Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with freshman

What Advice Do You Wish You Had Been Given Before Going to College That Would Have Helped?

kinetic — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 06:09:29 -0800

What advice do you wish you had been given before leaving home and going off to college for the first time? Kineticchild 2 (of 3) is heading off to dream college in NYC next month and it's an exciting time for everyone.

As a person living in the real world I know we learn best from our mistakes (as well as our successes) and that unasked-for advice is rarely heeded, yet as her mommy I am fully aware that she's still very much a suburban kid headed into the Big City/Big World who is in many ways, clueless (esp. about dating).

So...what say you, fellow mefites, women who left the 'burbs at 18, incoming freshman, and all others who left the nest?

What advice do you wish you had been given? What would have made this an easier time? A more fun time? A more productive time? A happier time?

(and of course, I hope she will join the NYC mefite group, it goes without saying!)

Good gifts for a college freshman in the big city?

stagewhisper — Wed, 30 May 2012 09:45:50 -0800

I'm trying to find a cool high school graduation/birthday gift to give to a young woman who will be moving to NYC for college in the fall So my baby sister will be moving to NYC in the fall to attend the school of social work at NYU, and she's got a high school graduation on Friday that I'm traveling out for. I'm coming up empty on finding a hip but useful gift for her. My budget is not huge.

I'm in the NYC area and have been trying to brainstorm ideas for things that she'd find useful or enjoyable for her freshman year in college. Ideally I'd like to find her some kind of subscription/monthly care package/gift certificates, but suggestions for one-time gifts that keep giving are useful as well.

She's not particularly "girly", so even though I'm looking for something like the items covered in previous askme gift subscriptions, I'm searching for care packages that are not so "beauty" centric, and maybe local to NYC rather than shipped in from elsewhere (although I won't rule those out).

Since she'll be on a meal plan and her department is known for the amount of free food it provides, I'm not sure how exciting or useful food care packages would be either. All ideas (especially from those of you who were recently freshmen in NYC) are welcome.

NYU Stella Adler Studio

ckk88 — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:48:48 -0800

My sibling is at NYU in the Stella Adler acting studio. She is a freshman and is very frustrated with the lack of rigor the acting program offers. She is very disappointed and questioning if other people had this experience. Other students have also shared this feeling, not just about Stella Adler studio but also about the studios they are attending. Based on your experience, did you feel it was a quality program worth attending for 4 years? Do the studio classes improve after the 1st semester? I would really appreciate your honesty. Thanks.

18-year-old going to NYU, moving from California

ckk88 — Sun, 22 May 2011 21:51:06 -0800

My sister is going to NYU in the fall, moving from California. What does she need to know/bring/have? My little sister is 18, and going away to college this fall at NYU to study acting. I'm really proud of her. :)

My parents raised us in a metropolitan area of Southern California and I went to college while living at home, so not only do we not know anything about living in New York, but we also don't really know anything about dorm living.

What sorts of things should we be trying to acquire for her this summer? What makes it easier to survive the freshman year of college away from home? Also, what will she need to accommodate the weather and no-car lifestyle that she'll have back east?

Thank you!

Where should my son go to college?

vilcxjo_BLANKA — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:23:24 -0800

Please give me some hints on college selection for my physics major son. My son was accepted to several universities as a prospective physics major. However the financial aid situation is such that we probably can only afford to send him to one of two: University of Massachusetts at Amherst and University of Maryland at College Park. He is very smart, is one of the top students in his Advanced Placement class in Physics, and is doing very well in Math. His grades in Math have not been stellar (A-/B+) but his Physics grades are very good (A/A-). I expect him to be able to do well academically wherever he goes.

I visited University of Maryland with him several months ago, and I liked it a lot. The campus is clearly well maintained, and the state has put some serious money into developing it. The physics department is very impressively ranked, and he liked the discussion he had with the department head there. There is opportunity for undergraduate research. I don't know as much about UMass. I am told the campus' physical plant is not well maintained, but that the Physics department is very good for an undergraduate education. It might not be a top choice for graduate school, but for an undergraduate program it's just fine. We are going there for a visit in a couple weeks, so I'll learn more.

However, the problem is financial and emotional. First, he really wants to leave Massachusetts. He feels UMass is just the western branch of his suburban Boston high school. I am not unhappy with him wanting to leave the state, and have expected it all along. I think it would be good for him to have independence, living in another state far away from his insane parents (my wife and I). However, UMass will cost us about $18K per year, and UMaryland will be more like $28K per year. These are both totals after subtracting his aid packages. We can probably afford the cost at UMass from savings and cash flow, but the extra cost of UMaryland is beyond our immediate reach. The extra $40K or so over four years will have to be made up with loans. I am deeply opposed to going into debt for any reason, and especially opposed to going into debt for college. Student debt cannot be discharged by bankruptcy for any reason. It's like being in debt slavery. It's worse than credit card debt, which I'm also opposed to. This is my opinion, at least, and I'm deeply disturbed by the thought of having my son slip into it at 18 years of age.

So, my questions are (1) what are the real differences between UMass and UMaryland as far as an undergraduate physics major goes, and (2) am I insane about my aversion to debt?

Thanks. I hope I've included enough detail.

This is why we need to know this

Buffaload — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 06:17:35 -0800

Can you recommend an essay that defends a liberal education? I'm teaching college freshman English and I inherited a class and syllabus at the last minute from someone who could no longer do it. So I'm stuck with his assignments, readings, etc. at least for the first few weeks while I get my bearings. We just read some articles about what's wrong with American college education. Can you recommend any glittering defenses of liberal arts?

Looking for the low-down on Cal Poly Pomona

doh ray mii — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:28:38 -0800

Cal Poly Pomona - need some pointers! My daughter will begin her freshman year at Cal Poly Pomona this Fall. Looking for any advice, tips, suggestions, helpful anecdotes, etc., that will help her make the adjustment and know what to expect - both from an academic and a social standpoint.

My daughter is pretty outgoing, fun-loving, smart, good-hearted, and is always interested in something new and different (fortunately, she takes after her mother).

From an academic standpoint, she's always done exceedingly well in school and is very disciplined in her approach to her schoolwork. She's wanting to get into the hospitality/restaurant management program, with the eventual desire to own her own restaurant.

From a social standpoint, she has a wide variety of interests. She's a vegetarian, she likes vintage clothing, she loves all forms of media - movies, books, music, art, etc.

Please send me suggestions to pass on to her. Thanks!

Common freshman course on the history and culture of Chicago?

tnygard — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:50:55 -0800

Is there a common course at one of the big universities in Chicago, that all of the freshmen take, which focuses on Chicago history and culture? Perhaps called something like "the Chicago experience"? I thought that this was done at the University of Chicago, but I cannot find it on their website. Could it be another school?

Meeting new people at school?

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:55:40 -0800

I am a semester into college and extremely dissatisfied with my social life. Please help me set some tangible, reachable goals and create specific New Year (New Semester?) resolutions that will allow me to reach them. I don’t adore my very small group of friends, an extremely short relationship (my first) recently failed, and I often feel alone and hopeless. I recognize that my social life is in my hands, and I’m afraid that my attitude is holding me back. My dissatisfaction contributed to my being pretty depressed for the last few weeks of last semester, and I’m already dreading going back to school in a week and a half.

I want a small group of friends who are like-minded, smart, creative, and intellectual, as well as a good-sized network of acquaintances. A boyfriend would be nice as well :) I want to feel that I’m being proactive in forming friendships, rather than just hanging out with the people I know from my hall. I know that I’m still at the beginning of my college career and that these things take time, but I want to make sure I’m doing what I can.

Other information: My classes are generally pretty large but I will have a small class and a few small recitations this semester. I live on campus in a dormitory. The most popular weekend activity is attending frat parties, which I detest. I’m shy and have some social anxiety, but don’t consider myself unfriendly.

How to fill 70 minutes of in-class writing time?

toomuchkatherine — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:08:17 -0800

Help a freshman comp teacher out! I need a fun writing exercise to fill 70 minutes of class time. I'm teaching freshman comp. The students are not stellar but they're all right, though most of them hate writing (and see it as drudgerous and formulaic). The three main assignments I have to give them this semester include a process essay (basically a how-to article), a short research paper, and an essay on a novel. We also have a textbook but they seem to hate it, and I can't say that I blame them much.

Tomorrow we have a fairly free day; on the syllabus I inherited, it just says "in-class writing exercise." Actually it says "timed writing exercise." Either way, I need to fill 70 minutes of class time with writing, or writing and group work...and I'd like to make it fun, because we haven't been having enough fun in class lately, and I think that anything I can get them to do to enjoy writing and use it to explore their thoughts and feelings will be useful.

Any comp-teacher ideas?

Readings for a class on adjusting to college life?

biscuitsticks — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:49:29 -0800

In the fall I'll be leading a short course for freshmen on adjusting to college, community service, and issues that are relevant to college students. Does anyone have any interesting and fun readings--particularly on diversity, but really on any subject--that they would recommend for this sort of context? I've led the same course for the past two years, so I already have a number of pieces that are required by the program and some that I have collected from newspapers, magazines, and more scholarly sources, but: (1) a lot of the required readings are fairly dry, and as an undergraduate myself, I know how difficult it can be to get students to actually do readings and (2) I'm looking at my syllabus and feeling bored with a lot of the pieces that I've used and found over the past two years, but I'm not having much luck at thinking of replacements.

Anyway, I'm sure that some of you have used--or read--some really interesting pieces that I just haven't stumbled across, and I'd love to hear about them.

If it helps: the course is required for all incoming freshmen and most of the students were fairly high achievers in high school.

How can I teach someone high school math in 6 months?

LSK — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:31:52 -0800

There's a smart freshman who's going to be in my school's Academic Decathlon team next year. However, Academic Decathlon tests over all of high school math, so I ask: How can I teach a fast learner an overview of high school math in around 7 months? There's a smart freshman who's going to be in my school's Academic Decathlon team next year. However, Academic Decathlon tests over all of high school math, so I ask: How can I teach a fast learner an overview of high school math in around 7 months?

He already knows a bit of algebra. I don't know what he was taught in elementary school. I think that he'll be able to pick up the forumlae of geometry quickly - perhaps not its elegance, but certainly its formulas. I think that trig'll be a bit of a stumbling block, but the derivative will be straightforwards.

The testing material is, according to Academic Decathlon:

- 10% "general math", including permutations and probability of equally likely events
- 30% algebra, including polynomial equations, inequalities, functions, complex numbers, graphs, and sequences/series.
- 30% geometry, including right triangles, coordinates, plane figures, and congruency.
- 20% trig, including right triangle relationships, trig functions, inverse trig functions, graphs, identities, and trig equations.
- 10% calculus, including limits, derivatives, antiderivatives, tangent lines, rates of change, maxima/minima, and inflection points/concavity.

How can I avoid the freshman fifteen?

Autarky — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:43:42 -0800

I'm well on my way to the freshman fifteen....help! Alright. I'm not fat. Really, I'm not. I'm 5'11. When I started college I was about 155. Now I'm about twelve pounds heavier. It wasn't all unhealthy weight gain, though. Over the summer I was really stressed about some stuff, and I was skipping a lot of meals and whatnot. My college has an unlimited meal plan, so overeating is exceptionally easy. I have the motivation to stay healthy and keep a good weight, I'm just not sure how. The obvious answer is, of course, burn more calories than you consume, but there are a lot of weighs (har har) to do that. My questions:

What is the ideal weight for a 5'11 male college-age student? I'm fairly active, so some of it is muscle, but I'm no gym rat.

What is the best exercise routine for my purposes? I'm not looking to bench 350, I'd like to lose a bit of weight and ideally gain a bit of muscle, but I don't need to bulk up or anything. I have access to: cycling, swimming, a gym with all the standard stuff. Jogging, of course.

The one thing I do know how to do is eat healthy. Less brown, more green, orange, yellow, etc. Cut down or eliminate desert. Drink water, not coke. Just takes a bit of self-control.

My body thanks you for your help.

What should I get my little sister for her High School graduation?

itheearl — Sun, 20 May 2007 20:15:25 -0800

What is the perfect gift from a brother to my little sister for her High School graduation? Ok, I know that this has been covered before,
but my situation is somewhat different (brother/sister vs uncle/nephew), and google is just full of people trying to sell me packaged crap.
I thought you guys might have some useful ideas.

Anyway, I'm looking for a cool gift to a sister from an older brother (2.5 years older). Something that she would get some practical use out of while she's at college, and ideally something tangible. Within the $50-$100 range, though I would perhaps be willing to go a bit over that for an absolutely perfect gift.

Now about my sister:
She's an excellent, well-rounded student, national merit *finalist*, played basketball in high school...
She's fairly straight-edge (and the parents are too), so the bottle of vodka is out.
She likes animals and wants to be a veterinarian (don't ask me why).
She likes to read well-written novels (she likes Jane Austin, for example, but she likes modern authors too.).
She likes popular country music, and probably whatever other music her friends listen to.
And she spends a lot of time with her friends too.

Oh, she's my only sibling, and she'll be coming to the same college as me in the fall.

The graduation is Thursday, so I probably need to be able to get something locally (i have access to most major retail chains).

Favorite exercises/ materials for Freshman Composition classes?

exlotuseater — Sun, 20 May 2007 09:07:09 -0800

Favorite exercises/ materials for Freshman Composition classes? Help me engage young minds in order to ~~brainwash~~ educate them! I have been hired as a Teaching Assistant for Fall '07, and I'm going to be putting a syllabus together over the summer. I am going to be teaching my own section, as opposed to working in conjunction with another professor. It's set up to be fairly open in terms of structure-- free reign for me.

The text I am going to use primarily is Perspectives on Contemporary Issues: Readings Across Disciplines, 4th Edition, one of three texts chosen by T.A. consensus (there are two others, but the texts are particular to the "strand" one chooses-- "Life Writing," "Academic Writing," and "Cultural Conversations"; I have chosen the third.)
The content of my class will incorporate aspects of all three, but I can use any resource outside of the text that you can think of-- multimedia, essays, other books, etc.

What were/ are your favorite exercises or readings for Freshman Composition?

Whether you are an educator or just remember something really cool that stood out for you as a student, any ideas you might have are welcome!

Advice for college freshmen?

petah — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 18:34:38 -0800

I'm going to be a freshman going to college in the fall. Any advice, helpful anecdotes, experiences, tips or suggestions? Sorry about it being so broad, I was searching for a college thread like this and couldn't find one, so here we go...

Flip Flopping Daughter

Mutha — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 06:09:27 -0800

My daughter has announced she doesn't want to live on campus next year (freshman). We agreed months ago she would live at school (an hour commute). Any personal experience with changing your mind? I'm concerned about her driving daily on congested highway (NJ) and about her not facing her fears.