Welcome back, Hoyas.

Photos by Kirill Makarenko

As NSO descends upon the Hilltop, the incoming freshmen will no doubt be a little scared, unnerved, or weirded out by some of the newness of college life. Here, we’ve compiled a handy list of some common people and things you’ll encounter during your first week here at Georgetown, and some advice about how to deal with them.

List compiled by Leigh Finnegan and Rob Sapunor, drawings by Kathleen Soriano-Taylor.

As NSO descends upon the Hilltop, the incoming freshmen will no doubt be a little scared, unnerved, or weirded out by some of the newness of college life. Here, we’ve compiled a handy list of some common people and things you’ll encounter during your first week here at Georgetown, and some advice about how to deal with them.

List compiled by Leigh Finnegan and Rob Sapunor, drawings by Kathleen Soriano-Taylor.

We love Juliana Brint’s run-down of New Student Orientation so much that we’ve decided to republish it!

You don’t have to go to every NSO event, but try to attend a few. As you’ll quickly learn, events that are “required” in college aren’t mandatory in any sense of the word. If you need some time to unpack or shop for supplies, don’t worry about opting out of a few NSO programs. That said, NSO generally hosts some useful and entertaining events—and it’s not like there’s anything better to do during your first few days. Even the less-than-stellar events make for good conversation fodder.

Take your GOCard picture beforehand. The line for pictures will be wrapped around Darnall, and you’ll be sweaty and exhausted. You don’t want that vision of yourself plastered on your ID for the next four years.

Don’t worry if you don’t find a BFF the first few weeks. There’s lots of pressure to find your new college buddies right away, but don’t be too upset if it doesn’t immediately happen. Most of the people you end up hanging out with the first few weeks are totally random—either your OA group or your floormates or acquaintances of acquaintances—and there’s no guarantee you’ll have anything in common with them.

Sure, some people stick with their freshman floor friends for all four years, but many don’t. Give it a few weeks before you start stressing—most of the conversations you’ll be having your first few days will be really enthusiastic, but also really superficial.

Read the rest of this entry »

Below, we’re republished last year’s run-down of New Student Orientation and the first few days of college life.

You don’t have to go to every NSO event, but try to attend a few. As you’ll quickly learn, events that are “required” in college aren’t mandatory in any sense of the word. If you need some time to unpack or shop for supplies, don’t worry about opting out of a few NSO programs. That said, NSO generally hosts some useful and entertaining events—and it’s not like there’s anything better to do during your first few days. Even the less-than-stellar events make for good conversation fodder.

Take your GOCard picture before hand: The line for pictures will be wrapped around Darnall, and you’ll be sweaty and exhausted. You don’t want that vision of yourself plastered on your ID for the next four years.

Don’t worry if you don’t find a BFF the first few weeks. There’s lots of pressure to find your new college buddies right away, but don’t be too upset if it doesn’t immediately happen. Most of the people you end up hanging out with the first few weeks are totally random—either your OA group or your floormates or acquaintances of acquaintances—and there’s no guarantee you’ll have anything in common with them.

Sure, some people stick with their freshman floor friends for all four years, but many don’t. Give it a few weeks before you start stressing—most of the conversations you’ll be having your first few days will be really enthusiastic, but also really superficial.

Read the rest of this entry »

Robert Biemesderfer has well-defined rules for NSO-types.

Melissa Miller honed her freshman-impersonation skills.

Read the rest of this entry »

With NSO starting in just a few weeks, you’re probably starting to wonder what exactly the first few days of your collegiate experience will be like. Here are Vox‘s tips to guarantee a stress-free start to your Georgetown career.

You don’t have to go to every NSO event, but try to attend a few. As you’ll quickly learn, events that are “required” in college aren’t mandatory in any sense of the word. If you need some time to unpack or shop for supplies, don’t worry about opting out of a few NSO programs. That said, NSO isn’t as awful as you might expect, and it’s not like there’s really anything better to do during the first few days. And even the less-than-stellar events make for good conversation fodder.

Don’t worry if you don’t find a BFF the first few weeks. There’s lots of pressure to find your new collegiate bosom buddies right away, but don’t be too upset if it doesn’t work out that way for you. Most of the people you end up hanging out with the first few weeks are totally random—either your OA group or your floormates or acquaintances of acquaintances—and there’s no guarantee you’ll have anything in common with them.

Sure, some people stick with their freshman floor friends for all four years, but many don’t. Most of the conversations you’ll be having your first few days will be really enthusiastic but also really superficial (see below). Give it a few weeks before you start stressing.

(Click to enlarge)

More tips after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »