So the time has finally arrived for the freshmen to move in to the dorms. So what now?

First, pray for nice weather for moving in. Rain or blistering heat is never fun when you are constantly moving up and down stairs with heavy loads and your dorm has no A/C. While you are at it, pray that you get a good parking spot and that your Dad doesn’t park in an illegal zone and gets the car full of your stuff towed. Easy $120 for Reynold’s Towing right there.

Second, have one last nice meal with your parents and siblings. Look for Biaggi’s to be handing out flyers and take your parents to one of the best restaurants in Champaign. Biaggi’s is a great place for lunch or dinner and is relatively close to the Six Pack, right down Neil Street.

Third, once you seem to have things organized in your dorm and have met your roommate, get your internet up and running. This may take some time if you need to wait for a technician to help you out or check your system for viruses.

Fourth, do all of the necessary activities. This means go to your initial floor meeting, going to the organized events for freshmen, and going in a huge group with your fellow floor mates to dinner. Get to know these people as soon as you can…you’re going to be sharing very little space with them for 8-9 months.

Fifth, after you feel settled after about a day or so, go get your text books. Hopefully you pre-ordered these and can just pick them up and pay for them. Be ready for the bookstores to be mad houses. I would suggest ordering all of the recommended text books your first semester. Any of the additional study guides and what not that the bookstores will try to sell you, there is about a 5% chance you will use these. After your first semester, you will learn that your professor will tell you exactly what books you will need for the semester and that you can purchase books after classes start. However, it is best just to get everything ahead of time your first semester so that you will not feel rushed and stressed.

Sixth, check out Quad Day. Go with your roommate and walk around the Quad and check out the different booths for the various organizations on campus. However, don’t over-induldge. If you don’t think you will be interested in that club five minutes after you leave their booth, don’t put your email on their sign-up list! Freshmen should be sure to check out the Illini Pride (Orange Krush) booth and perhaps some of the Greek organizations. Girls interested in dancing should check out 3-Spot Dance Troupe.

Seventh, figure out where your classrooms are. Don’t leave just ten minutes on the first day of classes to get from the 6 Pack to the Quad and find your class for the first time! This exercise will also be good to help you judge distance on campus and relative time it will take you to get from Point A to Point B.

Take these bits of advice for what they are worth. These simple ideas should help you in the process of getting used to campus and being a freshmen once again. The first month will be the most stressful month of your college career, so cut out as much stress as you can. However, most importantly, enjoy yourself! The advice I just listed does not include one of the most enjoyable aspects of campus, staying out late with friends partying! Most campus fraternities will be violating the rules of ‘Dry Rush’ and will be having parties open to anyone. Hang out with your friends and take advantage of this opportunity. Just be as safe as you can in the process.

Former Daily Illini columnist and current G2C blogger Kevin Spitz returns with a piece that reflects on opportunities on campus and how to start off strong during that first week. Enjoy!.

From 1st grade on through high school the beginning of the school year brings groans. No one wants to go from summers filled with TV, videogames, trips to the mall, sports outside, and sleeping in to the daily grind of days a week waking up at 6 AM or earlier.

Luckily, when you come to a college campus you’ll find that it mostly combines all the aforementioned wonderful parts of summer. Suffice to say there is no sadness when the time comes to return to campus.

The start of the school year is a chance for people to rekindle friendships, or make new friends. Resume work on a project, or find a new club to join. The beginning of the year is a chance to do whatever it is you want to do and there is no more free and fun time than August at U of I.

The beginning of the school year starts with quad day. At quad day most of Illinois’ 1,200+ registered student organizations are set up trying to advertise for new members. Some categories of organizations include the political groups, improv groups, acapella groups, club sports, religious groups, and greek living.

The trap that most students fall into is that they sign up for tons of clubs because everyone is asking them to, and when it comes down to it, you may be interested in just one or two. A big piece of advice is this, it is a lot more rewarding to be very involved in one or two groups than to be a member and not actually do anything in nine or ten groups.

When all is said and done, don’t feel too discouraged if you didn’t find your true calling at quad day. There are still tons of other ways to get involved and enjoy your time on campus. Just make sure to not waste it!

Take it from someone writing this in a cubicle three months after graduation. College goes by mighty fast, and from what I see there will not be a more fun and free time than your college years.

So with that said here are 2 tips for incoming freshmen during their welcome week:

1) Make as many friends with the people you live around as possible. Take the initiative, invite them to play video games, go down to the dining halls, or start an impromptu softball game. If you make friends with the people on your floor I guarantee crazy fun times the rest of the year.

2) Don’t try and remember everyone’s name right away. Everyone says they are “terrible” at remembering names which leads me to believe everyone is about the same at it. The tricks I have used for remembering names include: actually paying attention when the person says their name to me, trying to say their name wrong back to them and getting it repeated to me, repeating their name in my head a couple times. But most of the time, just like everyone else, I’ll just use pronouns until I’m sure I have the name down.

3) Have fun! For freshmen, this is the most exciting time of your life. You will be in a totally new place, meeting new people, living on your own. Enjoy every minute of it.

Goodluck!

During the last week of every semester, students and professors must go through the pain of filling out the ICES forms. What is an ICES form? It’s a standardized teacher evaluation that is distributed by the Center for Teaching Excellence that every professor/TA is supposed to hand out before final exams. While the questions are predominantly standardized, each department and professor can elect to have certain questions asked in regards to their performance, attitude, ability, etc. In having the students fill out the forms, each department can gain a different perspective in evaluating their talent.

However, most students are not aware that the ICES forms can benefit them directly. By accessing the Illinois Student Senate page on the UIUC network, students can directly access the ICES results and gain beneficial insight on their current or potential professor or TA’s personality and ability. While a handful of students in each class may have distorted views on the particular professor or teaching assistant, the evaluations should generally reflect the average sentiment of the class. Check out the site and get familiar with it. You may have already chosen your classes for the Fall, but the site can be very useful in the future, whether you are looking for potential Spring courses when you register in November or you may need to change teaching assistants this upcoming semester.

With move-in less than a month away, it’s time for students to start thinking about life in the dorms. So, in this entry of the G2C Blog, we will be looking at the University Dining meal plans.

You may have already chosen your meal plan for the first semester without having much of a clue to how many meals you will eat a week and how many extra points you will use at Late Nite/A La Carte (e-Chomps, Busey Beanery, ISR Chomps, and Penn Station). But no need to fear, you can still change your meal plan up until a month after classes begin (September 24th deadline to change your meal plan). Any changes you make will reflect the next week and your student bill will be pro-rated for the change.

University Housing Dining has been pro-active in recent years in meeting the demands of students. The Dining Services have vastly expanded the menus of the A La Carte locations and now let you track how many meals and points you have remaining on your balance for a particular week. This all can be found at the University Housing Dining Services website.

On the site, you will see that there are four options with a hybrid of Classic Meals and Café Credits. GuidetoCampus strongly encourages choosing one the mixed plans rather than going with all Classic Meals. The Café Credits offer you flexibility; whether that be flexibility with your time, with your appetite, or flexibility with your friends’ plans. Say you have to miss dinner because you have a class or a meeting, well you can get over to e-Chomps at 9 o’clock or whenever you get back and still have a filling dinner. The same goes for if you do not care for the fish dinner that Friday night and are sick of salad and/or cereal. The Café Credits let you head over to the A La Carte location and get something that sounds a little more appetizing. Not to mention the Café Credits will buy you assorted drinks (no booze), cereal, breakfast foods, and other items to take keep in your room.

So now that I’ve convinced you to get Classic Meals and Café Credits, what plan should you pick? Well, that’s a bit more difficult to say. If you plan to eat every meal of every day (breakfast-lunch-dinner), well, you are in the minority and should just get the 20 Classic Meals and maybe buy some extra credits. Otherwise, try choosing one of the plans with 10 Classic Meals and some more Café Credits. The Credits can always be used towards an extra meal (breakfast uses 475 credits, lunch uses 695 credits, and dinner uses 995). You can also have extra credits roll over if you do not use them up for a particular week. However, you can never have a balance of credits totaling more than twice your weekly allotment. You can also not transfer credits to a friend, but you CAN buy them food while you are there. Finally, don’t be worried if it looks like 10 or 12 Classic meals won’t suffice. Just remember that you will not make it to every meal and there are plenty of times that you will dine out our order food with friends. Remember, you have a month to figure out what works best for you!

All in all, choose a meal plan that combines both the Classic Meals and the Café Credits. Try out one of these plans during your allotted one month and see what fits your style. Don’t be afraid, you can always change back before September 24th.

The Gents at CadaverBlender.com and G2C have come together to bring you the second installment of our collaborative effort: The Best of UIUC. This time we enlighten you on the best party themes for your Saturday night parties.

Greg at CadaverBlender.com Top Three Party Themes

3. Halloween
While technically note a theme, this holiday produces some of the best parties of the year. There is a lot of talk in the Big Ten about Wisconsin’s Halloween Party, but don’t let the hype fool you. It’s hard not to have a crazy time during Halloween festivities and Illinois does it as good as anyone. If Halloween was a theme party though, it would definitely be “It doesn’t matter what costume I’m wearing its going to be slutty!” Sure you get the traditional slutty nurse, but it doesn’t stop there. Hell some girls just forgo the costume all together and dress as a slut. Or as they do every other night of the year.

2. 80s Party
Not that I don’t wear acid washed jeans and tie dye shirts on a regular basis already, but its nice not feeling like an outcast at the 80s party. For as much fun as it is to dress so ridiculous the best part of the 80s party is undoubtedly the music. 80s music always get a raw deal, but its the main attraction at this party. There’s no need to feel embarassed singing full throat “Sister Christian, oh the time has come…” because everybody in attendance will be doing the same.

1. Theme-less
I never need a special occassion or crazy theme to have a good time. There’s no need for me to put on crazy clothes or assume a special attitude to get drunk. Nope, all I need is beer. And lots of it. A cheap keg would do the trick.

Rick at GuidetoCampus Top Three Themes

3. Traffic Light Party
One of the more creative and practical party themes, the traffic light party features three different color cups for you to choose from. And as you could probably guess, green means go (‘I am single and am looking for a good time’), yellow means caution (‘I’m either in a complicated relationship or tonight is just not the night’), and red means stop (‘I’m taken and my boyfriend is here to punch you in the face if you talk to me’). So as you can tell, this party eliminates some of the akwardness of hitting on someone the whole night, only to find out they had a boyfriend/girlfriend. However, all of the ugly people usually have the green cups…

2. Angels and Devils
You get the both of best worlds in this one. You can either have that nice girl next door dress up in a cute looking angel outfit or that ‘naughty’ girl in the devil costume. Take your pick! Also, is there anything that looks better than a 225 lb. guy in a tight white undershirt with wings and a halo? I don’t think so.

3. Tubthumper
Deep down everyone loves Chumbawamba’s 1997 ‘smash hit’ Tubthumping. So for this party, everyone takes a whisky drink, a vodka drink, a lager drink, and finally a cider drink and then pisses the night away! Just hopefully not in your bed…
The only music-themed party that could top it would be a party based on OMC’s ‘How Bizzare’.

Recent graduate and former Daily Illini columnist Kevin Spitz makes another entry on the G2C Blog with his thoughts on Going Greek. Whether or not to join a fraternity/sorority during your time in college is a decision that is difficult to make before you get on campus. While you may have some preconceived notions about Greek houses, whether good or bad, Kevin and G2C urge you to keep an open mind. Take a look at some things to consider.

Likely you have an idea in your head of what your college experience will be like early on. For some of you it involves meeting new friends, for others learning new subjects, and for others it involves the type of freedom that is so often taken advantage of on a college campus.

In addition, some students plan before they step on a college campus that they will join the University of Illinois greek system. A lot of different fraternities advertise in a lot of different ways even before you get on campus. For those students who already know exactly what they want to do, what house they want to join, and all the interesting activities that are in store for them, this column really isn’t designed for you. There certainly isn’t anything wrong with taking that path (though I would suggest having a little more open mind and checking out more than one house), but for other students joining a fraternity is a very important decision and not one that people are committed to right away.

I am a big proponent of taking advantage of every opportunity presented to you at all times. Very seldom do I regret decisions I have made. I also guarantee I have more regrets for not having acted in a situation than by taking the wrong path. So when I was asked to join a fraternity that seemed like the right fit for me it came down to that decision, and as usual I jumped in.

Before going on I’d like to clarify that I am talking about joining a social fraternity that fits under the Interfraternity Council. I do not speak about fraternities in the other councils because I lack the information to do them justice. But the campus fraternities that people are most familair with (Pikes, ACACIA, AEPi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Pi Kappa Phi, Etc. are all members of IFC).

So, with that disclaimer out of the way it’s hard to speak on behalf of all fraternities but here is what I know applies to most of them:
1) Whether you choose to partake or not alcohol will be prevelant.
2) Though you will probably get along well with almost all of them and make some extremely close friendships, there will be some brothers that you end up disliking.
3) Whether covert or overt, there will be some type of hazing involved.
These three may be taken positively or negatively, but are true of almost all fraternities on campus.

Also, if you find a good fit for yourself, I guarantee that you will have some of the most fun, interesting experiences of your life by joining a fraternity. So despite certain highs and certain lows in my experience I could not be happier that I participated in a fraternity.

A couple of words of wisdom for those looking to join.

Find a fraternity that fits you: Regardless of which one you join, do not join one because that’s the type of person you’d like to become, that’s the type of person you look up to, etc. You need to find a fraternity where you fit in as a complete person or you very likely will end up having a terrible experience.

You only get as much as you put in: You can join a fraternity, put in the bare minimum, pay your dues, and remain in good standing and say you were part of a fraternity, but really try and get involved in it and put effort into it. By doing so you make yourself more attractive as a job candidate, find that you had a positive experience, and find that you created a positive contribution.

Be true to yourself and think as an individual: This might be a little preachy on my behalf, but in any group setting a group sometimes swallows up the individual. Just because you are in a group with your frat brothers doesn’t give you an excuse to be a complete jack ass to everyone else. In addition, if you are pledging a fraternity and they make you do something that you are uncomfortable with you have to be true to yourself. If you won’t be able to stomach yourself after you’ve done this action then this isn’t the fraternity for you to join.

Good luck to everyone who chooses to go greek, it can truly be a life defining experience.

Guest contributor and soon-to-be Sophomore in Engineering, Kaitlin Clapper, is back and ready to share her thoughts on what incoming freshmen should bring to their dorm room in the Fall. Check out the University Housing website for supplemental info.

Freshmen Essentials

Many freshmen come into their first year on campus unprepared for many adventures that await them, so here are a few lists of necessary, extra, and fun items you should consider bringing to campus!

Necessary Items (not in any order of importance):
• Box fan (this will be a life saver if your dorm is not air conditioned!)
• Refrigerator and microwave (can be bought through school as a package. Check on the website!)
• TV and DVD player
• Carpet or rug for uncarpeted dorm rooms. This can also be ordered.
• Curtains for LAR residents
• Shelves for the closets or some sort of organizer for closets
• Alarm clock (maybe several if you know you sleep through them easily)
• QUARTERS- bring a lot for laundry! (Also, there is no quarter machine in PAR). Washers are typically $1.00 and dryers start at $0.75/per cycle.
• Printer with extra ink and paper
• Duffel bag for weekend trips home or other campuses
• Snacks- the dining halls will not ALWAYS be open
• Clip-on reading light for your bed
• Plates, cups, bowls, spoons, etc.
• First-aid kit
• Medicine (Nyquil works wonders!)
• Door stopper
• Umbrella
• Storage containers (winter clothes or other items can be stored in the top of your closet)
• Batteries of all sizes for calculator or anything else
• Power strip to plug everything in!
• A dressy outfit- whether you plan on it or not, you will need one for a formal or dance!

Extra items:
• Bike (and bike lock) or skates- sometimes this is better than taking the buses
• Extra sheets for bed
• Laptop lock so you can leave your laptop in public places for short amounts of time if necessary
• Broom/dustpan or vacuum
• Sleeping bag for guests if you have room to store it
• Rain boots
• Large coat/long underwear for the winter- it gets VERY cold!!!
• Post-It notes
• I-Pod (for fun and to drown out loud noises while studying)
• Backrest/pillow for your bed
• Dry erase board with cork board for personal use (reminders and such)

Fun:
• Decorations for you room- coordinate with your roommate(s)
• Pictures of your friends from home
• Books, movies, video games (personal DVD player in case movie taste clashes with roommate’s)
• Dry erase board with inexpensive markers to hang on the outside of your dorm room door (people like to leave messages but also tend to steal markers)
• Duck tape or sticky tack to hang decorations on the walls

**Always talk to your roommate(s) about what each of you is bringing, so you do not have multiple items in your room that you do not need multiples of!!!

I’m proud to announce the first of many summer joint entries between yours truly at GuidetoCampus and our friends at CadaverBlender.com. The guys at CB are U of I grads living across the country and have been featured on sites such as Deadspin and SI.com’s Extra Mustard.

Every few days we will switch off posting on each other’s site and enlighten and entertain our audiences on highly debatable college topics. While these entries are meant more for their entertainment value than educational (which G2C will continue to post in the coming week), you younger students can get a taste for what is to come in the Fall. Check out our first collaberation featuring a debate on the Best Kegs at CadaverBlender.com. Enjoy!

Sure, most students and faculty on campus will tell you that Papa Del’s offers the best pizza. But at 1:45 AM on a Thursday night after the bars, Papa Del’s isn’t really an option. Even if it was an option, you would probably pass out during the 45 minutes it takes to cook that deep dish for you. That’s why the G2C Blog has compiled a list of the Top 5 Best Cheap Pizzas in the greater Campustown area.

Honorable Mention: Drew’s Pizza. May creepy Drew and his crummy pizza RIP.

5. Dominos/Papa Johns
While they may have franchise rules that limit how cheap the ingredients can be, these two get knocked for their location, prices, and wait times. Located approximately at the corner of First and Green, these chain pizza joints are not easily accessible to most students and with the closing of White Horse, are not too close to any bars. Not to mention the five to ten minutes you will have to wait before that first giant drunk bite that will indubitably burn your mouth. Finally, in the vacuum that is campus life, these pizzas seem to come at a premium, usually at least two bucks more than your One Worlds or Drews. Come on, that two bucks should go towards alcohol!

4. Antonio’s
The quality and selection are there, but so is the price. If you are trying to impress the girl you’ve been creepily hitting on all night, take her here. If not, split a One World pizza and get the job done.

3. Second Story Pizza
Formerly known as Boni Jean’s, this little pizza joint above the Illini Inn caters to the drunken palates of those students nearby Fourth Street on the west side of campus. If you get lose, follow the trail of white plastic plates and up the graffiti covered stairwell. The difference between Second Story and the other cheap pizza joints is that Second Story offers thicker pizza by the slice. While one or two will fill you up (depending on how drunk you are), you won’t get the glory of walking down the street with a whole pizza pie.

2. Gumby’s
Pokie Stix, the lifeblood of the freshmen class. On the other hand, Gumby’s pizza is a source of great debate and in this case, G2C is taking the upper hand and giving Gumby’s Pizza our approval. The crust is always fluffy and the cheese is always plentiful! While the price can get you, there are always plenty of Gumby’s coupons to go around. Just remember that phone number 444-FAST.

1. One World
One World has three things going for it: its proximity to the bars, the price, and the pizza doesn’t suck too bad. It’s hard to deny the tiny balls of sausage. What more can be said? Well, besides for the extra joy of outrunning the bums on your way back to the dorms. Is there a better feeling than drinking a dozen beers and eating a pizza, and still being more athletic than someone else?

This article comes from Dan Wolff, Senior in Mechanical Engineering.

Most students get a new computer at the start of college with the hopes that it will last for four years. It seems like that’s how long personal computers tend to last without suffering major hardware failure or becoming majorly outdated, so it just makes sense. So, what to buy? If you’re tech savvy, this article isn’t for you. But it’s a question that comes up a bit, so I thought I’d address it.

Laptop vs Desktop
Laptop wins because mobility is an essential element of the on-the-go college lifestyle. The ability to take your computer to work anywhere, anytime is a real plus. Whether it’s to the library for research or to a friend’s place to do work together, the ability to move your computer effortlessly will pay for itself in time and effort. The reason to buy desktops used to mainly be price, but laptops have been economical for a while. Added bonus: laptops are the ultimate impromptu DJ booths.

Apple vs PC
I’m an Engineer, so of course I’ll say PC. For my major and for Business, you can’t really go any other way. The software we use runs best on a PC, and it’s just the environment you should know best going into these fields. If you’re in another college, the answer is that it probably doesn’t matter that much and you should go with what you want. PCs seem to be a little cheaper on a performance per dollar scale, though. People in Design sure seem to enjoy their Apple Powerbooks, so I’m not going to rag too much.

On the PC side of things: Get Windows XP Pro, not Vista! I cannot stress this enough. I am one of those guys that people go to whenever they have a computer problem. I think I have seen more hard to fix problems with Vista in the last year than I have with XP in the last 7. Vista is a joke in the industry; terrible performance and none of the original features originally intended to make it good (even though some people find it visually pretty). If you are using Linux, I commend you, but I’m not going to touch on it here because you’re not the intended audience.

What Specifications?
As of 06-12-08, after shopping around, I think these good specs without spending an exorbitant amount (i.e., will last you 4 years but you won’t be raped price-wise):

• Processor: Definitely get Intel Core 2 Duo. No questions. This is the chip leader, speed-wise and from a power consumption standpoint. Look for something over 2.0 GHz; I see 2.4 Ghz as a best price point on some sites.
  
• Memory (RAM): 2 GB (could have gotten away with 1GB in the past, but it’s pretty cheap to double that and what with Vista and an Office ’07 and all.. but more on that later)
  
• Hard Drive: 120 GB or more (not as crucial, as you can supplement with an external, but this looks like a good price point). For speed, some sites will say 7200 RPM is a worthy upgrade, but really I don’t think you’ll notice a difference, and that faster drive is going to consume battery faster. 5400 RPM is just fine.
  
• Screen: Depends on you! If you want something small and more portable, get a smaller screen, maybe 14.1” (or smaller if you want it to be extremely portable). The most common size is 15.4” these days. Widescreen just seems to make sense, since you can have more horizontal pixels for putting documents side-by side better for easy viewing (a spreadsheet and a report, say).
  
• Resolution: If you have special needs such as gaming, CAD, or graphics work, you will want a high-res screen such as 1680×1050, but for most people 1280×800 or similar is fine and you won’t strain your eyes as much.
  
• Brands & models. Understand that the laptop “brand” in general does not actually make parts; they just assemble it, slap on an emblem, and sell it. But still, there are varying degrees of quality, and you can shop smartly. For build excellent quality and reliability, I would pick a Lenovo (who took over IBM Thinkpad). In particular, look at the Lenovo T61 and R61. Another good option to check out would be a Dell Vostro 1400/1500.
  
• Pricing: I just spec’d out 4 models for my little brother following the guidelines above, and they all fell into the $700-900 range after discounts. Here’s a tip: check if your parents have a corporate perks program that gives extra discounts on computer supplies (my work does). Also, Dell is especially known for offering large discounts and free upgrades at various times, so look for those deals (slickdeals.net and fatwallet.com may help you stay updated in this department).
  

Other notes in no particular order

• Most students who have tablets tend rave about them. You can’t ignore that (or maybe they just always have to feel special, but I’ve never felt the need for one.
  
• Get the slightly larger battery if it’s an option. You’ll thank me later.
  
• Get Personal Articles Insurance from Statefarm (or similar). Way, way, way cheaper than the “accidental damage” plans from retailers, and protects you from all sorts of stuff. Call your agent for more details.
  
• Use Office ’03, not ’07. 2007 is garbage from a speed and from a usability standpoint for anyone used to the traditional interface. I have had spreadsheets with several hundred cells and many detailed plots which bring my (relatively fast) system to a crawl in Office 2007. The same exact work was perfectly smooth in 2003.
  
• At the UIUC CITES Webstore, you can get software for cheap or free (you’ll need to login with your NetID to order).
  

Phew, that’s all for now. Post a comment or email me if I missed anything. Like I said, this is general advice for a laptop to get a typical person through college with a good setup. Computers are highly configurable and you should suit your own needs, so really you can ask a “computer person” you know for better details. If you are on a stricter budget, check the electronics circular ads and you may find a suitable machine at lower price than custom configuring one.

With incoming freshmen beginning to attend Orientation/Registration down in Champaign, G2C has decided to take a quick look at the Discovery Program, special courses that freshmen should keep in mind when planning their Fall schedule.

As many of you are aware, the University offers first-year students the chance to take a Discovery class. The Discovery Program is the University’s way of combating the criticism that underclassmen classes are too large and students only interact with the TA, not the professor. In contrast to the large sections of Econ 102 or Geography 101, Discovery classes allow freshmen to sign up for a section of a course that is specially designed to be more interactive between students and the actual professor. These courses are typically limited to about 20 students and act the same as the typical course. The only difference is that the lectures are given by the actual professor and not a teaching assistant that is only two years older than you that you cannot even understand the words that are coming out of their mouth.

The University restricts the Discovery courses to first-year students and each student may only take one Discovery class. Take advantage of the Discovery Program. G2C recommends that freshmen take this course in the Fall as it allows you to get to know other freshmen students and the personal interaction with the professor should help get you comfortable and acclimated to college classes. A nice transition from the personal attention you are used to in high school. You also won’t have to worry about competing against juniors and seniors that know the college agenda.

There is a long list of courses that students can sign up for as their Discovery course. The list can be found at http://www.provost.uiuc.edu/programs/discovery/Courses_FA08.html. G2C recommends Geology 104: Geology of National Parks. This is an interesting course that will knock out a Physical Science Gen Ed (most Discovery courses count for a Gen Ed). The course and tests are predominantly focused on lecture notes with little emphasis on reading the text.

The following is the second entry from G2C blogger Kaitlin Clapper, a sophomore in Engineering. For many of you high school seniors/graduates, Orientation is approaching. And what is the most stressful and important part of Orientation? Course Registration. Picking those Fall courses is very important, and G2C has asked Kaitlin to give her perspective and help you get comfortable.

One of the most important parts of the summer is to pick the best classes for your first semester of college. If you choose the wrong classes or courses that do not interest you, you could be in for a long first semester. Figure out classes that will a) interest you, b) allow you to succeed and start solidifying your GPA, and c) cover the basic courses recommended by your College for your major.

For those who have their major picked out, a layout of your first semester classes can easily be found on the uiuc.edu website, just search under admissions for your major. If the pre-arranged schedule allows room for GenEds or other classes, have fun with your decisions. You have endless opportunities to find classes that interest you! Do not just settle for the first class that you find that fits into your schedule, but really take the time to find a class that you will want to attend and will not fall asleep during. A list of easy and interesting classes can be found on the Guide to Campus website. Again, choose the best classes for you!! Don’t take Spanish your first semester if you are an Engineering student who took French in high school! perhaps try a Discovery course which will offer much more direct contact with your professor.

For those coming into the University as Undeclared (and there’s nothing wrong with that), have a lot of classes chosen from various fields because you never know what you actually might find interesting. Many classes in college are different than in high school, and you might actually like Chemistry or English at U of I when you did not care for them in high school. Do not be afraid to try everything or just experiment between two different majors. The counselors will be very helpful in guiding you to the proper path and onto your exciting and appropriate major!

In my last entry titled “In the Eyes of a Freshman: ‘Orientation,’” I laid out how to get to the class search on the uiuc.edu website. Really use this resource and have a schedule before getting to registration day!! Having a game plan will save you time once you sit down to register and allow you the opportunity to use your time on campus elsewhere.

Also, the easiest way to register is to have the 5 digit CRN written down for each class from the registration page. On the main registration page, you will click on add/drop classes, and scroll to the bottom of the page. At the bottom, there are spaces to enter all the CRNs. Once entered, the next page will have you registered for the classes that were still open and tell you which classes were closed. Have a couple interesting classes picked out as back-ups in case some of your first choices aren’t available.

Let me re-iterate, picking the proper classes for your first semester could make or break the quality and experience of your first semester of college. If you choose a class that is too difficult and requires a lot of time, you will lose time to have other experiences and to join a club. Also, if the class if too difficult or does not interest you, then you will not do well in the class, and your GPA will suffer. If possible, the best time to really crank up that GPA is freshman year, so take advantage of that!

Enjoy choosing your first semester classes and really make your decisions count! Get good grades and also enjoy your freshmen experience.

Courses to Take: Business Majors

The following are a few core business courses that all College of Business students must take. G2C breaks down the difficulty of each course and provides many recommendations. The grading that appears after each course is on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the least. Continue to check out the G2C Blog for a breakdown of more business courses. Enjoy!

Finance 221 (‘Corporate Finance’) – It is recommended that business students take this required course during their sophomore year. FIN 221 is a very interesting course in the fact that while all the material is relatively simple, most students have typically not had any exposure to even the basic concepts of the Time Value of Money, annuities, financial ratios, and the other related material learned in this course. So while the material may be fresh and interesting, G2C would not recommend scheduling many other difficult courses during the same semester as FIN 221. While there is quite a broad-ranged spectrum of student’s thoughts on Professor Dyer, there is no avoiding him as he is the only professor for this course.

Course Difficulty: 4
Time Required: 4

ACCY 201 (‘Accounting 1’) – Another required course for all business majors. Accounting 201 is another core skills business class that is often written off by non-accounting majors, who then suffer the consequences when they receive their final grade. The course material is presented in a very straight-forward, logical manner that is easy to learn and understand if the necessary time and effort is put forth. If you wish to continue in business upon graduation (why would you be a business major if you didn’t?), pay attention and try your best to absorb the basics of this class. Additionally, the lab portion of this course revolves heavily around your lab group. Pick a group of students that you know will try on the homework and projects and that are also striving to get that ‘A. Make sure to sign up for the same lab time with your friends, if desired.

If at all possible, take this course in the spring of your freshmen year. Otherwise, take ACCY 201 in the Fall of your sophomore year, followed by ACCY 202 in the Spring.

Course Difficulty: 3
Time Required: 3

BA 310 (‘Business Management and Organizational Behavior’) – BA 310 is one of the easiest and common sense-oriented business courses that is required by the C of B. While Dr. Love’s hour and a half lectures from 4:30 to 6:00 on Mondays and Wednesdays will always run into your dinner time, the course material is as straight-forward as you can get. Essentially, the only effort needed in this course is to memorize the Powerpoint presentations from class before the tests and get your ‘A’. If you miss any questions on the pop-quizzes that Dr. Love holds near the end of class, sign up for a lab ‘experiment’ and regain these points through extra credit.

Take this class during the same semester as a more challenging course, such as FIN 300 or an upper level accounting course to bring balance to your course load.

Course Difficulty: 1
Time Required: 1

BA 300 (‘The Legal Environment of Business’) – BA 300 is another one of the three core Business Administration courses that all business majors must take. BA 300 introduces business majors to the world of law and its relevance to business, an element of business that is extremely crucial, yet often overlooked with serious consequences. G2C recommends Professor John Kindt for this course. Professor Kindt, while appearing as a tough law professor with no compassion during the first couple lectures, provides a fresh style to lecturing and examines all important aspects of business and law. Similar to most law school classes, there is no book and the class is heavily based on lectures. This is the opposite of Prof. Rozkowski, who relies heavily on textbook readings. Since there is no supplementary textbook for Kindt’s course, simply attending class will not suffice to succeed in his course. However, students that are diligent in their note taking will see the benefits on the exams. Should you not perform well on the exams, the course is weighted and Professor Kindt offers almost 20% of extra credit, depending on his generosity each semester. Review sessions before each exam are also extremely beneficial and provide great insight on what to expect to see on the exam.

Junior standing is required for BA 300 and most juniors choose to take the course at this time. The course is neither extremely difficult or time consuming, so feel free to add this to any schedule.

Course Difficulty: 2.5
Time Required: 2- No textbooks mean minimal required reading.

The next entry from DI columnist and recent graduate in Engineering, Kevin Spitz, in his G2C blog series is a reflection on his past four years as an Engineering student and the pride four years of hard work and struggle created for one special day, graduation. While this entry may not have the inside information you may expect from GuidetoCampus or may not directly pertain to your planned major, Kevin’s piece brings light to the hard work you will need to put forth and should inspire you to persevere until your Commencement.

This one is for the Engineers.

Just this past Sunday I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering. Though the ceremony itself was long and arduous, it was an excellent culmination of my four years of school.

Now before I continue, I mean no disrespect to any other major who frequents Guidetocampus. I truly believe that each major is challenging in its own respect, so by celebrating Engineering, I do not mean to put down any other college. But Engineers, think back to your high school graduation, or if you haven’t made it there, just think back on school so far. Think back on the projects you’ve completed, the exams you’ve aced, the classes you have excelled at, and overall, your success. If you talk to most engineering students, or students going into engineering, they will all overwhelmingly agree that the hardest part of school up until their Senior year of high school was no more than waking up in the morning to get there.

Pretty much, when you graduate junior high, high school, the DARE program and others, it is nothing more than a “gateway.” What I mean by that is that, the sense of accomplishment isn’t there. The only reason that you really care about your preschool graduation is because that means you get to go to Kindergarten.

Now, from an empirical approach, I’d say that 90% of Engineers fall into one category and 10% fall into another. If you’re in the best of the best of the best of Engineers, then even Engineering will fail to hold your interest and you will excel in all your classes here too. But the vast majority of students do not experience perfection in college, and I, like most of my peers, fit in that category.

These past 4 years as an engineer have not been easy. Yes, I’ve gotten decent grades, but it was not without sleepless nights working on projects and studying for exams. And also not without the occasional kick in the face where the test you thought you knew everything for turns out to have a twist in it and you end up failing.

Sitting through the two and a half hour graduation ceremony, I had plenty of time to think back on those late nights, and the tests I failed, and the projects I thought would never end. And so when it came time for my name to be called and to walk across the stage two things were going through my head. The first, more benign, was I certainly hope I don’t trip. But the second was this sense of accomplishment for persevering through four very challenging years of school. It was a sense that I hadn’t felt in the same way before. It was a pride that can’t ever be taken away.

When you come to your Convocation (welcoming session) for Engineering at U of I, they might go through the bit where they say look to your left look to your right, it is likely that one of them will not be here when you’re done. Well, our speaker Patrick Sykes could not have said it better at graduation when he said, look to your left, look to your right, congratulations, you all made it. While it is important to have fun in college, work hard and I guarantee you will be walking across the stage, with your sole worry being not to trip over your own feet.

The following contribution was made by 2007 U of I graduate Gene Gionatta. G2C asked Gene to write a post on his thoughts on choosing a major, a concept that Gene had a great deal of experience with during his undergrad career, coming in as an Aeronautical Engineer and graduating with degrees in Econ and Poly Sci. Gene is now an economic consultant in the Chicagoland area and feeds his political fire with his political blog The Modern Federalist (www.modernfederalist.com). If you are interest at all in politics and the upcoming election, check it out. .

One of the biggest challenges any undergraduate has to take on is the eternal question that has befuddled college students for generations. Once you’ve decided on beer or liquor for the night and battled through that hangover the next day, though, you’ll have to do some studying. After all, that’s why you’re here.

Learning about the finer points of life is one of the reasons you go to college. And, no, I don’t mean studying beer pong techniques. Unfortunately for you, dear undergrad, those skills will be quite antiquated within no time once you graduate.

So, what should you study to get useful skills for the mythical real world you’ll be entering?

You’ve probably been inundated with all sorts of advice. Engineering is a typically “hot” major at U of I, a school known for its work in advancing computer and Internet technology over the past few decades. Business is also a popular choice, and for good reason too because of the school’s prestige in that department.

So you’re probably thinking that you need to be an engineering or business major, or something similarly specialized. The horror stories of liberal arts majors going on to become baristas or Peace Corps volunteers probably doesn’t jive with the image you had of a successful college education, right?

Interestingly, though, the choice of major isn’t as profound a decision as you might at first think. Chances are you’ll end up changing majors at some point during your time at school, especially when you realize that differential equations just aren’t for you, no matter how impressive your major might sound when that cute girl inquires over an ice-cold Keystone Light. If your grades reflect your lack of interest and enthusiasm, you can forget that cute girl or an upgrade over the beer anytime soon.

So, don’t choose your major because of what’s “cool” or “popular” or “safe.” It may sound cliched, but it’s true that you’re better off doing something you enjoy, mainly because this will reflect in your grades, which will help your employment prospects in the future. And it will help to ensure you go on to do something you actually will want to do. Wanting to be an engineer because they make a ton of money, despite the fact you hate math and science, is probably the worst thing you could do for yourself.

In the ever-changing modern world, a premium is placed on those with a broader range of knowledge and experience, something that a liberal arts major or a minor can help add to your resume. But the most important thing is to choose a major that can provide intellectual satiation. You will not only get better grades, but you’ll also successfully develop the kinds of critical thinking skills that any college major will teach you.

Ultimately, it is those skills that the academic side of college is expected to help you achieve. What you do with them outside of the classroom and after graduation, you will most likely find, has very little to do with the words on your degree but certainly everything to do with your capacity to use that education to whatever end you can dream up.