for the year to pack your room up unless you have only one suitcase worth of things to take.

-If you are not a morning person, do not, unless there is no other choice, sign up for a class that starts before 9 a.m (and even 9 a.m. is pushing it).

-If you like classes with a small amount of students, a lot of times the evening classes, the ones that start at 6 or 6:30 are usually smaller. The drawback to this, however, is that you will not fade into the crowd, the teacher will know your name...

-Don't leave your clothing alone for too long in the dorm laundry room. Strange things happen to them. Very strange things.


Heidi

<==========>
and if you ever need advice on how to scare a roommate away, I think I know a thing or two about that...

[Yan Wang]

Be kind to the high schoolers at the parties.. they are *ok*

[George1902]

- You DO NOT have to finish in four years. Of all the people I knew in high school (four years ago), only a handfull are actually finished now. These are the best years of your life... enjoy them while they last. It is nice, however, to have a plan laid out for when you *do* plan on finishing.

- It's O.K. if you *still* don't know what you want to do when you "grow up." I was in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Mathematics before I finally settled on Math Education for a major.

- Make a 5- and 10-year plan. I don't mean just a career plan. Try to predict where you'll be living, whether you'll have a family yet, what kind of car you'll be driving. Write up a quick biography of everything you feel is important about you now and then try to predict how each of those categories will be different later.

- "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." Be prepared to deal with the unexpected.

- Girls: Dating older guys may seem cool, but most of them have intentions that are far from virtuous.

- Guys: Be chivalrous as often as you can. Nice guys don't finish last... they get nice girls.

[Ian W.]

Originally posted by George1083
- Guys: Be chivalrous as often as you can. Nice guys don't finish last... they get nice girls.

i still have another year of high school, but you're telling me that in college, the girls actually talk to the geeks and nerds? wow...

[Stephi]

LOL in dont know about YOUR highschool, but at ours, all the girls are crazy about the geeks and nerds

[Yan Wang]

Originally posted by Stephi
LOL in dont know about YOUR highschool, but at ours, all the girls are crazy about the geeks and nerds

I think it is very much NOT TRUE. Dunno where you've been living

Btw, researching professors is a very good idea. Half my friends have parents who are professors and though they are all very smart, some are better than others at teaching...

[Amanda Morrison]

* If yourself and your roommate (friend or random drawing, whatever) do not get along right off the bat, there is not a good chance that you'll be best buddies later on. Seperate, find a new roommate, and try to move on before your life and/or academic performance are affected.

* Don't get too involved in school activities your first year (i.e. FIRST) unless you are absolutely positive that you can maintain your grades, have enough energy to be involved, and can be flexible enough to work with it.

* Once a month, make some real food (steal your parents' George Foreman grill, get some kids together on your floor and go out and have a nice dinner, etc). You will appreciate it, and your body will be happy with you for eating something with substance.

* Make friends with a teacher or professor in your study area. You won't regret it. Find one that you seem compatible with and they will lead you very far.

* Learn all about your college or university's different programs and advantages that are offered to you. Sometimes you can get all kinds of freebies, financial aid, or whathaveyou just by asking.

* Find people with similar interests who have already been there for a year, and find out the local hang outs, where to eat and where to park, etc.

and lastly,

* DON'T start a FIRST team. Wait until later - TRUST ME.

[RogerR]

Originally posted by Amanda Morrison
* DON'T start a FIRST team. Wait until later - TRUST ME.

any advice (on college FIRST) for those of us who can't resist?

[Ashley Weed]

I greatly need advice.... what should you do besides hang out on CD and study when: your school is 30 miles away from civilization, with only an old general store in town.... you have no car, and only about 80 people live on camus??? Hehe... only a few campus activities too... a couple of sports... and a couple of clubs.


I think I will be online a lot!

[JVN]

Originally posted by RogerR
any advice (on college FIRST) for those of us who can't resist?

Resist! Fight it! Be strong!

Seriously though..
Take some time to get acclimated to college before joining up. Make sure you are comfortable in your new environment, and are sufficiently ready for the new challenges placed before you.

Jumping into college FIRST can be a terrible mistake...

[Andy A.]

So in my first week here at VTC, I've gotten food poisoning.

My advice is; if that chicken tastes funny, make sure its cooked before you swallow the first bite.


-Andy A.

[RogerR]

Originally posted by JVN
Jumping into college FIRST can be a terrible mistake...

here's my situation:

-I have multiple friends from my old team going to the same college as me, and all of us agree that we want to try and start a team.
-There is already a robotics club in place, and members of this club (in addition to a few faculty members) have expressed interest in this endeavor.
-There is a local high school that not only has a technology magnet, but also a business section, in addition to funding from multiple private companies/people, and the administration has also expressed its interest to get involved.
-Finally i am close (relatively) to my old team (312), in addition to teams 147 and 79, all of which may provide a source of experience and expertise.

all of these factors seem to provide an ideal enviroment for building a team.

the first 2 years of FIRST, i was'nt really all that involved, mostly just sitting on the sidelines and watching, and not really getting to know anyone outside of my team. this last year was different. I was after school at the build site everyday except for a few, and have now made friends from all around the US (and puerto rico).
for me, 1 year without FIRST feels like 1 year too many. maybe i should see a psychologist.

[Kristina]

Seeing as how I never started a team or really worked with one in college, I can't discourage people from doing so. What I can say are that there are other options, options that are far less time consuming and more friendly to the college-schedule. It was definitely hard moving from being so immersed in the FIRST atmosphere to minimal activity in college but I found so many other things I enjoyed as well. Volunteering and helping to plan off season events, scrimmages, and regionals are very fulfilling ways to help out in this organization that everyone loves so dearly. There can never be enough volunteers, whether it be referees, field crew, scorekeeper, etc. It'll be weird being more on the sidelines than out there building a robot, I just thought it was a nice way to transition so you can settle into the new atmosphere.

Anyway, the advice I gave before was pretty pratical, here are a few more random bits of advice...

-If you have a "friendly" roommate, be sure that you work out the code from the start. Tape over the keyhole usually works well...also make sure she (or he) sticks to the code. It's also nice to be really tight with your neighbors incase you need a place to crash for the night there.

-I believe Weedie asked for entertainment advice. 80 people living on campus? Watch the movie Rounders and find 4 other people to play poker. Hours of good fun there.

-Your printer will always die on you when you have a 20 page paper to print out, always have a second cartridge.

-There is no better investment than a Brita water filter.

-A second good investment is headphones. Not everyone likes listening to Japenese techno music 24/7...argh, roommate.

-If meat is concealed by a toritilla or in some other kind of wrap and you can't see it...don't eat it.

-At UCLA there's Bruinwalk where people hand out tons of flyers and try to recruit you for clubs. One hand with the cell phone the other in your pocket and sunglasses to avoid eye contact and you'll make it through these kind of zones free of harassment.

-If you're messy and must throw your clothes somewhere, at least aim for a hamper. Your dorm room is your living room/mini-kictchen/office/bedroom. It's seriously gross to have dirty clothes all over and have no space for visitors to sit.

-Know how to do your laundry, you can even make money off of desperate guys (and girls) who always had mommy do it.

-If you frequent Tigerbolt and/or this board often, don't go there during midterms/final week. One of the easiest ways to procrasinate so ask to be banned if need be (like I did with Tigerbolt, and I believe JVN did with these boards) and voila, temptation's gone. Helps a lot!