College Life Questions

JeSuis
Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:40:24 +0000

Anticipate the difficulty. I came in thinking it was going to be extremely difficult, and although I’ve had to work hard, it’s been a lot easier than I expected. I’m in a much better position than students who came in treating it like high school.
The atmosphere, both aesthetically and socially. Make sure you like the campus/town, and make sure the attitude of the students/community fits yours (ie. does the campus focus mostly on greek life, athletics, academics, clubs, or a combination of the four? Are the students generally liberal/conservative? Is the campus laid back or fast paced?)
My psychology and calculus class have no required homwork, so it’s on me to study the material. In high school I would just do the required homework and that was usually enough to do well. Now I have to read the textbook and study my notes in order to learn the material. It’s definitely different, but I prefer it.
Hanging out with friends. It’s so hard to force yourself to start that essay when there are always friends on your floor to hang out with.
The day I moved in, I sat awkwardly in my room for a while before going to hang out with my friend from high school. Then, some other people from my high school (who are a year ahead of me) invited me to go partying with them. I didn’t really meet anyone new haha. The first day of classes I had two lecture classes (with hundreds of students), so that was kind of intimidating. But it was nice not having to do the “introduce yourself” crap I did in my discussion-based class. After my lectures I had my math discussion, and he went over stuff that was supposed to be “review”; I had never seen most of it and was freaking out. None of it has shown up in the class so far, so I think I’m in the clear. :p
This completely depends on who you get. So far, my roommate experience has been okay (I’m in a triple.) I’ve gotten annoyed with one of my roommate at times, but it’s nothing too bad. Sharing the space isn’t really an issue. I personally wouldn’t want a single. Too isolated.
I loved the campus/town, but it still wasn’t easy. I was deciding between UCSB, UCSD, and UC Davis, and it was the hardest decision of my life. In the end, I tried to determine which student body I would fit in with best.
I went random. I wouldn’t recommend choosing a roommate your first year. When looking for an apartment, think about which friend(s) you can tolerate being around the longest.
I don’t have a job.
I go to UC Davis, and I absolutely love it. I know I made the right decision; everyone is extremely friendly and it’s the epitome of a college town. I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else.
English 3: Introduction to Literature. My Psychology class is ridiculously easy and my calculus class is essentially just review (I took AP Calculus in high school.) I’m basically writing an essay every week, which makes it hard to balance the reading I have to do (for that class and my psychology class.) Overall, my classes haven’t been too demanding, but it helps that I took a light course load my first quarter.