This is a part of our 2020 Unofficial Orientation series. Find the rest of the posts here. 

COVID-19 Update: The main thing to note is that even though classes start on August 31st, Drop/Add opens on August 24th. So that means if you’re looking to slide into a class with spots, you need to start making mogul moves before class even starts.

Besides that, not a lot has changed. Essentially, the most important thing you can do is show up on the first day if you’re interested in the class, even if you’re not enrolled. If you’re not there in that first meeting, professors will drop you from the class without a second thought. Some of them get off on it. Luckily, since the first week is going to be remote, going to class should be super easy. (Is there a possibility for attending multiple classes at the same time? Please report back.)

Hello, and welcome to today’s episode of Unofficial Orientation: Drop/Add. If you don’t know what that is (seriously, how do you not know what that is yet?), the folks at the registrar’s office have provided this overview. You can also check out this FAQ, also kindly prepared by the registrar’s office, as a way to get the basics down before proceeding. Read on for detailed stratagems, and a TL;DR at the bottom.

This is a coronavirus version of fern’s update of un meli-melo’s post which was an update of Jackson‘s post from 2015, which was an update of skorn‘s post from 2014. Which was an update of DaPope‘s post from 2013. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, or some shit like that, right?

This is part of our 2020 Unofficial Orientation Series. A quick reminder that you can check out the rest of the series here. 

Take a nice deep breath in, at this point you’re either on-campus or just days away.  The excitement is tangible, new campus, new room, new people.  Before you get too wrapped up in your new freedom let’s talk about the real excitement: Your courses, the splendid garden that is Wesmaps, and what this year might be like academically.

I myself remember being confused by the process of choosing and then actually signing up for that class during my first semester so hopefully, this post provides a little clarity in the whole subject (and not the opposite).  Worst comes to worst just remember that most first-year classes are fairly big and your chances of getting into them are pretty high.

On that happy note, let’s dive right into this abyss!

I call this one “some kids on Foss”, colorized, ca. 2017

This is part of our 2020 Unofficial Orientation Series. You can find the rest of the series here. 

This post is an updated repost of a repost of a repost of a repost of a repost of a repost of a repost of a repost of a post for anyone who’s worried about sounding like a totally unassimilated dweeb walking around campus – which is inevitable, but this post is tradition by now. So prefrosh, listen up. Conformity is key. (Which is probably the last thing you’d expect to hear at Wes.)

You’re about to be introduced to the most crucial part of the Wesleyan experience: WesLingo.

This a coronavirus updated version of a not highly modified repost of Fern’s post from 2019 which was a highly updated version of Meli’s post from the year before, which is a repost of Sam’s post from the year before that, which is a  repost of Jackson’s post from the year before that, which was a repost of Frizzly’s post from the year before that, which was a repost of Samira’s post in 2013.

Find the rest of our 2020 Unofficial Orientation series here.

The packing list: possibly the most exciting part of the entire pre-frosh experience. There’s nothing quite like that first pilgrimage to Bed Bath and Beyond, walking through the forest of twin XL sheets and Premium, Ultra High Thread Count, Norwegian-Silk-Worm-Excrement-Infused ® towels. Every which way you look there’s something else that you couldn’t possibly live without in the perfect dorm room you’ve conjured up in your head.

Holly and Xue wrote the first version of this post in 2006 and it has been reposted every year since then. Dorm Life never changes much. Unless Fauver becomes Bennett (wow this joke is old). [Or unless Clark goes on fire a few times]

Pictured: A bright-eyed young freshman shakes his groove thang, eager to impress his lofty peers. Taken by Rachel Pincus ’13.

This is part of our 2020 Unofficial Orientation Series. Find the rest of the posts here.

Dear frosh of 2024,

As you are probably fretting about your first day of college, a sense of melancholy (or jittery excitement and increased WesAdmits activity, if you hated high school) has creeped up on you. Are you making lists of toiletries and getting boxes from Staples to pack your life into? Wondering how much action your soon-to-be bed has gotten in the past? A lot, probably.