Good Advice?

The extracurriculars have been easy, they say. It's academics that have proven the greatest challenge. The 12 first-years haven't figured out yet how to balance the two.

"My whole life I've been told academics are most important," Anne says. "It will be interesting to see how that works out."

So far, they say they are generally satisfied with the courses they picked. But as 10 of the 12 residents of the two rooms sit around in the girls' common room, they start griping about how academics are advertised at the College.

"I felt like I was flying blind," says Ayirini M. "Rini" Fonseca-Sabune '04. "Nobody told me what I should be looking for."

She says--and her roommates agree--that the flood of material that arrived over the summer didn't help them sort out their options.

"They sent so much crap in the mail," she says. "They're heavy on reading material, not talking to you."

That can sometimes be an advantage. Brendan chose three large courses specifically so he wouldn't have to talk.