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First day/week at college, what to expect ?

C

compguy786

Platinum Member
Hey guys
as my previous threads have stated about my first year in college, i start on the 20th, and i am going to central piedmont community college here in Charlotte,NC.
as there are many college students/graduates on AT, i want to know that what usually happens the first day/week of college and what you should expect
any help would be great !
thanks !
 
community college? you're not dorming?

man, you're missing out on all the fun. 🙁 Hope you transfer to a 4-year soon and move into a dorm soon. That's where all the craziness happens...

My freshmen year alone....
...we pulled a prank on the RA and put dog shit streaks on his door. One of the kid got banned from the dorm. LOL
...One drunk night, one kid came into the dorm and pissed in the closet. LAHAHAHHAHA
...Loud, loud sex was always heard next room
...roommate had sex while I was at the top bunker. Turns out, the roommate said his chick asked me to join for a threesome.

good times..........

sorry I didn't offer any academic / preparation/life style advices. I guess I got bz being nostalgic.
 
really depends on the prof.

the first class ever is usually just going over the syllabus, discussing their policies (office hours, attendance, etc), and just general crap like that.

expect to spend a bit of time trying to figure out how to get from point a to point b... and I hope your checkbook is prepared for the shock of buying books. lol. I'd really recommend looking for books online, though, if you can afford to wait a bit of time for shipping and whatnot. you can usually get them far cheaper from ebay and for a lot of subjects, you can get away with using a book that's an edition older.
 
Originally posted by: E equals MC2
community college? you're not dorming?

man, you're missing out on all the fun. 🙁 Hope you transfer to a 4-year soon and move into a dorm soon. That's where all the craziness happens...

My freshmen year alone....
...we pulled a prank on the RA and put dog shit streaks on his door. One of the kid got banned from the dorm. LOL
...One drunk night, one kid came into the dorm and pissed in the closet. LAHAHAHHAHA
...Loud, loud sex was always heard next room
...roommate had sex while I was at the top bunker. Turns out, the roommate said his chick asked me to join for a threesome.

good times..........

sorry I didn't offer any academic / preparation/life style advices. I guess I got bz being nostalgic.
Click to expand...

haha its all good
im going to transfer to UNC Charlotte,Georgia Tech or NC State, UNCC being the biggest possibility

do you guys advise to buy books after the first day, or before
i might add/drop some classes as well
 
Communal showers. Don't drop the soap dude.

Re: books - there is usually a period where you can return them with no penalty as long as they are still in new condition. Buy used books or buy them online. Cheaper than the bookstore.

Edit: as a computer science major, I almost never used my books. But I still bought them. 🙁 I usually shared with friends. I'd buy one book, friend would buy another, etc. Ended up only spending about $100 a semester on books that way.

I also developed a website where students could post their used books for sale, and after I maintained it for one semester my college bought it from me and paid me to maintain it. That helped with the used books.
 
do you guys advise to buy books after the first day, or before
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if you're thinking about dropping any classes, don't buy the books before. college bookstores absolutely fuck students over when it comes to buying back books.

go to the first class, find out which books you're going to need immediately and buy the rest online. avoid the campus bookstore as much as possible.

Originally posted by: mugs
Communal showers. Don't drop the soap dude.
Click to expand...

sometimes I wish we had communal showers 😛

every dorm I've ever been in has had shower stalls, though (frequently broken up into two areas so that there's a dry-ish place to dry off and get dressed)
 
since it's CC will you actually be dorming? As far as classes go, it's usualy pretty simple the first day. they tell you about the class, go over the syllabus and such. You should try to get your books online if possible, save you a bundle of money.
 
Originally posted by: loki8481
Originally posted by: mugs
Communal showers. Don't drop the soap dude.
Click to expand...

sometimes I wish we had communal showers 😛
Click to expand...

Personally, I think communal showers were an integral part of my college experience. Some guys didn't dig it - they usually showered really late at night or really early in the morning. But you gotta learn to let it all hang out. Some of my best conversations in college were in the shower. At first I wasn't a big fan of the communal showers, but by the middle of my freshman year I had no qualms about walking back to my room wearing nothing but a pair of Adidas sandals.
 
no dorming at cc...umm any of you guys know websites where i can get books cheaper, i probably will buy them used as there is no use of buying new, only going to keep it for literally 4-6 months at the most anyways.
 
please don't build up/over hype college to be what hollywood makes it out to be. Chances are it will be cool and everything, but if you expect it to be some amazing 24/7 party, you will be sorely mistaken.

I also tend to notice that people a few years out of college seem to exaggerate how 'awesome' the experience is. But in any case, CC wont be that much different from high school, wait till you get to a big univ.
 
i start cal poly San Luis Obispo on the 17th i think, of september. and from what i hear, the showers are in stalls, not a big open area. that sucks that showers at some places are like the showers in jail. anyways, im rooming with a friend of mine, im pretty sure. its gonna be awesome cuz i already know people there and stuff.

but like ric1287 said, CC is just like high school from what i hear, just on a bigger scale with more people. a full load at saddleback CC by me is 12 units, whereas 12 units is minimum at cal poly. so things are more laid back it seems
 
Originally posted by: compguy786
no dorming at cc...umm any of you guys know websites where i can get books cheaper, i probably will buy them used as there is no use of buying new, only going to keep it for literally 4-6 months at the most anyways.
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I usually got to Amazon. Beware the super saver shipping though, as the seller will use Media Mail, which is a little bit quicker than sending the book on a round trip to Neptune first. I think Half.com is another place to check for books.

Make sure you get the right book - there can be lots of editions of the book, and not just 1st, 2nd, like that, but also International editions. Someone in one of my classes had the international version; everyone else had English units, but his book was all Metric. Search for the ISBN number at Amazon, if you've got that information available to you.


Originally posted by: ric1287
please don't build up/over hype college to be what hollywood makes it out to be. Chances are it will be cool and everything, but if you expect it to be some amazing 24/7 party, you will be sorely mistaken.

I also tend to notice that people a few years out of college seem to exaggerate how 'awesome' the experience is. But in any case, CC wont be that much different from high school, wait till you get to a big univ.
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And if you do the amazing 24/7 party thing, your grades will do the amazing 1.0 GPA thing.

Dorms - it varies from person to person. I hated them. I only had to spend one semester in a dorm, a freshman dorm (I started at a university when I was 23). God damn idiots never know how or when to shut the hell up. Late night wrestling matches or soccer games, and never-ending loud music. An on-campus apartment was a little bit better, and this semester I'm moving to an off-campus apartment in a quiet residential neighborhood. The building is on the side of a small general store, so I don't really have any neighbors to worry about. I am really looking forward to finally having a quiet place to myself.
Best few days of college were during Spring Break. The campus was almost completely empty. It was quiet. I did not speak a word to anyone, or see another person, for two entire days. Wonderful, peaceful, calm time.
 
Without the Dorming aspect college really is just like high school, you go to class, do your shit, go home. I buy my books on Amazon because its really convenient. If you HAVE to get the cheapest, check www.addall.com .
 
half.com or your choice of online used outlets is your friend for both buying and selling books.

go to your first class meetings(monday/tuesday) and pick up the syllabus, generally the required texts also have their ISBN numbers listed on them. search for your books by ISBN to ensure you get the right book.

if you are a good boy and collect all your syllibi and get on it by ordering tuesday afternoon/night as soon as you get home, chances are you will receive the books even using media mail well before the books are absolutely required. plus you pay no tax by ordering online. remember that used books are great, especially if the 'experienced' books have the answers or helpful notes in them, possibly from other college/instructors that may supplement your studies.

since you are commuting and going to a community college, it is basically high school part 2. dont skip classes and dont get academically lazy though since you said you want to transfer, keep in mind that admissions boards generally dont see a lot of dedication and potential in someone that went to a CC and pulled a straight 2.0. not knocking the CC route at all, but it is a wonderful way to get on your feet if money, location, or a poor hs academic record is holding you back from getting into a 4 year school.

depending on your schedule you will have to work out the whole point A to point B thing, allocate yourself a lunchtime or study time in between classes if you can, and knowing when to depart in the morning to be on time, your travel time and where to park is a good thing to know as well. generally a smart idea is to park near where your last class is at for the day.
 
IME, my year at community college was not much different than HS. People joke and call the CC here 13th grade. It's not like HS in a lot of ways (less idiots and BS), and the professors are more likely to be less forgiving than your average HS teacher, but the classes I had were all cool (calc, physics, chem) and the instructors were all nice and friends with each other.

If you can get the information for the books you'll need, do it, and use addall.com to find the best places online to buy them. Many of mine usually come from Amazon. I tend to just pay a few bucks extra and get the expedited shipping. I've gotten most books with that shipping from California to nowhere in Michigan in a few days. Even the regular shipping is normally good, but can be bad. I waited like two weeks for the first book I ever ordered online, but the rest were quite quick. I found books at CC to be just as expensive as university, but at CC I didn't have the book information available to me. At univ, everything is online, so it just reads my schedule and gives me what books I need, the ISBN, bookstore prices, and if it is required or not. See if you can get this information, as you can pay as little as $100/semester online for all the books you need versus god knows how much at the bookstore.


In short, don't be nervous or expect it to be all that different. Just enjoy it, do well, and be open to meeting others. I met a few people at CC who were cool and still talk to them today, 4 years later.

As far as the "dorm experience" at university, I'm not sure I agree with it being a necessity and best times ever like many say it is. Like the other person said, the dorms are often filled with loud idiots, people who play Wow or CS constantly, and people who think everyone wants to hear their ***** emo, boombastic rap, or nu-metal blasting all day. The freshman dorms are especially bad. I'm not sure if I acted like that back then... sure hope not.
 
Expect at least an hour's worth of homework on day 1, per class. Actually... expect that everyday.

The first day in most short classes will involve the professor/instructor giving their syllabus, going over it, and often cutting class short. The first day in long classes and you can expect most instructors to spend 5 minutes with the syllabus and dive right in for a full day of learning. It all varies, though.

Be prepared to take notes. Lots of notes. Take notes on things you wouldn't expect to need notes on.

Find where your rooms are ASAP so you aren't the dork that gets up and leaves after not hearing their name during role call or finding out they are in the wrong classroom.
 
The important thing to remember at CPCC is that 3 blocks down Elizabeth is the hospital - because if you do all the stoopid sheet I did at college you'll be on a first name basis with them . . . 🙂

And if you can't rent your textbooks, buy used ones. There may be a few books that you will want to keep depending on what you think your major will be - it looks like some type of engineering . . .

And I think in the UNC system they will accept hours but not your GPA from NC community colleges. That helps with all the 'general college' credits that you may want to transfer in the system (but don't really give a crap about - like geology or sociology or French impressionists of the 18th century). That doesn't mean you should be a slacker, though, so go to every class prepared.

And there used to be some really nice places to eat/drink/meet people on down 7th street . . .
 
International Editions are your friends if you want cheap...Try and get the UK version if possible, my college lists all the books required on class on line, so I have bought all my books already online. addall.com as mentioned by someone else is a good place to search for books.
 
you can buy from ebay, half.com, alibris.com, and other places. i forgot..i usually remember when i need books. i think addall.com compares books from a few different sites. don't be afraid to buy international edition textbooks. you get the same book with a different cover and paperback (instead of hardcover) for less than half the cost.

i went straight to university after high school but i have taken a few courses at CC's during high school and the summers i was in college. to me (and some friends that attend CCs) it feels like a second high school in many ways. don't expect anything too different. and idk if your high school was a smaller one where people immediately knew who were the incoming freshmen but in college no one really knows unless they ask cause even at the university level you'll see 4th years in classes 1st years take cause they forgot to take a GE or switched majors so it's not like they know you're a 1st year just by your courses.

don't worry about it. if most of the people you know aren't going to your CC, then take this as a new beginning. just enjoy it and get out
 
Like others have said, the first class will probably just be going over the syllabus.

Be ready to take tons of notes. I found that, unlike my HS teachers, college professors waste little time by going over unimportant things. I'd recommend creating your own version of shorthand so you can keep up with what the professor says.

Always show up to class prepared.

Lastly, in case you haven't realized this already, it is possible to ask stupid questions. I've had a couple classmates who raise their hand and speak for a few minutes, during which time they will contribute literally nothing to the discussion. Please please please do not be one of these people, as you just wind up wasting time and annoying everyone.
 
thanks alot for all your input guys, ive learned alot from you guys. do collegest require students to bring laptops to classes ? and are they more helpful than being a distraction ?
thanks guys !
 
Originally posted by: compguy786
do you guys advise to buy books after the first day, or before
i might add/drop some classes as well
Click to expand...

Wait on the books. Buy it near the middle/end of the first week. I sometimes wait until the second/third week now cause I don't want to spend the rip-off prices, and some books are barely used. Oh, and if you do buy them early, for the love of god, DO NOT REMOVE THE SHRINKWRAP. My first year, I let my $500 worth of books sit in plastic for a week until I actually had to use them. Had a friend who opened hers early, and almost couldn't return them when there was a mistake found (got store credit).

Have fun... I'm checking out after this year.
 
Originally posted by: compguy786
thanks alot for all your input guys, ive learned alot from you guys. do collegest require students to bring laptops to classes ? and are they more helpful than being a distraction ?
thanks guys !
Click to expand...
It depends on the teacher. Some don't allow laptops, and I've yet to be in a class which required one, either at a community college or university.

I only used my laptop in two classes - chemistry and world history. Especially in the history class, there was a lot of information presented, and I just couldn't keep up with it all by writing, so I brought my laptop and typed notes.

Just don't do anything stupid like open an IM window, or have anything else running. Just keep Word or Powerpoint open for notes. Sometimes professors like to take a stroll around to ensure that you're not screwing around.
And disable your startup sounds, and mute the volume. It's a bit distracting to have the Windows startup sound blast through your laptop speakers when you turn it on during class. 🙂
 
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