<p>hello! im entering college today actually and moving into the dorm. ive always had mixed feelings about it....from nervousness....to anxiety. im concerned about dorm life..roomies etc. i think i am shy but people tell me i dont seem like it. any tips or advice??</p>
<p>I suggest to NOT be involved in more activities than you can handle, do NOT go to ALL the parties because you will be seen as a “silly freshman”, DO stay caught up on ALL your readings and do not even fathom talking crap about ANYONE to someone in the same school as it will go around. ESPECIALLY at small private liberal arts colleges.</p>
<p>Also, just “be yourself”, as cliche as it sounds, it works.</p>
<p>“do not even fathom talking crap about ANYONE to someone in the same school as it will go around”</p>
<p>While you shouldn’t do that, this isn’t really true for most schools. This only holds up at small privates (like the size of your high school or smaller). At a regular state school, rumors can’t really go around and most people don’t even have reputations (unlike high school where you had a reputation such as a jock, or nerd, or popular kid, or emo, or prep kid, or goth, or ladies man</p>
<p>Keep the nose to the grindstone; one is there to study and get the diploma, not fool around.</p>
<p>That said, you were unwise to take this route. A 2+2 programme with a community college while commuting would have saved you a substantial sum. Some will incorrectly say that doing so hinders some mystical experience one is supposed to have while attending a school; the experience that matters is getting a high-paying job with a diploma.</p>
<p>2+2 is not always the best option especially when trying to find a high paying job. Being academically sound is helps but having relevant work experience is much more important to get a job, and community colleges do not get much recruitment from companies if any at all. So for your first two years your chances of getting an internship or a co-ops is severely limited and thus at graduation you might be at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>Most community colleges won’t have 2 years worth of transferable classes either, presuming you’re working through them at a good pace.</p>
<p>Especially don’t overload yourself. I gently glided into college, taking one hard class and two classes I’d know I’d be ok with (I’m on trimesters.) I also slowly added things to my schedule, I joined Intervarsity and when I knew I could handle that I also joined the rowing team. I know some people who joined six things in one week and they are headed for a mental break down.</p>
<p>vicious - the CC’s name does not appear on the diploma, rather, the college one is transferring to will appear instead. There is little disadvantage if any, as it is doubtful that they would be recruiting freshmen and sophomores.</p>
<p>Qwerty - you would be surprised what classes one can transfer. My degree, if it were a beast, would be a chimera because of all the classes from various CCs’ distance programmes I am transferring. It has saved me at least $10K, and as I have not had to borrow much, it is like making at least 13% instantly on an investment. I would make that trade all day every day on a leveraged ETF if they offered it. 
Policies surrounding transfer credits vary with schools, and I know of two specific cases. At ODU, they have 2+2 programmes with various CCs in Virginia, and even have satellite programmes where classes are streamed to the CC, and transfer credits are worked out on a departmental level. At the University of Idaho, the last 30 credits must be taken through them, but all other classes are fair game. I am taking classes via Engineering Outreach; the quality of the lectures is simply astounding, and the flexibility permits me the opportunity to try a few interesting things while I am still young.</p>
<p>Vanagandr- I agree with you there but there are many who are recruited for internships/co-op positions freshman and sophomore year (case in point myself). If the OP is planning on majoring in something non technical I would also suggest doing a 2+2, unless you are going to Wharton or something.</p>
<p>“Qwerty - you would be surprised what classes one can transfer.”</p>
<p>I mean, I know what transfers from the local community college to my University, and it’s not a whole lot. My school will transfer as much as you want (given, at least 50 must be taken in house, and a degree requires 128), but there’s not a whole lot that transfers as equivalent to their classes from the community college. Definitely 1 year could be done there saving a substantial amount of money, but 2 would probably mean you’re taking only 12 credits a semester or something.</p>
<p>I will say as well that not many people get internships or coops their freshman year, even in technical majors, unless they went in with a large number of credits. Maybe by sophomore year it’s more of a consideration, but freshman year I don’t think it is.</p>
<p>Qwerty - I can say that, adjusting for credits, to say that the freshman and sophomore years can be taken at a CC is conservative. As I am transferring more than 72 CrH, part of the junior year can be said to transferred too. I did not think that a CC in-state offered differential equations via distance learning, but I was pleasantly surprised. CCs are likely education’s best kept secret because of their low cost. </p>
<p>Neither school has ‘formal’ transfer agreements, where equivalences have been made, it was by request. Just ask ‘what would you accept in lieu of class X from school Y?’</p>
<p>As a side note, ever notice how one’s ‘college experience’, if one is to believe college marketing departments, is proportional to one’s expenditure? :D</p>
<p>vicious - do you have any statistics on how many students get internships and co-ops as a percentage of the total population? It seems like it would be within the ‘20’ part of the ‘80-20 principle’</p>
<p>I don’t have any statistics on me, but I have heard as high as 50% after freshman year within our honors program from the coordinator of the program. Granted this might be a little high especially with the economy in the state it is right now and its only based of an honors program and not the entire student body.</p>
<p>Fifty percent does seem quite high; I am more concerned about the percentage of the student body, not of the honours programme, though a higher percentage within the programme would confirm that they are looking for the brighter ones.</p>
<p>That said, I would be curious how many of these co-ops and internships would not be available to someone at a community college, or at least to not available to a junior who transfers to a school through 2+2 programme.</p>
<p>50%???</p>
<p>What school is that? That’s damn impressive.</p>
<p>I was told that ~15% of freshmen get internships after their freshman year here, and that most of them came in with many credits. </p>
<p>I can say that personally, after my freshman year, I still didn’t really know anything. All I had taken were pretty much the prerequisite math/science and some HU/SS classes. </p>
<p>“Qwerty - I can say that, adjusting for credits, to say that the freshman and sophomore years can be taken at a CC is conservative.”</p>
<p>I fully understand what transfers and how transferring to my school works. Transferring 72 credits would require a very large portion of them be free electives. I wouldn’t call 72 credits, even if someone chose to transfer that much, more than a sophomore anyway.</p>
<p>Seventy-two, if I recall, is sophomore, but 73 would bump one up to a junior.</p>
<p>lyric55-did anyone answer you original post?It seems people have gotten very off-topic…have you made any friends yet? Haven’t you done any activities to connect with the others in your dorm?</p>