@Planner Yeah, freshmen dorms have RAs that are trained to help out freshmen and have them open up. And NSO is action-packed with events (I remember thinking there was too many events, and I always felt exhausted at the end of the day from attending so many lol). Overloaded quarters just depends on the person though–I know one kid who takes like 5 engineering classes at once and is doing fine juggling extracurriculars and his social life in the meantime. It just depends on who you are, how you manage your time, how much sleep you want to get, etc.
The sophomore slump…IMO, I’m not feeling it, but that’s probably because I’m declared and already have a set idea/plan of what I’m doing for the summer and the next few years. Once you decide what major you want, it’s not difficult to figure out what classes to take lol. About choosing a major though…I haven’t heard of that plan, but I know they advertise heavily that quarter system allows you to try more classes than a semester system would allow you to. I think eventually though, they do push you to declare–I’ve known some people who declared junior year. In terms of helping you pick a major though…All I can think of is the Academic Advisors in the dorms. They’d help you, I guess?
In terms of reconnecting with friends from freshman year, I don’t think it’s hard? Or difficult? My friends are scattered around campus but we talk to each other online, sometimes have classes together and work on PSets together, have lunch together, etc. I think it’s a matter of communication between friends, tbh. Just make sure you talk to them often, don’t lost contact. Geographical distance isn’t a huge thing lol, if you have a bike to get around you can get to the important spots on campus in less than 10 minutes (and that’s assuming you’re going to the far edges, like from FroSoCo to Mirrielies).
For juniors and seniors, I think the four class dorms are fine (and I do know some people who joined Greek life, so there’s the Row to live on as well). Crothers and Branner are popular East Campus dorms. There’s also Mirrielies, which is the ‘apartment’ style complex and then Suites, which also operates as a similar ‘apartment’ style. Unless you meant something different when you say “residential colleges”?
@DL43516 @guccigirl is right. It’s not hard at all to have a social life. NSO is specifically built (at least, from my perspective) to push freshmen out of their bubbles and get them to meet other freshmen. There’s tons of on-campus events you can go to almost everyday. You’ll meet a lot of people in your classes, dorm, events, etc. I wouldn’t even worry about social life here–it’ll come to you.