Freshman Hacks
These hacks have been provided by first generation students in the 2017 Freshman Innovation Groups (FIGs).
Aggie Experience
Liberal Arts majors bring the creativity and thought-provoking aspects to this campus. Liberal Arts is composed of majors that have helped shape the mindsets and policies of this country through critical thinking and communication. You will be able to gain first-hand experience through the lens of professors whose research has brought great change to this campus and the world.
I would recommend to any incoming freshman, to get involved! You could join an organization because there are hundreds of them available to students on campus. Additionally, I would also suggest to hang out with the people you went to fish camp with and get to know them, college is about making connections. Finally, don’t be afraid to talk to the people that are in class with you, they can make great resources!
Absolutely! Texas A&M University is filled with a myriad of traditions that will stay with some of its students for a lifetime! Some of which include: Silver Taps, Muster, Midnight Yell, and of course Aggie Football Games.
The traditions of Texas A&M University are an integral part of the Aggie culture. The traditions promote students to be respectful of the school, participate in school activities, and embrace the Aggie Spirit overall. There are many different traditions that take place on this school’s campus, but the one you will most likely encounter first is “Howdy”. While it may be hard getting use to at first, you soon will come to love the welcoming nature of the greeting, no matter how strange you may think it is. To find out more about the many traditions of A&M, check out the Aggie Traditions website.
As hard as it is to hear, this answer depends on the person reading it. Everyone is different and adjusts to new situations differently. If you know you aren’t a person who is comfortable living in a new place by yourself then living on campus is worth it. It is important to get accustomed with where you’re living for the next four years. Living on campus allowed me to get comfortable with the all the different shortcuts around and with the campus in general. It is very important to be comfortable with where you are living especially freshman year. Being alone in a new setting with new surroundings can be difficult and may cause a lot of anxiety so it is very important to make the transition as relaxed as possible. If you are someone who can adapt to new surroundings than living on campus is not a big deal. There are buses that run around campus to help people who live off campus navigate their classes. Texas A&M has many resources to help make the transition from high school senior to college freshman easier for everyone.
Achieving Academic Success
Yes! There are many resources that provide free tutoring for selected courses and majors. For example, Study Hub is an Academic Success Center tool where students can access different hours and days where students—who major or have passed a certain course—provide assistance to those who need it.
Evans Library and Evans Annex are both great places to study. Within the library, every floor you move up, the quieter it gets. This is really good for students who don’t like outside noise interfering with their studies. At the Annex, students are able to eat, talk, book study rooms, and utilize the Open Access Lab to complete assignments.
Texas A&M has a writing center where you make an appointment and there will be someone who is qualified there to help you with any writing questions you may have. They will not write the essay for you, but they will help you get started, fix mistakes, or even finalize a resume. Their website is located at.
Time management is the most important thing. It helps to get a planner and fill it with all the assignments you have due for the entire semester so that you could have everything in one place. If a professor offers extra credit, take it because it’s rare that they do that. Go to office hours and tutoring if you find yourself struggling in a class. Keep up with your schoolwork and try not to procrastinate too much. Get enough sleep! Most importantly, try your best and don’t let a low grade or failed exam get to you because it isn’t the end of the world it just means you have to try a bit harder next time.
Time management is so important in order to be successful in college. The workload for each class is much heavier than what you were used to in high school, so it is vital that you manage your time well. You want to find a happy medium between your class work, social life, and job (if that applies to you).
First, you should definitely go see your professor or your TA during their office hours. The professors at A&M truly want to see you succeed, so they can give you really good advice on ways to do well in their class. Also, the Student Success Center is a great resource to use. They offer free tutoring, so they can be a lot of help to you too. They are located on the 9thfloor of Rudder tower, and here is the link to their website.
Texas A&M offers both free tutoring and free academic coaching for current students. These resources are only available for certain classes; you can check the Student Success Center to see if you qualify!
Yes. You are paying a lot of money to be here and if you get to the end of the semester and panic about your grade it’s too late. Study, study, study!
Absolutely. There are so many free resources around campus to help you succeed. One major thing that helped me was the Academic Success Center. You can make an appointment easily and they will help teach you note taking skills and ways to organize your time in a stress-free way. In my opinion it’s the best way to get general advice about specific things you’re worried about.
During your New Student Conference, you should be introduced to your Academic Advisor. Your Academic Advisor provides the specific information you need for your major. They can help you pick out the needed courses to obtain your degree. To find your Academic Advisor go to your department building or access the website.
Yep. The best thing about the FIG program can’t be narrowed down to one thing. First and foremost, the FIG program is a scholarship program. You are given $500 a semester to pay for the books needed for your classes which helps ease the financial burden college can put on us sometimes. The FIG program also already puts you in classes that will fill your degree plan, but is only filled with your FIG classmates. Classes with only your FIG students is helpful in the transition between high school and college, the small atmosphere allows you to become more comfortable in a college setting. One of the best things the FIG program has to offer is an easy way to make new friends. You are with a specific group of people for the entire freshman year and this allows you to get to know your classmates and connect with them to make the college experience more bearable.
Yes. There are hundreds of people on campus who juggle school and a social life. There are organizations at A&M that know this is a problem for students and want to help you succeed, most of them even have homework points to make sure you don’t get behind. The main problem people face is time management. If you need help with time management you can visit the Success Center at A&M to get a head start and getting a planner is needed to organize your life. It can be difficult at times and that’s why it is important to have your priorities straighten as well because college is about getting a good education first.
There is not a 24 hour coffee shop but there is a place called Sweet Eugene’s off campus that is open till 12am Monday- Friday and 1am on the weekend. There are a few libraries open all night. Evans annex is open all night and has the Aggie express right outside that is open till 3am in which you can buy bottled coffee or energy drinks.
Always keep your grades as a priority, if you worked a job in high school then I would suggest working the same number of hours a week or less. It is important not to overwork yourself because you need time and energy to study. This isn’t high school anymore, you need to study more for each class because you will not be tested on just information given in class. A job can help if you are someone who needs a strict schedule in order to be efficient. If a job seems to be taking too much time away from your studying then ask for a decrease in hours. Your boss isn’t there to hurt you and will understand that grades come first.
It is difficult to adjust to a new lifestyle and find your best studying techniques. College classes aren't easy and sometimes you will not do as amazing as you imagined. It is not the end of the world if this happens! You're not the only one struggling and it is normal to do bad occasionally. Give yourself a break and do better next time. Don’t let one failure set you back from future successes.
I realized that groupme is the easiest way to see if other people want to study together, also labs and SI sessions allow students to work together especially for classes that have a lot of students.
The most important quality to have is time management. Time management extends to every aspect of college life and allows for better grades as well as a healthy, less stressful life if done well.
One of the first questions that I had was what exactly my major was. On the first few days of the fall semester everyone would usually introduce themselves and what their major was. However, It was a bit different for me. My major is under university studies and Its called Society, Ethics, and Law (S.E.A.L) but when I would say that people didn't really know what that was. So for a good couple days I wasn't even sure what my major was. The way I found this out was by looking on my howdy portal (howdy.tamu.edu) and looking at my transcript. After I knew that the program was under university studies that way I could better explain what it was.
No, they're human beings just like us. Email them in a professional manner or just approach them after class and ask them whatever.