Incoming Freshman Concerns and Anxiety

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

Hey guys!

I have been fortunate enough to have been accepted to Penn’s Class of 2021 and had questions/concerns to current students.

As with any big transitions, I tend to get really anxious and often arrive to panic. I was able to visit the campus with my family and I found it a bit intimidating of the urban environment because I grew up in the suburbs. I guess the idea of attending an Ivy League and living out of state is really giving me anxiety. I had some questions and was hoping it would calm my nerves and fear haha…

I wish to major in Political Science and hope to get into Law School. I understand GPA is important to get into graduate school but I also understand it is very difficult to attain a real high GPA like in high school. Having a healthy social life is also important to me.

  1. I have registered for the following courses and was wondering how you feel about them? Do you think it is manageable for a Freshman?
    Introduction to American Politics
    Introduction to Microeconomics
    Elementary Spanish
    Writing Seminar “Craft of Prose”

  2. How is the courseload and rigor? How would you rate it out of 10?

  3. How was your Freshman transition?

Thanks in advance!

2

The course load is fine. Remember that most engineers take 5 and many take 6 courses. You only have 4 and none of them are overly difficult. You will be just fine.

When I have seen students really struggle with the transition it can be when they are overly unconcerned about getting off to a good start. Maybe with the mindset that an Ivy is a reward. It isn’t.

Do not overly stress out, but you do want to get off to a very solid start. They do usually ease students in for the first several weeks. Don’t be fooled into thinking it will stay that way. It won’t.

3

Hey @socratesthegreat, you’ll be alright. Remember that some nerves and anxiety coming into freshman year are completely normal and expected. Upon arriving on campus in a month for NSO, you will meet several students who feel the same way as you (even if they may not openly express it).

I would not worry too much about the urban environment. I’d say the majority of students grew up in the suburbs and transition to the city just fine. It might take a little bit of time to get used to, but overall, I’d say most students enjoy Penn’s layout in a city. Also, if you have similar non-academic concerns while you’re at Penn, there are many resources you can use to address your concerns. I’d personally recommend a member of your house staff (an RA/GA, house dean, or a faculty fellow or director) who have encountered many other freshmen in similar positions to you.

While @much2learn mentioned how many students in SEAS take 5-6 classes, you’re not in SEAS, so there’s no reason right now to “remember that.” Given that you’ve expressed some nerves already and that Penn can have a competitive culture at times, I wouldn’t worry about what others are taking in other schools, for now. Focus on yourself, take your four classes, and try your best in them.

Econ 001 is a large class, and the other students will mostly be other freshmen, so it’s a good class to meet people and have the chance to work and study with others you may end up taking other classes with later on.

PSCI 130 is also a large class, and a large portion of your grade is essay based, so your level of success in the class will partially be driven by your writing skills in addition to content knowledge.

Elementary Spanish may be tough if you’ve never heard Spanish before, but if you’ve been exposed to Spanish even in the slightest (i.e. Do you know what “hola” means?), you will be ok.

Writing Seminar Craft of Prose is a great move if you want some more assistance developing and enhancing your writing skills. You meet with your teacher and a writing tutor weekly to go over your assignments and progress. Feel free to use the Writing Center to help with other writing assignments, too (like PSCI 130 essays).

Lastly, there are tons of campus resources students either don’t know about or don’t use that could help them in their transition. The Weingarten Learning Resources Center allows you to meet with a Learning Instructor who will help you plan out your classes and assignments in order to manage stress and help your transition from high school to college academics work out smoothly. Additionally, if in the first week or two of classes, you think one class may be harder than the others, request a tutor at the Tutoring Center. There’s no fee at the Tutoring Center, so go take advantage of it if you think it can help you.

Lastly, PSCI is a major that requires only 32 credits to graduate (https://www.college.upenn.edu/credits-needed-major), so you can graduate in 4 years only taking 4 classes each semester. That said, going up to 5 some semesters allows students to take classes to pursue a second major, a minor, or just take extra courses that sound interesting. Never feel pressured to take 5 classes and don’t do so unless you feel confident that you could handle the workload, but I just wanted to explain some of the reasons PSCI majors may take extra courses.

I hope this helps.