Hello my dears,

We’ve watched you walking down West 4^th St, pretending to remain calm as your parents take hundreds of photos behind you, pointing to the enormous library above you. We know that, underneath your confident high school senior selves, you’re nervous. You may have been dumped here after a brief tryst with the Ivies and aren’t sure what to do, or you’ve finally made it here after watching Gossip Girl Season 3 over and over to make sure you know exactly where “NYU Territory” is.

Let NYU Local be the first to say welcome to New York, the concrete jungle where dreams are made of. Let us also be the first to say you are going to hate that song by the end of Welcome Week, if you haven’t already.

While your new lives are still four months away, the outgoing freshmen have a few lessons that they would like to share with you before you head out to orientation in the coming months.

Dorms:

Enjoy that single – I mean your bedroom- while it lasts, because come September you’re gonna be awfully close to strangers. While this can be the best experience (I made my first, and one of my best, friends by being her roommate) be prepared to make compromises. Go into your dorm with an open mind, and learn to pick your battles. Being considerate is a must, because you aren’t going to just be living by yourself – but with another person who also wants to live within his/her own comfort zones. If all else fails, don’t worry; if you have a problem, just talk to an authority.

“Make friends with the Residence Hall Director(s) and let them know the situation.  They will help you out and are overall, amazing people!” – via Sharmilla and Chris 

“Don’t room with a high school classmate just because you know each other or get along already.”

Classes: While checking out Rate My Professors can be helpful, don’t believe everything you read. Some teachers can be rated as “hard,” but maybe those voters just didn’t go to any office hours. Some teachers are rated as “mean,” but maybe those voters just didn’t like their teaching style – or understand their biting sense of humor. Talk to your advisor when you register for classes; advisors usually know the professors personally, and can give you a lot of realistic and helpful advice about which Intro and MAP courses will be the most beneficial.

“I’d recommend taking Intro to Marketing with Professor Hershfield– he’s phenomenal and I love the class (it’s a Stern course but offered for non-Stern students). I’d also definitely recommend Professor Paizis for any introductory economics class; he’s really dedicated, accessible and funny!”

Friends:

If you remain calm and get friendly, you are going to be absolutely fine. You’ll see that there is no limit to the places where you could meet your best friend, future husband/wife, or just someone who will tutor you in Calc next semester. Remember that your roommate, the girl down the hall whose Facebook says “attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,” and the guy with the ironic mustache are all in the same position as you; they don’t know anyone either. It’s not weird to compliment a girl’s cat sweater in the dining hall; she’s likely got an open chair at her table for a nice lad like you. Bam – you’ve made a friend; you’re welcome.

“Make friends with the bartender.”

So smile, my little chickadees, and get ready to live in a world where you will understand all the weird jokes about the L train that you’ve seen on this site.

 [image via]