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Campus & ATX

20 Tips For Longhorn Freshmen – Ultimate Survival Guide

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 8 AM Classes 

Do NOT. I repeat…DO NOT choose an 8 AM class unless it’s the last class you need to graduate and if it’s the ONLY time being offered. You may be thinking, “I can do it. I used to go to class by 7:30 AM in high school.” No. You can’t. Quit trying to make 8 AM classes happen. They’re not going to happen.

Getting Lost

You WILL get lost. It’s the 40 Acres after all. Use the UT web app map to know where all the buildings are, or simply look for someone who looks older, tired and wise. They are probably seniors who are done with life but can still help you get to where you need to go. To make things easier on your first day, walk to your class buildings a few days before classes begin. It will help you be more confident on your first day and will prevent you from being late to class.

 

Studying

Y’all actually need to study here. Your days of magically getting A’s without picking up a book in high school are over. Find study groups and participate in Google Docs. Classes that struggle together, fail together…and get huge curves on exams.

Here are other online study tools that you can use to hack your life through college.

 

 

Textbooks

The Internet is your best friend when it comes to buying textbooks. Sometimes you need them, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you get lucky and the whole book is online for free. As a Freshman, you may want to have all of your books bought and ready to go on your first day. Don’t do this.

If you want to save your money, go to class for a week or two to see how much of the textbook is needed for class before you buy. The only thing worse than 8 AMs is buying a $300 textbook to only ever open it once the whole semester.

*Actual video of me buying textbooks I don’t need*

Choosing Professors 

The Internet is also your best friend when it comes to choosing a professor for a specific class. RateMyProfessors.com is genius and can help you save your life. Plus, you get to see if your prof is hot or not.

 

Pace Yourself

Do as much or as little as you can. Simply try your best. It’s OK if you only take 6 hours in one semester while your friends take 57 hours. It’s a marathon, not a race. You do you, little Longhorn. You do you. You’ll get out of here eventually.

 

 

Financial Aid 

You might want to keep applying for scholarships and financial aid ALL FOUR YEARS. There’s a lot of help out there, even after your freshman year. Although it may seem like you have a million things to finish, you’re never too busy to apply for free money.

 

Mentors

Get a mentor who specializes in your area of interest. They will help you for the rest of your life. Whether it’s a professor, a boss, a colleague, an alum, or even an older student, find someone that can guide you and help you reach your goals.

 

Organizations & Clubs

Join organizations. The people you meet will become your friends and possibly the best part of your college experience.

 

Procrastination

This is where “Don’t Procrastinate” would be, but we damn well know no one will listen to this.

 

Pre-Gaming

Always pre-game before going to going to 6th (after you turn 21 obviously). Drinks are expensive AF on 6th and you’re a poor college student.

 

Money 

Your Bevo Bucks will be gone faster than you can say “OU SUCKS.” Spend them wisely. Plus, once that FinAid check hits your account, don’t splurge on that MacBook Pro you’ve been eyeing. Take it easy, my friend. You don’t want to call your parents at the end of the semester asking them to cover your December rent.

Office Hours

Don’t be afraid of going to office hours and talking about your class struggles. This is why the professors get paid. Be smart. Be creative. You never know what kind of magic they can do at the end of the semester.

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Summer Courses

If you can – and have the time – take some classes at a community college during the summer. It will save you time, money, and possibly GPA points in the long run.

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    On Campus

Find a good place to poop on campus and stick to it. You will be drinking a lot of coffee and will need to take care of business in comfortable fashion.

 

Signing Up For Classes

Treat signing up for classes as if you are buying Beyonce tickets. Forget everything else and refresh the page until it is your turn to sign up. Nothing is worse than being waitlisted for all of the classes you need to take.

 

Studying Abroad

If you can, study abroad. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience you won’t ever forget. You won’t regret it. Just don’t act like a dumb American while you’re there.

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Freshmen 15

Freshman 15 is VERY real. Beware. Eat well and stay in shape. Gregory Gym is your best friend.

 

Try New Things

College is about 3 things: learning, changing, and having fun. Combine all of those three things together and shit becomes magical.

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Get Your Horns Up

But most of all always keep those HORNS UP.

 

Campus & ATX

#UT16 Grad Gets Smacked In Face By Flying Graduation Cap

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Meagan Richards, a recent #UT16 grad in African and Africa Diaspora Studies, tweeted out this golden video at UT’s commencement ceremony.

The title speaks for itself. Metaphor.

Buzzfeed interviewed Richards, who commented on her video going viral:

“I knew the video made me and my friends laugh, but I never expected it to make this many people laugh,” she said.

Aggies, Burnt Orange, Campus, Campus & ATX, News, OU, Texas Tech

UT-Austin Ranked #1 Top Public University In The Country

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Niche.com ranked 1,713 top public universities in the US and our beloved 40 Acres came out on top. Hook ’em!

Rankings are based on the following:

The 2016 Top Public Universities ranking is based on key statistics and student reviews. The top ranked public colleges are elite academic institutions that provide a good value for in-state students and offer an exceptional college experience.

Here’s how our score card came out:

UT Austin Ranked #1 Niche.com

D+ for parking makes sense. And, drug safety? We’re wondering what they mean by that ourselves.

Others schools ranked as follows:

#10 Texas A&M
#45 University of Jokelahoma
#60 Texas Tech University

Hook ’em!

Campus, Campus & ATX, News

UT-Austin Ranked One Of The Most Sleep-Deprived Schools In the Country

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University of Texas at Austin students only get an average of 6.88 hours of sleep during the week and 7.3 hours on the weekend, according to a study by Jawbone.

The fitness tracking software measured sleeping patterns from tens of thousands of students at over 100 colleges across the United States.

Students who track their sleep with UP at these schools average 7.03 hours of sleep during the week, and 7.38 hours of sleep on weekends.

Longhorns are going to bed at 12:30am during the week and, on average, at 1:27am on the weekends (yeah right). Pretty sure we’re not wearing our fitness bands when we’re out partying downtown.

How much sleep are you getting? Tell us in the comments!

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Source: The Tab

Campus & ATX, Lists

The 20 People You Meet In Downtown Austin (as told by Leonardo DiCaprio)

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Unless you have been living under a rock, you are aware that Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar for his well-deserved performance in “The Revenant”. Fan and audiences alike pined for Leo at this year’s Academy Awards because of his lack of Oscars in the past. Leo has proved time and time again that he is an incredible actor from his first role in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” where he played a young boy with learning disabilities, to “Titanic” where he stole all of our hearts, to most recently “The Wolf of Wall Street” where Leo was just not good enough to beat out one of the greatest talents on planet Earth and a symbol for us Austinites — Matthew McConaughey.

Much like Leonardo’s repertoire, there are also a lot of characters we meet on a day to day basis when on 6th street. The good, the bad, and the ugly, here is an homage to Leo’s lifetime achievement of winning the most prestigious award in the film industry by showing all the people you will meet downtown.

 

#1 The Dancer

The one who you cannot bring around if there is the slightest bit of a chance that Beyonce will come on because they will lose all control and create a dance circle around them.

#2 The Flirt

The one who cannot seem to speak to anyone the entire night without making it blatantly obvious they are sexually attracted to them — you will definitely catch them lingering with the bouncer because they can’t help themselves.

#3 The Crier

The one who has too many emotions trapped inside of them that the slightest drop of alcohol makes it all boil to the surface.

#4 The Talker

The one who is having such an amazing time and feels so connected with everyone they talk to that they can’t seem to shut up — they also will not get social cues that you’re over hearing what they have to say so you have to tell them.

#5 The Creepy Old Guy

The one who probably has a few kids and a family but is trying their hardest not to give into adulthood and attempts to use their adult paychecks to buy college kids drinks.

#6 The Sleeper

The one who has too many shots to keep them awake, but they try their farthest to fight against the fatigue to continue partying.

#7 The Fighter

The one who seems to get upset about everything and is constantly looking for an excuse to fight whoever they come in contact with to establish their masculinity.

Campus & ATX, Gifs, Lists

20 All-Too-Real Reactions You Have As A Graduating Senior

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Graduation is but a few weeks away and there is nothing more exhilarating than having to deal with people during the most stressful part of college.

1.) When someone tells you they already have a job post-grad

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2.) When anyone asks you to do anything

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3.) Watching freshman do pretty much anything

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4.) When your advisor tells you 90% of students get a job right out of college

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5.) When your parents ask about your graduation information

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6.) When anyone younger than you talks about how stressed they are

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7.) When you get another rejection from another job

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8.) You’re too busy to have a social life

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9.) You oversleep and miss an interview

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10.) Your parents remind you that your older siblings had their lives together before they graduated

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Campus & ATX

The 30-Day Realization That Spring Break Is Around The Corner

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Day 30

It finally hits you when you look at your calendar: SPRING BREAK IS ONE MONTH AWAY! You suddenly have significantly less time to lose your winter break weight than you though. WHO CREATED THIS HORRIBLE SYSTEM?

 

Day 29

You make a promise to yourself: you are going to eat healthy for the next month. So long to anything delicious and enjoyable, you are going to be the picture of health over the next four weeks.

 

Day 28

One day into your diet, you realize just how hungry you are so you eat everything in your entire kitchen so you’re just sitting there like “F**k. Now what?” Well, there is always tomorrow to start your diet.

 

Day 27

You look up all these crazy diet regimens that you heard have worked in the past. You set out to the grocery store and get the healthiest stuff you can find.

 

Day 26

Ugh, all the healthy food is making your dizzy from lack of fat and sugars. You have to give in and go to Shake Shack. You’ll just start working out really hard tomorrow.

 

Day 25

The desperation starts to hit that your time is winding down so you do all the mathematical equations of how much you will have to work out and how much you can/cannot eat over the next 25 days to feel your very best.

 

Day 24

There’s free food at work and you would be economically hurting yourself if you didn’t take advantage of the opportunity. Your diet can always start the next day.

 

Day 23

You try on your bathing suit you just ordered and go momentarily blind.

 

Day 22

Okay, you’re finally going to try that juice cleanse everyone has been raving about.

 

Day 21

HOW HAS ANYONE EVER SURVIVED A JUICE CLEANSE???!?!?!?

Campus

Stages Every Longhorn Goes Through At Home For The Holidays

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Holidays are known for being the happiest time of the year, but if you are a student at the University of Texas, then you know the holidays can be pretty heavy on the heart. Holidays are the time where you have to spend an entire month away from your Longhorn friends and even harder, Austin.

You finish your last final and feel like you’re on top of the world, because you now have an entire month of no homework or studying.

It comes the time to say goodbye to your friends, and it nearly breaks your heart. You physically don’t know how you’re going to handle the separation.

On your way home, you can’t help but get that excited feeling of being home and having all the time in the world to treat yo’ self.

When you get home, the first thing you do is jump in your bed because it is even more comfortable after not being slept in for months.

You feel unbelievably spoiled as your family makes you home cooked meals of all your favorites, and you got your eye on it all.

Finally, you are reunited with your hometown best friends and it seems like no time has passed at all.

You and your hometown friends spend much needed time catching up on all any any drama that has happened over the past three months.

The rare moment arises that a party in your hometown comes up, so when you arrive you make sure to look your absolute best.

At the party, the weird kids from your high school attempt to catch up with you and your fabulous Austin life despite your blatant lack of interest.

Then the inevitable and tragic moment happens: you run into your ex.

When you can tell people are pretty over listening to what an amazing life you have at UT, you give them the benefit of the doubt and attempt to listen to them share their boring stories from their boring colleges.

After a few too many drinks, the unrequited drama of summer seems to rise to the surface, and you can’t help but be glad that you’ll only be stuck here for a month.

The horrible yet inevitable moment arises where you realize you don’t fit in with your hometown anymore because you are far too superior and weird like Austin meant for you to be.

Your parents start reprimanding you for being too hungover/sleeping in too late as if waking up at noon on the weekends isn’t waking up early in college time.

During the actual holidays, you are subjected to spending time with your relatives who take it upon themselves to question you on every facet of your life, expecting excruciatingly specific details.

It gets to the moment during break where you realize you’re better left off only hanging out with yourself until you get to go back to UT.

Then the real hometown boredom hits, and it hits strong.

Looking at your calendar and realizing you only have a few days left of break, you suddenly realize you have accomplished absolutely nothing all break.

But it’s time to go back to the best place on Earth and you can’t contain your excitement. So long, hometown, you’re off to the best city in the world.

Let’s keep Austin weird, shall we?