<p>A word on drugs:
I highly recommend you to STAY OFF!!! A few of my friends have ended up dead from too much weed combined with beer. One actually jumped from his dorm room (6th floor) when he was stoned.</p>
<p>wow da<em>mad</em>cow… that’s intense…
i’m gonna have to take your advice seriously</p>
<p>I hope people will… its really annoying though that the school’s been trying to hide this fact all the time.</p>
<p>That leads me to another point:
The school will ALWAYS try to keep whatever bad happens at their school a secret, which can lead to students getting expelled just because they tell the truth.</p>
<p>BUMP…keep this thread going! There has been some really super advice so far!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Or you could continue to do something for several years if you find it engaging and interesting regardless of if you immediately receive a leadership position.</p>
<p>More advice (man I just cant stop):</p>
<p>Whenever something bad happens to you, theft, assault, etc, try your best NOT TO go to campus police or campus attorney, heres why:</p>
<p>Campus cops arent trained to anticipate such criminal activities. Theyre basicaly trained to maintain campus safety and uphold campus rules, think underage drinking, minor felonies, pranks, parking tickets. When real crimes happen they most of the time dont kow what to do, often leading to dead ends. (this information comes from a campus police, so I say its gotta be accurate).</p>
<p>Campus attorneys are paid by the school!!! Always remember that, therefor they will give advices, anything, biased. And you still have to pay them by the hour!!! Real case: a girl got raped by a footballer, or was it basketball player (I forgot), she went to school attorney and end up with how she couldnt sue the rapist because theres no evidence and all, and campus police wont heklp because theyre also on the schools payroll.</p>
<p>Bottom line? Seek help from the town’s/ city’s local police office, and a real attorney, theyre mostly unbiased and will do real investigations.</p>
<p>Rape victims should always go to a hospital emergency room if for no other reason than to have documented legal evidence.</p>
<p>BUMP!
Let’s keep this thread going!
These advices are seriously wonderful!</p>
<p>Sorry for a digression..but why do so many people think that more than one item of advice is “advices”? Am I too old to be a part of an idiomatic paradigm shift?</p>
<p>wow those are such brilliant advice. I’ll put them to my head. :)</p>
<p>I wonder whatever happened to the OP? He seems to have vanished…
Anyways, next advice:
Try your best to keep yourselves healthy. Take vitamins, supplements, stuffs like that. Those medical costs, they really put a dent in your account. Many of you will most likely say “but I got the school’s health insurance”. Let me tell you something about it, at most schools they cover the doctor’s and initial medical expenses, but for medicines you’ll have to dig it from your own pocket. This is common practice, so take it seriously. Oh and in some cases, they dont charge you directly but put the tab on your student account bill, so if such thing happens to you, watch out for the “extra” costs on your bill.</p>
<p>A little from my own experience: I got in an accident, “hurt” my leg (worse but I dont wanna scare you with the details). I went to the hospital, and the insurance covered the doctor’s charges and 1st supply of medicines (antibiotics, painkillers, bandages) enough for about 2-3 days. When I used them up I went to the hospital for some more, and they charged me a whopping $638, saying that the medical insurance no longer cover me the moment I left the hospital. Just when I thought it was the worst that could happen, I got billed on my student account ($200) for the medicines I had to take in the hospital. So what did the insurance cover? Well the admin’s vague about it, didnt give any clear explanation. Oh well…</p>
<p>More coming up soon…</p>
<p>i wonder what happened to da<em>mad</em>cow
bump :(</p>
<p>I haven’t read through this thread in its entirety, but I’ll pitch in a few. If they are repeated elsewhere in this thread, well, then, the advice is just really important :-)</p>
<ol>
<li> Some of you are ecstatic about your future college. Some of you probably shed many tears over the fact that you’re not going where you wanted to. In any event, it is vital-- crucial-- of utmost importance-- to put these feelings of rejection behind you and keep your head up when you enter your college. See if you can give yourself a 3 or 4 week moratorium on making any sorts of evaluations about the college and avoid the dreaded t-word (transfer).</li>
</ol>
<p>Everybody has to start college from somewhere, and it WILL take some time to get to know people and get know what your “thing” will be. I was too lucky in this department-- one of the first people I met became my best friend, and the first club I joined I soon got very passionate about. I probably would have had a slower acclimation process to college if I didn’t have those two things (plus some other lucky things) helping me out.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If you feel yourself slipping behind in a class, be a champ and speak to somebody about it. This is college. Nobody is designated to be your babysitter. That’s a great thing in some ways (do you want your parents to know that you’ve become an expert at disabling smoke alarms?) and in some ways it’s a kiss of death, because you can feign competence when you know you’re slippy on the material.</p></li>
<li><p>Even if you are going to the perfect college, don’t delude yourself. You will meet people you don’t like and you might have down days or weeks. It will also rain sometimes. And campus won’t always be as pretty as the brochure. And there’s the other thing you’ll probably forget a lot about-- the “p” word (prestige). The day-to-day experience of anybody at an ivy versus anybody at a state school or whatever is frighteningly similar, and the majority of what you end up doing will be the things you would be doing at any college in the universe.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t worry too much about your major.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Da<em>mad</em>cow is currently buried in his work so much he cant think of any new advice to give, lol… I also wonder what happened to Jackson17, the thread starter…</p>
<p>I just got a revelation, here goes advice number… eh… does anyone keep track on the numbers anymore???
Anyways:
When buying a meal plan (assuming youre getting one), think carefully before choosing the highest level. Many times you wont even have enough time for breakfast you end up eating donuts or sandwich on the way to class. Or in other cases, you get sick of eating the same meal over and over again. I recommend buying an intermediate plan ( 2 meals a day), then add the cash if youre running out (you can do that at student’s dining service cashier). Remember you can add, but in most cases you cant refund the balance if you dont spend it all in one semester. Oh and no, the balance isnt transferrable to next semester’s account.</p>
<p>Always double check your student account bills as soon as you get it. Sometimes you may get charged twice for the same thing (ex: health insurance or internet lab service). This happens a lot, particularly at larger public schools where the management is rather poor. Like I said earlier, paying is easy, refunding anything (even if it’s the admin’s mistake) can take forever. Like it or not, admins dont like giving refunds. They have to put an effort to find the mistake then still have to pay you money for it. Always file a complaint asap if you notice anything wrong on your bills. I got charged for internet lab service I never used for $300, and I had to wait 5 weeks after I complained to the admin to get my refund.</p>
<p>Those mandatory housing deposits (for dorms) are NON-REFUNDABLE. So if you live on a floor full of trashers who commit property damage, dont worry about it too much if they dont admit it, they’ll just take the fine from your collective deposit (meaning the whole floor, or even the whole building’s deposit). And yes I know this by personal experience. Most of the time there’ll be enough money left by the end of the semester for the dorm to hold a pizza party and movies. If you dont spend the balance left, the school will take it, or in some cases the dorm manager can keep it in his/her pocket (its a fraud, I know but its nearly impossible to proof).</p>
<p>these tips are tremendously priceless!</p>
<p>ok just checking da<em>mad</em>cow you were still alive and well 
good to hear from you</p>
<p>what classes would you guys recommend taking for a freshman/or wish you had taken it? i would think this is one of the more important question.</p>
<p>thank you all so much!</p>
<p>btw, admin, if you’re looking here, do you mind flagging this?
i’m sure the class of 2012 will appreciate this, and so will c/o 2013…and so will the rest of freshman class that will soon to be one…
thanks again!</p>
<p>aubrey,
I dont think theres really any class you must take. The only thing I can say is dont take all 18 credits unless youre 100% sure you can handle the shock.</p>
<p>I recommend taking at least one easy class every semester. That way its easy to balance out if you do poorly in another class (I think someone else mentioned this already). Ask around to find out which classes are relatively easy, but beware of the very easy A classes, sometimes they can suddenly get really tough when the profs think theyre becoming too easy. I prefer the moderately easy as they usually stick to the program for years.</p>
<p>This time, class related advice:</p>
<p>Cant get into the class you want? Class is full? Don’t give up yet, go and talk to the class’ professor and explain your situation. In many cases he/she will make an exception and allow you to get into the class. This is particularly true for lower level classeswhere enrollment reach hundreds. Dont ask for your TA or advisor’s help, they usually dont care, even if they do, theyre not in the position to be able to help. just do it yourself. Advisor’s aid only come in handy when registering for upper level classes, where profs give additional seats to few bright students only.</p>
<p>Most, if not all, profs give you syllabus at the 1st day of their classes. Read them!!! This will give you a general idea of what kind of workload you’re gonna face the rest of your semester. If its not clear, ask questions. If you think the program’s too hard (or ridiculous), it may be a good time to switch to another section, as different profs teaching the same class can have different programs.</p>
<p>If you happen to get crappy TAs, it can get pretty hard (or impossible) to get assigned to a different TA. When you have questions or need help, put a little effort to find and ask another (presumably better) TA from your class for aid. They may refuse to help at 1st, saying that taking over other TA’s student is inapropriate. Truth is good TAs will gladly help, all you gotta do is tell them you’ll keep it secret from your TA (serious commitment required on this). </p>
<p>Shop early and buy used textbooks instead of new. This saves lots of $$$, and if you pit in early its easy to find immaculate books with barely a scratch on it, all for the same cost as beaten-up books on the same lot. I saved about $300 per semester doing this.</p>
<p>Tips for buying used textbooks to all money savers out there:</p>
<p>When looking for 2ndhand textbooks, spare some time and look at the bulletin boards across the campus. There are always students selling their books by posting an ad on the board. Buying books from a private party can save you a lot, especially if the book costs over a hundred bucks USED!!! Often students sell their books straight to other students to cut their losses. And these books can cost like 30% less than what you’ll have to pay at the school’s bookstore. Another plus, unlike the stores, buying privately means no tax.</p>
<p>Of course, this advice works vice versa, when youre selling, its better to sell them yourself. Sell them to the bookstore, and you’ll get like 25-30% from the book’s worth. It’s worth it, there are more customers interested in those books than you might think. Naturally upper courses textbooks are tougher to sell, so set a deadline yourself for these. If the books still dont sell by then, sell it to the bookstore.</p>
<p>Basically this is how it works, when the book cost $100 new, you’ll get about $30-35 when you sell it to the bookstore. The store then label those books as “used” and sell them back for around $65-70. Sell them yourself and you can get like $40-55 depending on the book’s condition. The bookstore on the other hand doesnt really care about the book’s condition (unless its really beaten up) and will give you the same ridiculous sum.</p>
<p>If youre too lazy, or think its not worth the effort, well just come as early as you can to the bookstore. That way you can get books that are literally like new for the same ammount of cash as those beat-up ones. They all cost the same, so its best to be early and pick the gems before someone else does.</p>
<p>Btw, buying the books online from, say, ebay or amazon isnt a good idea. Yes their prices may seem tempting at 1st, but once you count in the shipping cost (unless they charge 0 for shipping) and the time you have to wait for those books, often its not worth it. Worse yet, if the book isnt in good condition (or different from what the seller described) you get a refund MINUS shipping.</p>
<p>WARNING: this is very very important. If youre buying from a private party, its best to go to the bookstore 1st and see if they sell the same book. It rarely happens but sometimes the class suddenly require a new totally different textbook and the used ones are simply thrown away. If thats the case, youre out of luck, gotta buy new no matter what unless you can find the book cheaper elsewhere.</p>