Advice

Although I am already a Junior here at Baruch College it was just last fall (fall 2009) that I was a freshman. Baruch college was my first college experience, and I have to day that coming from a small private high school it was a big adjustment. Baruch College is HUGE! There are so many people a bunch of different buildings, and it can be a scary place for someone who is just starting out.

Baruch does try to make the orientation process easier. There are a slew of orientations and days where they set you up with your classmates and your blocks and give you all your usernames and passwords, but that does not carry you throughout everyday. If you did not come with friends (which many people do not) it is hard. You need a way to interact and befriend all different people.

There is a freshman seminar, but personally I feel like it is a useless waste of time. It is an outdated system. It has you running around and attending different seminars etc. Which is good but doesn't really help you socially.

I think that setting up a special social networking site or page would be very useful and beneficial. It could be a place where new students meet existing students and get advice and share experiences. It would make the whole process a lit easier feeling like you are going through it with other people not alone. As I will mention in my paper several times, today people feel like social networking is REAL; real communication with people. And it is easy and convenient. It would be easy to get people into it because people are already on these sites and I think that everyone would enjoy feeling like that are a part of something at baruch college, especially incoming freshman.