<p>Current Students,</p>
<p>What advice do you have to us incoming Frosh? How did you adjust to life at Stanford? living in CA? college in general? What do you wish you had brought with you? What do you know now that you would have like to know a year ago?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>bump, I would like to know as well</p>
<p>Be prepared to meet a lot of really, really smart students. Be prepared to no longer get all As and, probably for the first time in your life, to really struggle with a subject, perhaps even a subject you were really strong in during high school. That was a pretty big shock to me. Also realize that everyone who does really well does work hard. Or maybe they worked hard before and are taking the same class again... but hard work happened at some point. It <em>seems</em> as if people aren't working that hard, but they really are. </p>
<p>Don't worry about making friends or getting along with your roommate. If you are flexible and willing to work things out, you won't have any roommate problems. Making friends is really easy since everyone here wants to make new friends. Although it takes a while to find really close friends, it is very easy to get to know people and at least have people to hang out with. Being in a freshman dorm helps a lot with friends, I highly recommend freshman dorms. </p>
<p>Don't overload yourself 1st quarter. I'm really, really happy I stuck to 15 (ok, 14) units the first quarter. Consider how much time outside activities will take and plan accordingly. </p>
<p>Adjusting to college life takes time. Some parts may be really easy for you, like learning to live with a roommate, whereas other parts might be hard. You might be fine for the first few weeks but then run into trouble with classes, friends from back home, missing your family, etc. It is very likely that you will have the most trouble with being homesick at the start of winter quarter, just after getting back from winter break. That's normal. </p>
<p>Don't bring tons of stuff you won't need. You really just need clothing, a laptop (not necessary but helpful), stuff to keep you clean,sheets, a backpack, alarm clock, and a pen/pencil. You don't need tons of school supplies. You don't need to bring tons of toothpaste/body wash/lotion/etc. You can buy that up here. You probably don't need an iron or ironing board (I have both and have never used either) You might consider bringing a yearbook and/or pictures of friends from high school. Also a towel or blanket for studying outside when it's warm is a good idea. A mattress pad, shower caddy, pop-up hamper, desk lamp, and extension cords are all good ideas. Since shaving is kinda hard to do in the shower, you might consider investing in an electric razor. </p>
<p>Hmm... what else. Don't take no as an answer. If there's a class you want to take and you don't get in, go to the first meeting anyway. You might still not get it, but it's worth a shot. The academic advisor you're assigned might not really know what he/she is talking about. Talk to past students if at all possible about various classes you might take, which level class to take, etc. Which TF you have for IHUM makes a HUGE difference, so if possible find out if any of the TFs are awful and switch into a different section if necessary. </p>
<p>That's it for now :)</p>
<p>I might think of something more insightful later, but in general I would have told myself a year ago: chill out. College is a big deal, but the things that seem important in high school aren't really. I often have the feeling that the difference between Stanford and the other 6 schools I applied to is so slight that it is basically imperceptible...but last year I could have rattled of so many differences, from SAT scores to research vs. small liberal arts to laidback vs. east-coast competitiveness to grad school acceptance rates...and seriously once you've been here a while you realize it doesn't actually matter. You get good friends, eat good food, live in good dorms, take good classes...just like you would at the other school you are agonizing over. I mean, I do LOVE it here. But if I had gone elsewhere? I probably would have LOVED it there too. It's easy to get excited about classes in most top schools, and I think that as long as you have that excitement, it's all you need- you have to be convinced that you want to get and will get an amazing education, and aside from that everything falls into perspective. I've talked to juniors and seniors about this, and they seem to agree: if we could make the decision again, yeah we would probably choose Stanford. But some said that the reasons for choosing it would be entirely different and much more subtle (ie forget US News ranking criteria), and are highly individualized so I can't post them here. But basically, sit back and relax. Think about how amazing college will be in general. Not how amazing STANFORD or HARVARD or POMONA or whatever names are floating around out there for you would be, but how amazing COLLEGE will be. Also, I think that the whole "where do you picture yourself" or "where does it feel right" theory for college selection is not so good, it seems to bias people toward wherever they have visited more extensively, grown up near, or feel safer choosing without their knowledge. And lastly, I agree. You don't need an ironing board or iron. The dorm and the laundry room each have them.</p>
<p>1.) work your ass off.</p>
<p>2.) and stay away from super smash brothers for as long as you can hold out (probly no more than 2 weeks)</p>
<p>haha if i hear the soundtrack to ssbros one more time i might just die. i agree. stay away from it. </p>
<p>also, make an effort to get to know people in your classes, it's a really good way to make new friends! awww.</p>
<p>what about Halo? is it safer?</p>
<p>From my experience, no.</p>
<p>halo safer? hahahahahahaha thats funny. its a lot worse and dont even touch world of warcraft if you plan on getting out and socializing.</p>