#and this is the first preregistration period where i haven’t been absolutely solid on my courses right away

[notwisenotyet]

advice for starting at uchicago as a first year?

anon, i’m so glad you asked! loooooong (but hopefully useful) ramble below.

first year feelings, aka we all feel sad sometimes and that’s human & okay

i’m not gonna sugarcoat it, fall quarter of first year is an emotional & confusing transition for many people. i think that’s inherent to adjusting to college anywhere because it’s a period of such dramatic change. if you find yourself feeling lonely and homesick and overwhelmed, that is SO normal. it gets better with time. 

what makes me believe i chose the right college is that for the most part, we’re upfront about when we’re struggling. yeah, that can manifest as memes about crying in public, but it’s very real. everyone’s in a little over their head at times. if you’re having a rough time and suffering from imposter syndrome i PROMISE you are not alone.

sidenote: the meme page is ESSENTIAL to student culture and you should join if you haven’t yet. i’m dead serious.

further sidenote: yes, i did cry in public on multiple occasions during fall quarter of my first year. i did such a good job convincing myself that i was transitioning to college smoothly that i didn’t realize i wasn’t until the feelings i wasn’t acknowledging just…..spilled everywhere. i learned a lot about myself and the importance of being okay with not being okay! the number one thing you can do for yourself as a first year is learn to tell the difference between growing pains that will fade on their own and genuine sadness. i’m still figuring that out, but noticing your emotions and trying to trace them to their source is a good place to start!

if you’re sad, don’t be sad alone. call your parents! talk to your RA! drag yourself to your house table when all you want to do is curl up in a ball of blankets! hiding is tempting, but reaching out to other people in whatever way works for you is what actually helps.

disclaimer: i say all of that in the context of everyday struggle. if you feel not yourself for weeks on end, college is a common time for mental health issues to surface. or you could just be having a really hard time adjusting! either way, talk to someone you trust to figure out what you can do about it. don’t wait to feel “bad enough” before seeking help. once you realize there’s a problem, it’s your job to do something about it.

having a social life

if you can, make friends with your housemates. it is such a relief to have people to come home to. they don’t have to be your best friends, but they can be if you’re lucky. 

making friends will be easier than you think. do your best not to stress about it and instead focus on all the awesome new people you’re meeting! don’t feel pressured to make tons of friends right away or to stick with your o-week friends forever. it can take time to find your niche, but you will, and it’ll be worth it. (general rule of thumb: if it’s in any way nerdy, someone else here is into it and will be VERY EXCITED to do that thing with you.) 

try to find at least one extracurricular that you can commit to. studying full time isn’t healthy or productive and moving into the reg will NOT make you a better student. 

make a point of getting off campus regularly. there’s a lot of city to explore, so make good use of that upass! google maps and transit are super helpful apps if you’re new to navigating the cta. 

study groups/friends in your classes who you can text in a panic the night before a pset or lab report is due will save your life. in every class i’ve taken so far, it’s been us against the material rather than us against each other. help your classmates when they’re struggling and they’ll return the favor.

important! because first year is so turbulent and your identity is still solidifying (see First Year Feelings section above), dating early in the year is in most cases a bad idea, ESPECIALLY dating upper years. i have seen exceptions that work but others go horribly wrong, because often someone who wants to get involved with you at a time when you’re vulnerable is willing to exploit that vulnerability. focus on yourself first. if they’re worth it, they’ll wait for you to be ready to start a relationship. 

we aren’t a party school. you can find parties if you seek them out, but i don’t think it’s worth it usually, especially not bar night.

keep an eye on your habits: if you find yourself leaning on alcohol to cope with stress or can’t go a weekend without it, that should set off warning bells. same goes for your friends.

if your gut’s telling you something is wrong, don’t ignore it. if you see someone harassing people, report them to a monitor or host. if you feel unsafe, leave. use the buddy system.

on parties during o-week: they exist. please be careful! last year a bunch of first years were hospitalized for alcohol poisoning and related injuries during o-week because they didn’t know their limits. that’s a horrible way to start your college experience.

academics 

no matter how good you were at school before, you will have weeks where you have too many things happening at once. suddenly, just writing something for each question on an exam or getting just above average will be a victory. what i’m trying to say here is that you can’t waltz into your first year expecting to get all As, which you probably know, but that doesn’t prepare you for the actual experience of it. do your best! just remember that you can (and probably should) change what your personal ideal of success looks like. grade deflation and perfectionism don’t mix well. 

study smart, not hard—figure out what that means for you and do it. in a perfect world, i would rewrite all my notes, read ahead in my textbooks, and know everything, but i don’t have that kind of time, and neither will you. this of course varies, but know that most classes here prioritize ability, whether that’s reasoning through problems/contributing to discussions/writing really solid papers, over memorized knowledge.

if a particular lecture isn’t useful for your learning and they don’t take attendance, you don’t have to go. i did this with my chem and math classes last year. it worked out for me BUT that’s because i had a lot of prior knowledge from high school in those subjects, plus i was careful to study on my own to keep up. definitely go to the first few lectures to get a feel for the class. i would not (!!!!!) advise doing this in classes that either don’t teach from the textbook or don’t give you lecture notes/slides to study from.

big assignments like papers, problem sets, or lab reports? do NOT start them the night before they’re due. don’t give into that kind of hubris. you will regret it. this has been a psa. 

if you’re struggling in a class, do something about it! my first quarter, i met with my hum professor to go over every single one of my essay drafts and practically lived in the ta office hours for my bio class. you can also go to the harper tutors or reach out to older housemates. 

have a planning system of some kind. doesn’t matter what as long as you write down your deadlines and appointments somewhere, because you will forget things otherwise! 

buy textbooks as cheaply as possible. the campus bookstore WILL rip you off; if you’re buying used, it’s better to look on amazon. if it’s a work with multiple translations like the odyssey, be sure you’re getting the right one! intro science classes like chem or bio will often have pdfs floating around—ask someone who’s taken them. 

AVOID EARLY MORNING CLASSES AT ALL COSTS. i ended up in a 8:30 chem lecture last year and it was absolutely awful. you have to REALLY be a morning person to be a morning person in college. 

sleep is so, so important. it may be unrealistic to get 8 hours of sleep a night, but aim for 6 if you can and then catch up on weekends. work ahead so you don’t have to pull all-nighters. the quarter system waits for no one, even the sleep-deprived. 

read class evaluations! professors with amazing evals usually live up to them; so do professors with awful evals. choose carefully. unfortunately, these are only available for core classes and lower-level electives—most bio major classes, for example, conduct internal evaluations that aren’t published, so you’re shooting in the dark when you register for a class unless you can find someone who’s taken it before. 

even if you don’t know what to major in, it helps to sit down and go through the catalog and pull together a vague plan of what classes you want to take when (get familiar with the catalog! the catalog is your new best friend). that way you aren’t scrambling when prereg comes around and you have no idea what classes to list. know what gen ed requirements you’ll need for all of your potential majors. 

also on the note of preregistration, as a first year you’re required to have academic advising meetings every quarter. SCHEDULE THEM EARLY. if you miss the deadline (i think it’s the end of seventh week?) you get locked out of preregistration and have to fight to get into classes during add/drop period. 

if you DO know what you want to major in, don’t just be complacent in that choice—seek out students who have done it and figure out what you’re signing up for! take a class in the department to try it out early if you can! i threw myself headfirst into biology and english as soon as possible and found out very quickly that english was not the major for me but bio was, and i’m trying to do the same with neuroscience this fall. 

there is no shame is dropping a class or an RSO. same for changing your major, etc. you’re not quitting; you’re evolving. you’re allowed to change your mind.

metcalf internships! internships where you do real work for real money! apply for them! applications for summer jobs open in winter quarter, so start thinking how you want to spend your summer early. if you need to work during the school year, some popular options include the neighborhood schools program (NSP), libraries, or one of our many student-run coffee shops. 

if your field is one that emphasizes research, there are SO many labs on campus. email PIs with genuine interest in their work and you have decent odds they’ll take you seriously. often, you can also apply for summer fellowship program or other sources of funding. protip: when reaching out to labs, it helps to first meet with someone you’ve taken a class with in the department to get an idea of who has space for & interest in training undergrads.

living on campus

on food: bartlett is objectively the worst dining hall; an argument can be made for either baker or cathey being the best imo. grounds of being, which is in the basement of swift hall aka the div school, is the best cafe full stop.

don’t bother with the $1 milkshakes! just go to medici, lovingly known as the med, instead (i recommend the mexicana shake).

there’s tons of libraries and cafes on campus to explore, each with their own unique vibe. i recommend figuring out which study spots work for you and rotating so you don’t get sick of any one place. also: don’t be the person who’s way too loud in designated quiet areas. we all hate that person.

invest in good winter gear if you can because chicago wind does NOT mess around. i’ve nearly been blown over crossing the midway. layers are key! my dead-of-winter uniform is fleece-lined leggings under jeans, well-insulated boots with warm socks, a warm sweater, a scarf that i can hide my face in, and a reliable jacket.

also worth it: rain boots! the huge puddles that form all over the campus sidewalks as soon as it rains are the butt of many a “this is why we need an engineering department” joke.

the way i think of it, there are two uchicagos: the image administration works so hard to project to the rest of the world, and the real & flawed place you are about to become a living, breathing part of. they often clash. work to understand the system you’re entering: the impact the university has on surrounding communities, the econ department’s involvement in global conflicts, the grad student union’s long fight with administration, why minorities and sexual assault survivors are angry about the way they’ve been treated here. you can do your part to make this campus and this school better if you just open your eyes to see the things that need improving.

tips for o-week

don’t skip mandatory orientation events—odds are you’ll have to make them up later when it’s a lot less convenient. even the events that feel stupid (do they still have the workshop where they teach you to make eye contact and say hi to people?? and the giant rock paper scissors tournament?) are a bonding experience that you’ll be joking about for months to come.

use this time to learn how to navigate campus. look up and find the buildings you have class in so you aren’t lost and panicked once classes actually start. the digital campus map will be handy for this.

there’s a bunch of free events during o-week. the logan party features a lot of cool performing arts RSOs, plus there’s a free acapella showcase monday of first week! it’s rare to catch these groups for free. i really encourage checking those events out, plus any others you find interesting.

oof. that ended up being a lot. tl;dr:

try new things! make new friends! this is the time!

keep tabs on your emotional & mental health so you aren’t taken by surprise when things come up.

be ready to adjust your habits & expectations re academics.

you’re responsible for making the best choices you can for yourself. if something is wrong, it’s your job to do something to change it.

you were admitted for a reason. there will be times when you doubt it, but that doesn’t change the fact that you belong here. you’re capable. 

looking back over it, i realize that the tone of my response here might not read as super positive, but i really do like it here! i hope you will too. feel free to reach out with any more questions.