Welcome Saybrook Freshmen! Congratulations on making it into the best residential college Yale has to offer. Here’s some simple tasks you can accomplish before school begins:

Start choosing your classes! Go to Yale’s Online Course Information (OCI) and browse through the courses being offered this semester.

Although the Blue Book is great, OCI is far superior. OCI has up-to-date information on classes, while the Blue Book often contains outdated and inaccurate information. More importantly, OCI has the invaluable Course Evaluations. With its class assessment graphs and student comments, Course Evaluations are a must for creating the optimum freshman schedule.

Think of it this way: Spending just one minute looking at course evaluations can save you from getting stuck with a terrible course for an entire semester (similar to how visiting Harvard for just one minute has saved countless Yalies from ever going there).

Once you figure out which classes you intend to take, order the textbook! Though you certainly won’t know all your classes until after shopping them, there are usually one or two classes you know you’re going to take beforehand. To do so, all you need to do is email the professor ahead of time to find out what textbooks you’ll need. Ordering these books online is absolutely recommended and can save you over $500 per semester. Websites to be sure to check out include Amazon, Abe Books, Yale Station, and Barnes and Noble.

If you wait until you arrive at Yale to order your books, be warned that you can run into problems. The New Haven post office inevitably gets backlogged with books orders, which causes your books to arrive a week or two late. Don’t make the same mistake I did and receive your textbook in the mail the day before your first test.

Whatever you do, don’t take five classes your first semester. Don’t even think about it. Take my word for it. Friends don’t let friends take five classes their first semester. You may falsely trick yourself into thinking its “cool” or “impressive” to take five classes first semester. But it’s not. If you would like a visual, taking five classes first semester is the equivalent of eating batteries.

Lastly, get pumped for Yale! Camp Yale is a blast and may well be the highlight of your first semester. Boola Boola!