the future of stephanie is no future
Josh concerning a withdrawing ncf student---->
newbattleground: she wants an easier college experience
newbattleground: shes into ..getting trashed and going dancing and all that stuff that new college kids really arent aboutstrangerthought: i like getting trashed and going dancing ( Read more... )
newbattleground: she wants an easier college experience
newbattleground: shes into ..getting trashed and going dancing and all that stuff that new college kids really arent aboutstrangerthought: i like getting trashed and going dancing ( Read more... )
1. New College's work load is what you make of it. There will be stressful weeks like there are everywhere else, but when it comes down to it, you can take six hard courses or three easy and still get credit for a contract. Talk to older students about their work loads and after a semester or so, you will find a load that is appropriate for you and for your goals. There are people who challenge themselves and push themselves to the limit every day, but I also know people who arrange their class schedule so they can screw around a lot. To be honest, there will be some moments no matter what where you will feel kind of discouraged. But I think everyone does. New College essentially is like a prep school for graduate programs. No matter what, you always have the option of taking time off, studying abroad or at another school in the U.S., etc. Just about everyone does it, and the school actually recommends that you do that, too.
Plus, there is a certain amount of badass-ness that is associated with New College academics, even in the introductory level classes. My favorite story: Last summer I was completing an ISP (mandatory independent study projects; 3 are required for graduation) in Berlin, agnd living with two other New College kids who were also working on ISPs. We went to a bar one night, and ran into some other Americans, some girls who had just graduated from Princeton with degrees in sociology. My friend Sam was there working on a sociology ISP, actually. They asked him what he was doing. He explained his project and the principles it was based on, and the girls were amazed. They said they wouldn't have expected to do anything like that until graduate school, and had sort of heard of the principle his study was based on. Later, Sam said he had read about that principle his first semester at New College, in introductory sociology.
2. I don't know where your friend has been if he says New College kids aren't about getting trashed and going dancing. Granted, not every New College kid is about getting trashed and going dancing, but the point of Friday and Saturday night parties in Palm Court ("Walls") are all about getting trashed and dancing. Sarasota doesn't really have clubs, but over the past year or two the city has been trying to fashion itself as having more for younger people, and that includes opening new clubs. Ybor City is just 45 minutes away though, and Orlando just over an hour and a half.
Within your first week at New College, you will learn where you can procure alcohol with just a student ID. If you are into things other than alcohol, they are somewhat easy to come by. One of my friends, who has lived in Boston, LA, and Oklahoma prior to coming to Sarasota, says that Sarasota gets basically the same assortment of illegal substances as LA. Again, I don't know if you are into this, but some things in the area as of late include opium, pure MDMA (in crystal form), and DMT. It is my understanding, however, that there has been an acid shortage.
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I really think you should give New College a try, especially because your first gut reaction is often the right one. There's no shame in transferring if you don't like it (it is my understanding that nationwide, something like 20% of college students have attended at least two different colleges), and most schools in Florida are extra-generous about giving transfer credit for New College classes (example: 8 hours per semester of foreign language, whereas if you were taking it at the actual school it would be worth about 3 credit hours). And to be quite honest, I think it is the people who are initially somewhat apprehensive about New College are the ones who end up loving it the most. Don't worry - give it a try and no matter what, you'll be fine! I promise!
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1. Regardless of how you fashion it to your needs, New College's academics are much more challenging and demanding than that of most other schools. You can tailor your explanation of New College to make it sound more appealing and less intimidating, but the bottom line is that its classes a lot of studying.
2. Stephanie and I are from Miami. If she and I, in Miami, decided to go out partying, and came across anything remotely like a New College Wall, we would leave. What attracts me to parties are the new faces and new hookup opportunities. I also like parties in that they are a great place for separate social circles you are involved in to converge. At New College, your social circles converge at all times; its inevitable. Sure, kids get trashed and go dancing here, but in such a different manner. In a more responsible, less shallow manner.
3. The male female ratio I devised was ad hoc, but a lot of the females I talk to here complain about the lack of datable guys. The operative word here is datable. There are numerous beautiful, intelligent girls here, but a lot of the guys are socially inept. Moreover, the hookup situation is not the same. The people you hook up with run into you constantly. There is no such thing as a one night stand here. It can be awkward. I know from experience. I justify the lack of new faces at New College with the confidence that the faces I do come across are more valuable than those I would come across in another institution. Instead of having to sift through the masses in order to find interesting, intelligent people, they ahve already been sifted for me. And I love it.
I love New College. But I am just warning Steff that it may not be what she is expecting. I agree that she should try it out. She is being extreme in saying that she has made a mistake that will cost her her future.
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A few more quick comments though (for both Steph and Josh) -
In my three years at New College, I have known people who plan their contracts so that they have 10-15 hours a week of homework (this semester I've been spending around 30 hours a week on homework, but in the past I've had semesters where I've spent 50-60). No joke. It is do-able, if it's what you want to do. But conversely, you can have the option of planning challenging coursework if that's what you want to do, too.
Once you leave Pei and start taking upper-level classes and tutorials, the interaction between social circles greatly differs. You might see someone in passing, or in another class, but you don't run into them constantly. I live in Dortstein and literally haven't seen some of my next-door neighbors in months. I think the only awkward run-in I have had with any of the guys I have dated was after he accidentally backed into my car not long after he broke up with one of my good friends, but that's another story altogether. ; )
I also just want to reassure you both that although there won't be new faces and new people to meet every weekend or whatnot, the student body will seem especially different in the fall. There are around 175 new first years, older students will leave, other students will return from off-campus study, etc. Even now I am still seeing and meeting some students for the first time.
As Josh knows, students frequently post "want to come to Ybor/Orlando with me? I have three seats left" e-mails on the student e-mail forum. Admittedly, I have no idea how different Ybor and Orlando's party scenes are compared to Miami's, but it might be good to take someone up on the offer. Not only do you get to go to Ybor or Orlando to party and meet new people there, blah blah blah, but you also get the opportunity to get to know the people offering the ride better and expand your social circle that way, too. Another good way to meet new people: go to a meeting for a club that seems interesting, but that you've never gone to before. I guarantee you'll meet at least three or four people you've never, ever seen before.
And as you get a little bit older, the New College boys do get to be less socially inept. It doesn't help a whole lot at the beginning, but quite a few of my friends are engaged to - you guessed it, other people that they met while attending New College.
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