By Ben Shestakofsky
College freshmen aren’t exactly known for exercising good judgment. Who’s that passed out drunk on the quad at Spring Fling—before noon? A freshman. Who stayed up half the night watching reality TV with her roommate, then handed her professor an incoherent essay penned under the influence of several cans of Red Bull? That was also a freshman. Whose hallmates thought it would be funny to swipe his towel from the showers so he’d be forced to walk back to his room naked? Well, technically it wasn’t his fault…but it did happen to a freshman.
Don’t want to end up like these unfortunate first-years? We asked undergrads across the country who’ve seen it all to let us in on their worst—and best—freshman year decisions. Read on and learn from their rookie mistakes—unless you don’t mind being known as “that freshman.”
College Freshman Tips from Small Schools
- Brandeis University (1)
- Brandeis University (2)
- Bryn Mawr College (1)
- Bryn Mawr College (2)
- College of the Holy Cross
- Connecticut College
- Davidson College
- Denison University
- Hamilton College
- Middlebury College
- Pitzer College
- Swarthmore College
- University of Richmond
- Vassar College
College Freshman Tips from Medium-Sized Schools
- Boston College
- Columbia University
- Dartmouth College
- Princeton University
- University of Notre Dame
- Villanova University
- Wake Forest University
College Freshman Tips from Large Schools
- Colorado State University
- Florida State University
- New York University
- Penn State University
- Sacramento State University
- University of California – Santa Barbara
- University of California – Santa Cruz (1)
- University of California – Santa Cruz (2)
- University of Delaware
- University of Florida
- University of Georgia
- University of Maryland
- University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
- University of Wisconsin – Madison
- Washington State University
- University of Utah
- University of Vermont (1)
- University of Vermont (2)
- Virginia Tech