Just finished first year! Advice for 2014ers

JBVirtuoso
Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:08:35 +0000

Since this seems to be a common theme, I’ll say this:

Stop freaking out. Now. I’m not saying that any of you are necessarily doing this, but freaking out about placement tests is the first step in freaking out about everything else that happens first quarter. And freaking out is not something you want to do. The people who perform the best here are the ones who can approach their studies in a calm and collected way. So when we tell you to just chill out about the placement tests, please listen to us. This advice will also apply when you have a problem set that you don’t understand and a paper that you don’t know how to start due on the same day.

I know that the wait until September is excruciating, and you feel like you’re wasting your life when everyone else leaves for college. But don’t channel that by freaking out about placement tests or whatever. You’ll need to be calm to do well at the U of C, and it’s a good idea to practice being calm before you get here.