Freshman Advice Thread
- Thread starter GingerNinja
- Start date
Yes, only don't call me and ask me to finance your fling abroad. No one paid for me to go "study" in Barcelona so I'm sure not going to pay for you.
This is advice that I WISH I had taken as a freshman (now a senior):
Treat school like a job. Do your work from 9:00-5:00 - or 10:00-4:00 if you're lucky, or whatever - and fill that time with class and studying/doing work at the library, MU, Jischke, or whatever spot you like.
I didn't do this. I would go to a class, then have a 2 or 3 hour break and come back to my dorm to watch TV/play videogames/generally waste time. This resulted in me creating a habit of doing homework and studying at 11:00pm (or midnight, or 1:00am, etc.) each night. Get it all done during the day, like before dinner, and then you have the whole evening to do whatever with nothing hanging over your head.
That would have been much smarter...
Treat school like a job. Do your work from 9:00-5:00 - or 10:00-4:00 if you're lucky, or whatever - and fill that time with class and studying/doing work at the library, MU, Jischke, or whatever spot you like.
I didn't do this. I would go to a class, then have a 2 or 3 hour break and come back to my dorm to watch TV/play videogames/generally waste time. This resulted in me creating a habit of doing homework and studying at 11:00pm (or midnight, or 1:00am, etc.) each night. Get it all done during the day, like before dinner, and then you have the whole evening to do whatever with nothing hanging over your head.
That would have been much smarter...
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I've heard this from multiple people. But, it's just not realistic. Too many groups that will meet at night that are impossible to avoid. Or too many conflicting deadlines.
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At the time Richey was a design floor and it was a blast. I have no idea if that's still the case. I did live on Elwood for one semester and it was definitely not for me.
What do you mean by this? I guess to be clearer my goal this upcoming year is to keep my evenings as open as possible. I do have clubs and groups that meet in the evening, but I want to have papers/studying done by then.
Before, if I had class from 11:00-11:50 and then 2:10-3:00, I would waste 12:00-2:00. My advice is to take full advantage of that time so that you open up two hours later in the evening/night, when more people are free and you can do whatever you want.
Go to Clubfest. Find a club to join. My club of choice was the Paintball Club, but there are hundreds. Find something you like. Some of my best friends are from paintball.
As far as the buying cheap books thing goes -- unless it's a math book where you have specific problems that you need, buy the previous version of the text. Hardly anything changes and you can get them DIRT cheap.
As others have said.. intramurals. ISU has a top notch intramural program. Take advantage of it.
Definitely keep your door open when you're in your dorm room. And go to floor dinners & activities to meet people.
Most RAs (CAs) are cool as long as you respect those around you and aren't too loud, etc. I was one. We don't LIKE having to write people up, so don't push it and you'll likely not have a problem.
Study abroad was mentioned previously. One of my biggest regrets of college is NOT doing study abroad. Such a cool experience -- I'd definitely look into it.
Take a fun sports class. I did volleyball (twice). A lot of my friends did bowling.
One thing I really miss about ISU is that I could find a pickup bball game any night of the week. So if you like playing ball, there is plenty of opportunity.
As far as the buying cheap books thing goes -- unless it's a math book where you have specific problems that you need, buy the previous version of the text. Hardly anything changes and you can get them DIRT cheap.
As others have said.. intramurals. ISU has a top notch intramural program. Take advantage of it.
Definitely keep your door open when you're in your dorm room. And go to floor dinners & activities to meet people.
Most RAs (CAs) are cool as long as you respect those around you and aren't too loud, etc. I was one. We don't LIKE having to write people up, so don't push it and you'll likely not have a problem.
Study abroad was mentioned previously. One of my biggest regrets of college is NOT doing study abroad. Such a cool experience -- I'd definitely look into it.
Take a fun sports class. I did volleyball (twice). A lot of my friends did bowling.
One thing I really miss about ISU is that I could find a pickup bball game any night of the week. So if you like playing ball, there is plenty of opportunity.
I remember the problem that mentioned cyclonedave25! I think it was "cyclonedave25 is looking for a book on medieval European religion. Should he consult A) the card catalog, B) LexisNexis, C) the librarian, D) all of the above."
I want everyone to know, I will be graduating from Iowa State, without ever taking Library 160.
Figure out what type of people you want to be around and then look for them at the places you want to go to. There are too many options in college to limit yourself to hanging out with that old highschool classmate that you never really wanted to be around in the first place. It has been mentioned many times aleady, but leave your door open, play intramurals and go to class.
And remember, you're never going to be around 20000 people your same age on a daily basis once you leave there. Have fun. Meet people from other walks of life and from other countries. Five people in my family met our future spouses there. Do your classwork justice but don't miss out on the social lessons that are taught there as well.
And remember, you're never going to be around 20000 people your same age on a daily basis once you leave there. Have fun. Meet people from other walks of life and from other countries. Five people in my family met our future spouses there. Do your classwork justice but don't miss out on the social lessons that are taught there as well.
Word.
That was my goal. To transfer to Iowa State after completing community college. I accomplished that, and promptly flunked out of Iowa State. Now back at ISU after having edited my goals.
I get ya. I'm still in school, and this makes me want to go back and start my freshman year again.
First of all, you probably shouldn't be listening to the advice of 90% of the people that post on this board 
Don't hang out with your high school friends all of the time. Meet new people. Keep your door open. Don't go home for at least a month (my Dad told me he didn't want to see me until October). Go to class. Take big groups down to the dining hall for dinner. We had a big group of between 7 and 10 almost every night for the 3 (yes, 3) years I lived in Friley. One of my best memories. Go to Perkins late at night, drunk or not drunk, and have fun. Take advantage of the fact that this will be the only time in your life you'll have cheap drinks and won't have to worry about a DD.
If things don't go as you planned (you get homesick, you don't meet people, etc)....hang in there. It'll most likely get better!
I don't know that I would do college all over again, but I would give just about anything to go back for a week for 'Friley Camp' and just hang out with my friends again. We see each other pretty often, but it's not the same.
Don't hang out with your high school friends all of the time. Meet new people. Keep your door open. Don't go home for at least a month (my Dad told me he didn't want to see me until October). Go to class. Take big groups down to the dining hall for dinner. We had a big group of between 7 and 10 almost every night for the 3 (yes, 3) years I lived in Friley. One of my best memories. Go to Perkins late at night, drunk or not drunk, and have fun. Take advantage of the fact that this will be the only time in your life you'll have cheap drinks and won't have to worry about a DD.
If things don't go as you planned (you get homesick, you don't meet people, etc)....hang in there. It'll most likely get better!
I don't know that I would do college all over again, but I would give just about anything to go back for a week for 'Friley Camp' and just hang out with my friends again. We see each other pretty often, but it's not the same.
3 things:
1.Going to class is optional for some classes if you have a pulse and a brain. figure out what those classes are and do homework during them if you get behind. I made the dean's list more often than not doing this.
2. Just because you physically can drink an entire handle of hawkeye vodka(completing the hawkeye challenge) does not mean you should. Veishea 2010.
3. Don't **** with pills or needles. Also protect yourself from the clap.
1.Going to class is optional for some classes if you have a pulse and a brain. figure out what those classes are and do homework during them if you get behind. I made the dean's list more often than not doing this.
2. Just because you physically can drink an entire handle of hawkeye vodka(completing the hawkeye challenge) does not mean you should. Veishea 2010.
3. Don't **** with pills or needles. Also protect yourself from the clap.
