You’ve moved into your dorm, picked your classes and taken countless trips to Target, yet your first semester of college still feels like a three-month stretch of uncertainty. How will you find friends and stay on top of classes? What campus activities will you join? Can you adapt to a new diet of ramen noodles and mac and cheese?
New students at Northeastern go from their hometowns and the lifelong friends that stood by them during every awkward phase to a new city and lifestyle. Luckily, they’re not alone. The hordes of upperclassmen who came before them have plenty of advice for the students in the Class of 2029 to best navigate their first semester at college.
Classes
Northeastern offers over 300 majors taught by highly educated professors. Homework, tests and quizzes are different compared to high school, which can be incredibly daunting. For Northeastern students especially, grades can be a concern, as some co-op positions require a certain GPA minimum.
“I think it comes down to time management and also just communication with professors,” said Ayman Mahmoud, a third-year data science and business administration combined major. “I know, obviously, a lot of professors can seem very daunting, but I think if you communicate your circumstances [to them] and what you are struggling with, you should be good.”
Caroline Willis, first-year architecture graduate student, advised first-years to always keep an open mind during classes.
“Pay attention in class. Put your phone away, have a good time, just bring a positive attitude,” she said. “If you go into it thinking it’ll be a good outcome, then that changes your whole takeaway from an experience like that.”
Co-op
Every year, over 10,000 students take part in the co-op program. Co-op is often on the tip of many first-years’ tongues, with students wondering what positions they could land and how they can best build their resumes to attract employers.
Colin Martens, a fourth-year architecture major, has completed co-ops and recommends figuring out your interests before applying.
“It’s good to know what you’re really interested in,” Martens said. “There’s so many job postings, and it can definitely be overwhelming. I talked to a lot of people in a lot of different industries before to try to figure out how I wanted to spend my six months, and I think that was helpful to identify what kind of job would make the most sense.”
Martens emphasized that while co-op can be a major cause of anxiety for some students, positions are only temporary, meaning co-op can be a good time for experimentation.
“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself,” Martens said. “I think there’s sometimes an overwhelming climate, but it’s just six months of your life. It’s fun, it’s cool, try something new if you want to. ”
Extracurriculars
Many incoming students arrive at Northeastern knowing nobody, which makes finding friends both a priority and a worry. Willis said that joining clubs is one of the easiest ways to do so.
“Join as many different activities or clubs as possible,” she said. “Getting as much social experience… as you can freshman year is the best thing. You meet so many more people that way. And even if you don’t like [a club], you find people in [them] that you can connect to and be friends with later on. You just build a network of connections that takes you through the rest of school.”
Campus etiquette
Northeastern’s campus is a community, and everyone has to contribute to keep that community running smoothly. Maybe at home you don’t have to fight like a gladiator to do your laundry, but now that you’re living on campus, washing your clothes is a privilege, not a right. Washers and dryers are in limited supply, and if you’re not there to promptly collect your things, your fellow residents may take out your clothes and leave them in a pile.
Anthony O’Brien, a second-year international business and Spanish double major, suggests giving people a grace period when they’re late picking up laundry.
“I always gave a five-minute grace period,” O’Brien said. “After five minutes, I would take it out, but don’t put it on the floor because that means they’re going to have to wash it again. Put it on top of the dryer.”
O’Brien also noted that one of the best ways to keep the campus moving is to, literally, keep moving. To help aid traffic between classes, he advises walking at a regular pace.
“You need to walk fast,” O’Brien said. “I am sorry. I can’t stand slow pokes — I’m gonna move around you if you walk slow. Walk fast and get to your destination. Sorry people, that’s the truth.”
