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SSA Guide for Freshmen

Welcome to Georgia Tech! Here is a collection of vital information, advice, and resources originally compiled to help you navigate your first year.

Courtesy: Will Hawthorne (Edited by the SSA)

Advice

Classes

Your advisors will probably help you set up your fall schedule, so I don't need to tell you what to take.

Since the point of college is supposedly to educate you, I'm going to start with classes. Classes in college are very different from high school. A lot of teachers don't take attendance and don't care if you attend their classes. If they don't care about attendance, you should be scared. Nine times out of ten, this is because they know that you have no chance of passing the class if you don't show up to lecture. I'm being hyperbolic, but you still need to go to these classes.

In general, attendance is important because otherwise you won't even think of the class until the test comes up. You've got to get up and go to the lecture. Take some notes. Then enjoy your day knowing that you weren't a complete sack of shit because you did something productive that day.

Teachers might also hit you with the pop quizzes, weekly quizzes, or weekly homework to make sure that you attend the class. Since you are all good at math, you probably calculated that a single homework or quiz isn't worth a whole lot so skipping just one isn't that big of a deal. That's the dumbass part of your brain talking (mine tends to be very persuasive after I turn my alarm off).

Trust me, you are going to lose points lots of places. Don't give up points for no reason. Since we're all nerds here, I equate it to a video game. It's like letting weak ass grunts beat you up right before you go into a boss battle. It's a stupid idea. You will lose health (points) in the boss battle (test/project) unless you get really lucky, so save it up.

Hopefully you guys have learned how to learn by now. By that, I mean that I hope you have learned how you specifically best learn new concepts. Whether that's reading the textbook, taking notes in lecture, watching videos online, using flashcards, or just paying attention in lecture (most likely a combination of several of them), you need to do a little bit every week, or you're fucked for the test/final. If you haven't learned how to learn yet, try everything and figure it out as quickly as you can.

Football

Lucky for us, students can purchase football tickets for cheap at Tech. Unlucky for us, as I am writing this in the summer of 2018, we are pretty mediocre at football. That's not a good excuse to not attend a few games a year. The big ones are against u(sic)ga, Clemson, FSU, VT, and anyone that is ranked. Night games are especially fun.

If you like football, you should attend all of them. Even if you don't like the offense, they're still pretty fun. They're a lot more fun if you get to know the option offense, so I'd suggest doing that.

Either way, you never know who we are going to beat (but seriously, it's anyone's guess), so make sure you go to the big games. To do that, you may have to get the whole season pass anyways (don't worry, they're pretty cheap).

  • Helluva - cheaper and not too bad. never full. for people not super interested.
  • Swarm - slightly more expensive (pays for itself once you factor in the t-shirt), but this keeps it to people that are genuinely interested.

Basketball & Other Sports

Go to as many games as you can. I don't even like watching basketball, but these games are fun to watch, and they are more fun with more people. Also, go to at least one of each other sport. All other sports are free, so you have nothing to lose.

Meal Plan

Different people have different success with the meal plan. Most everyone I have ever met found the largest meal plan to be a waste of money. The other freshman one (the one that has some meals, and gives you some Buzzfunds and/or dining dollars) is good if you plan on eating a lot of meals at the dining hall.

From 2nd year on, pick the meal plan that would have been best for the year before. I once thought I would eat at the dining hall more one year and completely wasted my money on the social 75 (the smallest meal plan).

Major

If you haven't decided on a major already, know that you need to make progress. You have probably already gone through a bunch of your core classes, and after you are through with those, those classes you are taking will not transfer (for the most part) to other majors.

Major hierarchy: To be honest, there is a major hierarchy, but I'm not going to tell it to you. It's stupid, and talking about it will just make you look like a douche. Don't be a douche, and don't think your major is better than any other.

Traditions

Participate in the traditions. If you act optimistically about it and just dive in, you'll enjoy them. The songs are funny and are the best in the country. Plus, a lot of traditions are only for freshmen, and you'll regret it if you don't do it while you can.

Internships/co-ops

You are probably thinking that you do not know enough for a co-op. That is true, but your GPA is better now than it will probably ever be again. Take advantage of that and apply to a bunch of internships. You probably won't get one, and those that did, applied to dozens. Don't feel bad about not getting one. No one has even a 50% success rate when applying to jobs. Do it anyway though because you might get lucky, and nothing looks better on your future resume than job experience (plus you get paid).

Important for International Students:

If you are an international student, you need to fill paperwork with the OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION (OIE) or you will violate your visa status and get kicked out of the country. CHECK THAT YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO WORK BEFORE STARTING.

Car

Alright, if you want a car on campus, you can have one at Tech. The parking pass is super expensive, but it is worth is if you are used to driving a lot and want to continue to drive. Btw, you can't drive to class. You just can't. There are exceptions, but they aren't worth mentioning.

If you don't think you'll use it that much, or you can't afford it, that's fine. Most people at tech don't have one. There's still busses, Uber, and Lyft. One of the busses even going to a grocery store near campus, so you'll be fine.

CRC (Campus Recreation Center)

Hopefully, you've taken a tour of campus and are somewhat familiar with the CRC. It's really nice compared to other schools and was used for the 1996 Olympics. It's a good place to work out, but it gets busy in the late afternoon as people get out of class.

You need to know about the CRC because you need to exercise some when you start college. I recommend doing some type of exercise to get in the habit of it early. You could even do intramurals or just go play basketball, but do something or you'll realize that you're becoming a lazy bum.

Clubs

You should participate in at least one club. For one, it is something to do that isn't video games or TV. It also looks good on a resume. There are lots of clubs and organizations, so find one that interests you. What they like to see is that you held an important role in the club. They don't care so much about how many you joined.

The best part about being a freshman is that all these groups are recruiting you. Early in the Fall semester, there is usually some sort of club fair. Check them out and join one.

Resources

Textbooks & Scholarly Materials

Tip: never buy textbooks! You'll probably find a copy online for free.

Essay Writing

  • EssayBot - gives you suggestions on how to start your essay.
  • Hemingway App - grades your essay and suggests edits.

Class Registration

  • Course Scheduling:
  • Course Critique - data about grades (categorized by instructor or course).
  • RateMyProfessors - reviews on instructors.
  • Catalog - general info (includes a lot of useful links). I use it to look at course offerings but it’s not up-to-date. For updated info on course offerings, check OSCAR.
    • Core Curriculum - requirements all Georgia Tech students must fulfill (DegreeWorks is more accurate and up-to-date).
  • DegreeWorks - lets you view the courses you’ve taken and the requirements you fulfilled. Its best feature is the “What If” button on the left. It helps you plan what classes to take.
  • ENGL 1101/1102 Descriptions

Services

Important Websites & Portals

Websites

Portals

Final Remarks

There's (almost) a website for each college and major. For example, there's the College of Engineering, the College of Computing, the Physics Department, the Math Department, etc. You might find some useful information if you visit the website of your college/major.

Please learn from my mistakes and have a good time here.
To Hell With Georgia!