College, Tips anyone? Options

[hockeygod]

I'm going to college this fall: Michigan Technological University. Actually, I leave the 19th of August, move in the 20th and orientation starts the 21st, with classes beginning the 29th. Anyone have any advice for me or for anyone else starting college this fall?

[hershey]

That's where my hubby went to school! Good 'ol Houghton. Take lots of warm clothes! I will ask him for any advice when he returns from scout camp!

Good luck HG, glad you stop in to update us.

~H~

[hockeygod]

Thanks "Mom."

[Drie]

It's okay to let off steam every once in awhile, but remember your main reason for going to school! Have fun and take breaks; organization is key. Dorm life can be fun, and I highly suggest buying or renting a mini-fridge.

[hockeygod]

Thanks Drie. Luckily, I was given my mom's mini fridge.

[Yoda]

The first thing you must do is immediately hide from your parents or you will end up as I did, spending the first two hours of uni life carefully unpacking all my bags... Then just spend as much as the first day as possible running around meeting people, remember to keep your keys on you though - you'd be amazed how many people I met who were locked out :

''Are you my roomate?'' - chap called Noel, who still owes me £5
''I might be, are you Chris?'' - me, obviously
''No, I'm Noel.''
''Right, that's a no then, sorry.''
''No worries, so who are you?''
''Dave.''
''Ah, you mean Little Dave.''
''Actually my friends at home call me Big Dave.'' (because I was the shortest Dave in school)
''Nah - Big Dave's down the hall.''
''Oh, well - I'll go find him then. You find a roomate - any idea who it is?''
''They're called Tim, or something.'' (Sam was Noel's actual roomate - at least he got the number of letters right!)
''Right, cya later.''
''Yeah, buy you a pint.''

Ah, the joy. And, of course, the free pintage. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhfreebeer.

But, anyway - follow this advice and you won't go wrong - especially with this third bit: Know the sacred mantra: ''High School Courses, Degree Course, Name''. Not necessarily in that order, though. It's all just random. And also - be you, let everyone know just how bananas, raisins or other form of fruit you are - the scared ones clear off leaving nice sane people like us behind

yoda, enjoy!

[Robert]

Single best piece of advice I can give is this:

Don't join a fraternity until your sophmore year!

I've watched far too many freshman flunk out because they bought into the frat party scene without paying attention. Get to know the guys in each house and find one that fits you, and if you don't, there is nothing wrong with being a GDI (G** D***ED Independent)

Robert

[hockeygod]

Thanks Yoda. I'm lucky because I already know who my roommate is.

And thanks Robert. I don't think I want to be in a frat.

Thanks for all the good advice so far guys and gals.

[Cristin]

If you do your laundry at school, keep an eye on your laundry! I can't tell you how many times I would leave the laundry room for a few minutes ate the end of a cycle, come back, and someone had the nerve to take my laundry out (regardless on washer or dryer), put my clothes on a table or on top of the machine, and start their own laundry. Eeww...those rooms are not the cleanest areas! I learned to take my studying down to the laundry room and make sure no one touched my stuff!!!

That, and I was fortunate enough to go to school only a half hour from home, so I did many visits home to do laundry. That's good too if you have the opportunity...laundry for free and home cooking!

[Helen]

QUOTE (Yoda @ Jun 21 2005, 10:07 PM)

Then just spend as much as the first day as possible running around meeting people, remember to keep your keys on you though - you'd be amazed how many people I met who were locked out :

If you can prop your door open do that. People can see that you are in and will talk to you. And yes remember your keys, very annoying getting locked out...

Do not take to much stuff. It is just more to take home.

And remember when they test the fire alarm. If you have a class then one semester make sure you find out when it is. It usually goes of for half a minute and then stops.

Also take warm slip on clothes in case of a fire alarm. It gets very cold at night even if it has been a warm day.

My last fire alarm I had on pj's, trackie bottoms and sweatshirt, dressing gown and blanket and this was june.

[QuickHare]

My piece of advice is to get to know people and be friendly. You'll find people form little groups, and the more people you know, the more groups you'll be in. It's not quite a fraternity, as you're not joining one, more keping your ear to the ground with everyone else. This helps to find a group who's going out on a night you want to go out, helps to find someone doing the coursework you are (to give pointers/help/answers*) and someone in this vast circle will know what or where you're meant to be doing or going.

I find keeping in with many people opens many doors and helps you get to know more people, like many onions. You get to know the outer layers, and then you can peel away the outer layers to find who else they know, and you'll find even more friends.

And offer to cook once in a blue moon, but not too much. That way, you'll be nice but not relied on!


*Delete as appropriate

[hockeygod]

As far as laundry goes, I will keep that in mind. There is absolutely no chance of going home to do laundry as I will be 550 miles from home. So no home cooked meal either. I will miss my mom and grandma's cooking.

As far as fire alarms go, that will really bite, because in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, a warm day is in the mid 40's (at least during the school year) so in the middle of the night, it will be COLD!!!

And I plan on keeping my door wide open when my roomate or I am around. That way people come to your room and you can go to theirs. I like the onion analogy.

Thanks for all the advice so far.

[zyguh]

Meeting the RA (or whatever version of Resident Advisor your dorm has) for your floor as soon as possible is a good idea. Make sure to ask find out if s/he is a sports fan, and what kind of movie's they like. That way you can all chip in and get them tickets to a game or movie tickets if you want a night where you know the RA will be gone for a few hours. If you have a cool RA, they can be bribed.

If the RA is a ...well, not cool, you know.....then remember that supergluing them in their room is only really effective if you also glue the windows shut, and take their phone so they cant yell or call for help.

Attaching a car battery to someones door, pouring water on the floor so it goes under the door, and then knocking really loud so they will answer is only funny if its a tile floor, and you know they will answer barefoot. Otherwise they are insulated and it just makes them mad when they open the door and see what you were planning.

Talcum powder in a manilla envelope. You can slide the opening under someones door and then drop a book on the part sticking out on your side. The more powder the bigger the cloud that coats everything in their room.

If your dorm has a speaker system in each room (so the front desk can let you know someone is downstairs to visit) it is possible to pull the speaker out, strip the wires and hook them up to your stereo. YES, this does cause the entire dorm to turn into one giant speaker that can probably be heard miles away...........but as long as you can get the wires hooked back up right and put the speaker back in the wall before they have time to search every room they cant prove it was you.

No matter what they tell you in the dorm orientation....the fire alarms dont really shoot out an invisible ink, and or a blue liquid, that will stain your hands and let them know who pulled the fire alarm "even days later".

While a twister board can be made to fit perfectly on the floor of the dorm elevators, gluing it in place actually makes the dorm staff rather angry.

When popping the screens out of your windows make sure to save the rivets that held them in place so you can replace them at the end of the year when they do the final room check before you leave.

No matter how good your carpentry skills, and no matter how strong the pool liner claims to be, if you attempt to turn your closet (and or one corner of your room) into a hottub/mini swimming pool chances are its gonna leak. So its really not feasable to do this unless you live on the ground floor and wont have the guy who lives under you whining about how the water was ruining all his posters.

On a related not........a hot plate CANNOT be used as the heating element for a hot tub you are trying to build in your closet. You cant put it in the water or you'd get electrocuted, and if you put it underneath it just melts the pool lining you were using.

You can replace the towel racks on your closet doors with something sturdier, and with the right planning build a nice little "mini-bar" that can fold up and be stored in the closet in minutes. If you do this, its not a good idea to place an ad in the school paper advertising your new bar........even if you dont get caught running a bar out of your dorm room for 3 weeks......someone does eventually notice. And you get in LOTS of trouble.

oh yeah......and study hard. That is why your there after all :-)

[hockeygod]

Thanks for the advice. 10 hours from home will get pretty lonesome without some good pranking.

[nome]

Awesome! Another collegiate!

Just seconding the word to bring only as much as you want to pack, store, move (on foot, usually), and unpack every semestre or quarter. You can always buy something cheap at walmart, have it sent to you, or do without until the next break. Plus, no matter what, never have more than you can move in one car.

And at least for the first two weeks, go everywhere, do everything, meet everyone, and if you absolutely must study, study outside.

Good luck, and congratulations!