Freshman orientation at the University of Texas at Austin is always a bigger occasion than the unwitting soon-to-be college students expect it to be. If you’re planning on spending these three days in the Texas summer with at least a hundred other people who also have no idea what they’re doing, you’ll need all the advice you can get. But do not fear– a 2017 Summer Orientation Survivor is here to help with 10 things you’ll want to know at University Of Texas at Austin orientation.
And by “things” I mean,
– A water bottle. I know they send you like 30530294543 emails and letters before orientation telling you to bring a water bottle. Do not ignore them. Everyone has a water bottle there, and you will need it. It’s super hot and humid and gross all the time.
– Comfortable shoes. UT is a gigantic campus and even if you know your major’s building is right by Jester (the dorms everyone has to stay at) you still have to walk far for a lot of mandatory events.
– Whether or not you need an umbrella depends on how much you care for a few minutes of rain. If you do, then bring it, because sometimes it will be pouring for one minute and then stop for the rest of the day but you just so happen to be outside for that one glorious minute.
The dorms you have to stay in are Jester West. They assign you a room and a roommate at random (however, they do tend to put you with someone of the same major), so some rooms have a shared bathroom with the room next to them, and some have to use community bath. Be prepared for both, and bring shower shoes, because foot fungus is gross. Expect to want to shower every day because you WILL get sweaty, especially if you are not used to a lot of humidity.
Registration for this semester is the easiest thing in the world– primarily because they already lock in two classes for you (FIGs, they are wonderful, look them up, you will most likely be forced to take one anyway) and they recommend you only take two other ones. Among those two, you have to take a UGS course. So really, you have one-and-a-half decisions to make about your classes, and you meet with an OA to talk about it before ever going to meet with your advisor. They prepare you so hard for classes, don’t freak out about it. They give you the times for meeting your advisors at your college meeting on day 1.
The orientation emails and guides you get merely suggest you bring a laptop. Here, however, I am telling you that you should definitely bring one. You’re going to need one for college eventually, so I would suggest saving up to have one by orientation if you don’t already have one, because it makes WAY registration easier. Without one, you would have to use a desktop laptop from your college, and sometimes the process of getting and logging in to one could take time away from your registration time (which you should not waste a single second of)! Crucial tip for University Of Texas at Austin orientation.
After you meet with your advisors, you go either back to your room, or to the lobby of jester where there are OAs helping to choose classes. It is recommend you choose at least 10 different UGS courses because those are required and go out fast. These courses tend to be niche interests, and it’s highly unlikely that more than one will really stick out to you. Looking up every single professor on rate my professor and other similar websites is the next category you should prioritize your choices by.
Before orientation, I had set up an extra email just for giving out to organizations. You don’t have to do this, but it is super useful considering that there a lot of fairs, and HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of clubs. If you sign up to the email they will let you know about their first free classes/meetings which are always non-committal. There’s something for everyone. i mean, lock-picking club? (Also, our quidditch team is insanely good but apparently hard to get into.)
Emails are good, and you can unsubscribe at any time. However, DON’T GIVE OUT YOUR PHONE NUMBER unless you are 100% sure you want to be in that club, because if they ask for it they WILL personally text you later and ask you things. You can always ignore the texts, of course, but the less you hurt the feelings of whoever is trying to reach out to you and the less you make yourself feel annoyed or embarrassed freshman year (which you will most definitely feel numerous times) the better.
They offer you a MILLION free things throughout this– not just the organizations and clubs (hint: if you see something you want, usually you listen to their spiel and then they’ll tell you to take anything afterwards) but also randomly throughout the day there will be OAs in the lobby room of Jester with a bunch of free granola bars/doughnuts/pizza or something. You’re going to be a broke college student and you will want all the free food and other things you can get. You should do this beyond University Of Texas at Austin orientation.
8. Don’t feel ashamed about skipping or leaving the “party” early.
They throw a party on the last night. If you stay on the second floor in room 51 like I did, I hope you like the sound of people wilding at night, because unfortunately your room is the closest to it!
There will be many parties and events in college that you will not want to attend, or will want to leave early, so you might as well get used to that feeling now. Consider this a practice run. Go out and get the free things, maybe walk in for a few minutes, and then go to sleep. At this point you are definitely exhausted and you have to wake up early again. If there’s some people you’re afraid you’ll lose contact with, hang out and get their info, but otherwise? I swear when I walked in they were playing Party Rock Anthem, so do with that information what you will.
9. Everyone is just as nervous as you are, so don’t be afraid to speak up.
There’s always going to be those few people that already have friends, but overall, this is the very start of college, and college is about meeting new people. Don’t be afraid to join in random conversations. I once made a friend because I pushed the close elevator door button and he said, “Do you think those actually work?” and I said, “No, because of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990″ and then we carried a very long conversation all the way back to our dorm and exchanged numbers. The easiest place to make friends is definitely with your wing, but as long as you say words, you can find a new friend anywhere.
10. You’re in it now, so you might as well be all the way in it and learn all our chants and songs.
At orientation, I learned that UT is such a prideful school that I honestly wondered if any other colleges have any pride at all. At one point they make you “hold up your horns” and sing “the eyes of texas”, a creepy song which you might as well embrace because otherwise you will get sick of hearing it. It might feel kind of like you’re a part of a cult when you’re doing it, but it’s okay, because it’s a cool cult that gets you a degree. Have fun with University Of Texas at Austin orientation because you are now a part of this forever, congratulations.
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