We are about a month away from welcoming Booth’s Class of 2024 for orientation and in honor of their upcoming arrival, TBE polled current Boothies on advice for the new students. Check out their words of wisdom below and to the Class of 2024 – we can’t wait to meet you!
Tips for Fall Quarter:
“Make a Booth Bucket List of things you want to do. Interested in exploring New Venture Challenge? Looking to study abroad? Want to plan a cabin trip to the lakes? Write it all down and plan out when you’re going to do these things. Certain Bucket List items like Lab Classes or in-quarter internships have timing requirements that you need to get ahead of.”
“If you’re going to recruit for an industry with a heavy recruiting schedule (like Consulting or Investment Banking) during Fall Quarter, take a lighter class load (like 3 classes instead of 4 classes).”
“Get to know campus! Not just Harper Center, but explore the broader University of Chicago Campus. There are some great libraries and restaurants. Don’t forget to get your Pub Membership as well.”
“Make sure you’re added to all the right Slack channels, clubs mailings, and email lists so that you’re aware of all of the events going on.”
On meeting new people:
“A wise person reminded me to not compare my inside with someone else’s outside. Especially as a 1Y, this piece of wisdom helped me when I was getting myself out there to get to know people and make friends at Booth.”
“Use tactics to remember people’s names. Learn a bit about that person, where they worked before Booth, what they are recruiting for, and commit it to memory. It’s always helpful to know where your classmates have been and where they are going.”
“If someone says, we should grab coffee some time… do it! Send them a calendar invite and make it happen.”
“Host dinners where each person brings a friend that the other person hasn’t met yet. We called this ‘Random Friend Dinners’ and it was a great way to meet people.”
On peace of mind:
“We all underestimate how overwhelming and busy the Fall Quarter of our first year will be. Don’t panic! Organize: Make sure you know what your priorities are and learn how to say no to what’s not that important for you.”
“Be kind to yourself on your first quarter. It can hit hard from classes to recruiting to imposter syndrome. Take it step by step.”
“You’re not here by mistake. You’ve crushed it until now and will continue to crush it, despite what the imposter in your head will tell you.”
