Photo by Michael Stein, The Daily Illini

Freshman year is about knowing what freedom means. I don’t mean in some abstract “Do we have free will?” kind of way, but in the sense that freedom is an action made without external pressure.

Again, let’s bypass all the big questions of “Can I kill turtle if no one will know?” and look at something which every student, but especially freshman, are confronted with every day of their academic careers: Read More »

Photo by Michael Stein, The Daily Illini

Discovering the dorms, meeting new friends, scouting out the bar scene and wandering around the Quad are all new adventures for freshmen starting out on the UI campus. However, many things are very confusing and can severely complicate the start of college life.

A big chunk of that is comprised of all the technology that is thrown students’ way the first day of class. Emails, passwords, Compass, Moodle and Netfiles are all teaching tools that are designed to make students’ (and professors’) lives easier. But when unfamiliar with them, they can be a real nightmare and make the first few weeks on campus frustrating. Read More »

Enjoy orientation. Stress levels are low, and the only thing reminiscent of registration is the feeling of being leashed to the sore thumbs that are your parents. You’re two steps ahead as a personal requirement, resisting the urge to pull out the map from your University-provided tote bag. “I’m not here for Orientation,” you say, as you toss your hair. “Yeah, this bright orange bag is a style staple.”

You might soon miss the presence of your parents. Especially in my case, when I was left in a computer lab with little guidance.

“Regardless of their intentions, parents who insist on playing an active role in the registration process are actually impeding maturation and development as a fully functional adult,” said Academic Advisor Robert Steltman. Read More »

Somewhere along the course of a student’s career at Illinois, problems can arise with scheduling, cancellations, and classes that are not offered a certain semester. When a problem like this occurs a student can either accept the change in their schedule or they can try to find the class somewhere else. One of the best options for the latter is Parkland College.

Parkland College, located on the northwest end of Champaign, is a community college that offers all types of courses that can be taken by students that attend UI and transferred over for credit to the University. Read More »

For students who come into the University without knowing which major they will pursue, advisers in the Division of General Studies, or DGS, and those in other departments can help in the search for a path toward graduation.

“The best thing they [undecided students] can do is realize that that infrastructure is in place and advise with an adviser, a professional,” said Sarah Watson, academic adviser for DGS.

“Really mostly to make sure that they’re aware of their options and they’re making the right decision when they’re ready.”

About 1650 students in the class of 2014 were admitted into DGS, said Meghan Hazen, associate director for DGS. Read More »

There are many transitions students must go through when entering college, and as unlikely as it may seem, buying books is one of them, mostly because of the price.

New students must face the facts: books are expensive. No matter what, they are going to have to shell out a good chunk of change to get the books needed for their classes. Whether students are looking for the easiest, quickest or cheapest way to get books, there are different routes they can take to buy them.

Here are a few ways how:

Buy Books at the Bookstore:
Bookstores around campus like the Illini Union Bookstore, Follett’s and T.I.S. are almost guaranteed to have the books students need in stock. However, this comes at a hefty price. These bookstores carry used books, though, they go pretty fast. This can become a problem for students who want to wait and compare prices of used books from store to store because, in the end, it’s these students who get stuck buying the new books for full price.

“I usually buy my books at T.I.S. and try to find them used. Freshman year, I ordered all of my books online ahead of time, but now I just wait until after classes start becdause teachers change their minds about the books they require” said Jaclyn Miller, a Sophomore in Business.

Buy Books Online:
Websites like Amazon.com, Half.com and AbeBooks.com are great for book buying because there are lots of people selling them used. Because so many people are competing to sell the same book, the prices are a lot cheaper than in the bookstore. Even new books on these websites are usually cheaper than in the bookstores on campus. And often times, websites like Half.com and AbeBooks.com carry international and review editions of textbooks, which are often cost less than standard textbooks.

Lici Yu, a Sophomore in LAS, buys a lot of her books from Half.com because she finds it the cheapest out of all the textbook-buying websites.

The aspect that websites lack for buying books is immediacy. Depending on which sites students use, books can take weeks to arrive which creates problems if they are ordered after classes start. On rare occasions, a seller’s description of the condition of the book may not that reliable, leaving students with a book that is of lesser quality than originally hoped.

Buy Books through Book Exchanges:
Book exchanges are one of the best ways to buy books because of their reliability and good price. Exchanges can be done via internet or in person through friends. A good website designed specifically for the University of Illinois is IBX (or IlliniBookExchange.com). Here, to purchase a book from another student, all students have to do to is click the “I want this book” button and an email is sent to the seller. After this, the buyer must meet with the seller to exchange money for the book. This may seem a little shady at first, but IBX is known to be very safe and even encourages book exchanges to take place in public locations.

“IBX is a great tool, I’ve bought a few books from sellers on the site this year and it’s been reliable. All I had to do was plan to meet with them at a specific time. It was pretty easy” said Andrew Lee, a Freshman in Engineering.

As daunting a task as book buying may seem, it does get easier with time depending on what a student is looking for in a book buying experience. The most important thing for students to do is learn the tricks of the trade

It’s 10 p.m. and you have an 8 a.m. final the next day, and of course — you haven’t even started studying yet. The library has you covered.

With one of the largest library systems in the country, the University of Illinois tries to provide its students with the resources and flexibility they need to have successful careers as students.

Open from Sunday at 10 a.m. to Friday at 10 p.m. with even more hours on the weekend, the Undergraduate Library has students covered for all needs including research, gaming, and even has a coffee shop to fuel the one who works through the night.

Grainger Engineering Library

“It’s quiet and has easy access to computers and printers,” Vonjulius Wright, a junior in LAS, said. “You can spend valuable time reading books and catching up on classes.”

The main floor of the Undergrad has workers eager to help students with their research. The space also has dozens of tables for groups to collaborate on projects and works.

There are even more computers in the area to provide students with a place to research, type up a paper, or surf the internet.

Down to the bottom floor, is an individual work area, which is usually quieter for students to focus on their own assignments. Read More »

There is nothing worse than starting your college career with bad classes. I am talking about being the last among the student body to register for classes. You usually end up in a large lecture class with absolutely no relations to your major. These classes usually never interest you, but you have been told take them by your adviser, because “it fulfills your General Education (GenEd) requirements.”

Well, fear no more. Also known as the “First-Year Discovery Program,” Discovery courses are not only a great way to fulfill your GenEds, but also a chance for you to sit-in on interesting topics in a smaller class setting. With past classes including “Chocolate Appreciation,” “Love and Death: from Novel to Film” and “Jewelry/Metals,” it’s like getting class credit to do a fun activity. Here are some of the Discovery courses being offered this fall: Read More »

Big fish, your small pond just got a whole lot bigger.

With some University lecture sizes upwards of 650 students, it’s easy for incoming freshmen to feel lost in a sea of confusion and disconnect. Professors and students say that adapting to this change and learning how to establish academic individuality is not an insurmountable challenge.

“You get a lot of individual attention in high school that you don’t get in a big lecture course like this,” said Charles Gammie, physics professor whose biggest class, Physics 101, has more than 400 students of all grade levels.

Students use their laptops during class in Foellinger Auditorium on Wednesday March 31, 2010. (Michael Stein The Daily Illini)

“I think that one thing that a lot people fail to do is just read the rules. We hand out a syllabus and we describe our expectations pretty carefully and many students don’t really think that through, and that’s a mistake,” Gammie said. “That’s when people run into trouble.”

Stephen Altaner, geology professor who teaches “Natural Disasters” in Foellinger Auditorium, echoed Gammie’s thoughts about just knowing the course expectations. Read More »