Category Archives: Freshman Year

a. Tell us how your experience at Baruch College has lived up to your expectations? Not lived to your expectations?

Well Baruch college has lived up to my expectations but I never really had high expectations for the school because for me it was just a school I would attend to get credits and be able to transfer to Stony Brook. I actually enjoyed the time here though which is the best thing to do because this semester flied by and I still may transfer but I don’t regret attending Baruch.

b. How well do you think your first semester at Baruch College went

Socially it was great but academically it could have been better. I could have done better in class, I could have attend class more often but I slacked a little and worked a lot! 

c. What would you do differently during your first semester if you could do it all again?

Nothing. Although it hasn’t been a perfect semester I’m not the type of person to think about what could have happened under different circumstances because then that would be regretting which is also not my thing.

d. How have you changed since you started at Baruch College

 I haven’t changed much. I have just became hardworking. When you work until 12am and later every night and go to class the next day, your body gets used to it and you adjust to working your body more which is a good thing.

Now that my first semester at Baruch college is coming to a close, I can finally say that I am an experienced college student. So far the school itself has lived up to my expectations. None of my classes are particularly challenging, but they were all required courses, so that might be why. I can say that I’ve enjoyed my time here so far, because my first semester went pretty well.

If I could go back and do anything differently than I did my first semester, I would study more, put aside more time for school, not miss any assignments, and take advantage of more extra credit opportunities. Also, I would have worked harder at making friends the first two weeks of school, but that ended up working out so it wasn’t a big deal.

I think now that I have completed my first college semester I have changed a little bit. I am definitely more responsible, and I am getting more so everyday. I am also mire confident in myself and the work I do, especially any writing I do in class, and I have also become more confident outside of class. I am very glad that I have changed in these aspects.

Freshman year went by pretty quickly for me. But if I had the chance to redo this semester I would want to be able to get my work done on time and not procrastinate. As I started Baruch I realized that I am lucky to have what I have in my life today. Since I commute as I wake up 2 hours earlier for my class and walk the streets of NYC I saw many homeless people and realized I am blessed with the lifestyle I live. I have a positive outlook for the rest of my education at Baruch. Hopefully I am more diligent as I progress academically.

My First semester was probably a 6 if I had to rate it from 1-10. I expected it to be terrible. It was just a little less terrible than I thought it was going to be but that was only because I had a block and people that I moved around with a lot. I noticed I need people and friends in school or else I feel out of place and just plain bored. I expected to get around a B average because I’ve always been an average student academically and B is an average grade. I think I do have around a B average. I expected to be so stressed out and overloaded with work but I actually wasn’t, I feel like my junior year of high school was actually a lot harder than my first semester of college. I don’t think I changed as a person actually. I’ve asked people if they thought I’ve changed since my first semester of college, and they all said I’m the same. The thing is I feel like I lost a big part of me. My highschool friends and routine were a huge part of me for four years and when th at was stripped away I just felt terrible and out of place. Then again that’s what I expected so it didn’t hit me so hard that I couldn’t handle it. Now next semester I’m going to have to say bye to friends and meet new people once again and I’m not looking forward to that.

My first semester at Baruch has lived up to my expectations. Actually, it has been a lot easier than I had expected. My classes are similar to my high school classes and it was easy to make friends because we all had the same classes.

Because of these things, I think my first semester went really well. After I had adjusted to the commute and learned to balance my time, school was a breeze.

Although it went well, there are always things I could change. For example, I would have gotten a job. I would eventually have to learn to balance work and school and I think putting that off will make it harder to adjust. Second, I would have taken notes on my history professor’s lectures. Although she puts the powerpoints on blackboard, I think the lecture notes would have helped me more on the midterms.

Being at Baruch has made me more mature. I realized that I have to take care of myself and learn to balance my time and money on my own. I’ve become a lot more independent and things like living on my own no longer seem like such a big step. Being away from my friends and family have actually made us a lot closer. I think being in college has benefited me in many ways.

Baruch has been good to so far. I’ve learned there are many great professors at Baruch while there are some that are terrible. I’ve learned to keep your expectations low so you won’t be disappointed later on. This applies to life in general. My first semester here at Baruch hasn’t been half bad. I’ve made friends that I’m sure I’ll still talk to even if we don’t have the same classes next semester. If I can redo this semester, I would’ve worked harder and done things differently so I wouldn’t lose my best friend. I’ve learned not to make anyone or anything your world because you can lose it all in a blink of an eye. So unless it can be easily replaced, don’t get attached to it. 

Wow this semester went by way too fast. I feel like I’ve barely been to school, much less learned anything, and apparently we have 2 weeks of classes left.  All of my friends who are still in high school are just starting to get papers assigned, and we’re almost done with our first taste of college.  Its sad to say i barely met people outside my circle of friends, which is not what i expected.  In fact i expected to have no friends, and be a total antisocial nerd reading over his notes in the library all day. Surprisingly i made a couple of good friends that i know i will definitely not lose contact with, and balanced it with the (disappointingly) small amount of work.

I remember my first day of school i walked in thinking i was gonna seclude myself from everyone and just try to get A’s in all my classes, which went well til about a month in.  after that i had exams, which honestly could have gone better. I just wish a larger part of grades were based on homeworks and attendance, i’d be acing every class.  After all, the homework and papers havent been as hard as i was scared into believing they were by high school teachers, but the exams… those darn exams were something else.  Grade-wise, i can say im expecting a B in most of my classes.

If i could restart the semester, i would probably study more for exams and quizzes. That was the only part of classes where i slacked, i missed at most 2 homeworks, and wasnt absent. If it hadnt been for my testing mishaps, i’d be pretty confident about a high 3point GPA.

As a student, i know i’ve definitely become more responsible since coming to Baruch, being that in high school i worked only on trying to avoid work, and skipping classes. As a person, i feel like i’ve become more open, though. I came into the school with a very close mind, feeling like i’d be odd-man-out, surrounded by every race but my own.  But i’ve grown more comfortable in the environment, and dont feel like i need to be surrounded by my kind to be happy in the school. Sadly, i’ve lost touch with most of my other friends, and only talk to one or two people who i talked to before Baruch.

It seems like just yesterday that I was coming to Baruch for the first time. It’s hard to believe that these past few months had past by so fast. In such a short amount of time, I feel that this first semester has taught me a lot, and not just academically wise.  Coming to Baruch has taught me a lot, from time management to becoming a more independent person. This first semester at college, I met a whole bunch of great people, and I hope I will meet even more during the Spring semester.

I didn’t really have any expectations of coming to Baruch. I viewed the fact that I have to continue my education as something I must do. However, I did view it as the top CUNY school to go to, and I’m happy to say that I can stand by my statement still.

If I could redo this first semester, I would definitely put a little more effort into my studies. I do take school seriously, but it isn’t the most fun thing in the world. If I were to make a decision of staying home and reading my global history review book, or go to the mall, it’s most likely I would choose the latter. Yes, I would probably regret it later, but I would think along the lines of “it’s okay”.

The biggest personal change for me since coming to Baruch would definitely be the fact that I have became much more independent. Back in high school, I use to depend on my parents for a lot, such as waking me up, bring me to school, giving me money, etc. Since college has started, I’ve been commuting on my own to the city, buying my own metro cards, working once a week, and more. It may not seem much, as many people start doing that in high school, but to me, it’s a pretty big change.

Although this semester has gone by really fast, I feel like a lot has changed. I learned so much from time management to making new friends. I remember the day before Freshmen Convocation, I was really worried that I would not make any friends. I mean, the last time I had to make new friends was…kindergarten. The people I became friends with back then were my friends throughout the rest of elementary school, middle school, and high school. I remember my friends back in high school reassuring me that everyone else there would be new students as well and that making friends would definitely not be a problem for me. Fortunately, they were right. I made amazing friends here at Baruch-and it’s only been the first semester!

Time management has become so important in my life. Knowing how to prioritize my homework and projects while volunteering on the side has been an everyday thing now. I’m grateful though because it helps me sharpen my responsibility and organizational skills even further. Time management is extremely important because tasks that must be completed eventually have to become completed, it’s just knowing how and when to do it matters.

I’m actually not disappointed with my first semester here at Baruch. I was a bit regretful that I did not choose a school with a real campus feeling to it but turns out having the city as your campus is even better! I love the city, growing up in Long Island was a bit suffocating so having the urban feeling is actually refreshing. I especially love how you can get anywhere in the city just by hopping onto a train.

Overall, I had fun this semester and learned a lot, can’t wait for the next!

Now that my first semester is coming to a close, I can look back on it and say that it has more or less met my expectations. I didn’t have any set concept in my mind, but for what I had hoped for in terms of a college education/workload, I have been satisfied. The work is a good amount, but not overwhelming and feels about right. I have done well in all my subjects, except Precalculus which I dropped and Psychology which I’m improving in. There hasn’t really been any way in which my expectations haven’t been met, since all I want out of this experience is to learn and get my degree in a field that I can excel in.

Mu first semester has gone well academically and I have been proud of my ability to time manage and deal with working, partying hard, and personal relationships to pull it all together. I think I’m off to a solid start.

In terms of doing things differently, I think I might read the course syllabuses really carefully (I’ll do this next semester.) It’s helpful to know exactly what is expected of you work-wise, so that you can give the teacher what they want and not be taken by surprise at any point during the course.

Personally, I have not changed much. However, I feel that I have gained a better work ethic from an academic standpoint. Basically, I have improved my abilities to focus and concentrate. Or maybe my ADD is just diminishing with old age.