Advice to incoming students: know your resources

Incoming students have lots on their minds around this time of year. While confirming one’s enrollment decision answers some big existential questions, it also unleashes some pretty beefy logistical to-do lists. There’s enough to take care of that we’re often in touch with incoming students who just want a bit of reassurance that they’re not missing anything. Over the next week or two I’ll focus on offering advice to incoming students, which I hope will be useful not just for those arriving this fall but also for future students interested in understanding what comes next after confirming enrollment.

Today I’ll focus on what might seem a no-brainer, but which bears emphasizing: make sure you maintain ready access to the variety of resources at your disposal. This is easier said than done. As a former Fletcher student, I remember this time of year well. There’s a lot of research, planning, and anxiety that can go into arriving at your enrollment decision, and once you click that fateful button it’s natural to feel inclined to step off the gas for a bit and just relax. Yet just as you ease into that mindset, here we come with websites, checklists, and emails full of instructions to sign up for this, confirm that, and check on some other thing. Fair enough if a lot of that gets lost in the initial shuffle.

That said, all of that “stuff” we throw at you is really useful! In my experience around 90% of incoming student questions tend to have pretty straightforward answers, and we do our best to provide you with the information we know you’ll need at some point. So fair enough if you don’t immediately read that incredibly long email or have a serious browsing session on the web page for admitted students. Do set up a folder to keep those emails, though, and do bookmark that site. Between the variety of transactional information, opportunities to contact current students, and prompts to get in touch with various Fletcher administrative offices, chances are you’ll find what you’re looking for.