U. is beginning to live up to expectations of freshmen

College freshman Sabrina Lowe knew what she was getting into when she came to the University. And, because of this, the first half of her first semester at the University has met her expectations. "It really hasn't been too bad," Lowe said. "Midterms were sort of a wake up call, but classes have really only involved taking notes and reading." Lowe is one of a group of freshmen who The Daily Pennsylvanian is following through their first year at the University to better understand their experiences. She and other freshmen agree that getting adjusted to the University has not been as hard as they thought it would be. Wharton freshman Riley McCormack said despite his enrollment in the Joseph Wharton Scholars program, he has found the University's academic environment to be surprisingly relaxed. "Coming into an Ivy League school, I expected to be swamped with work, but its been a lot of fun," he said. "There has been plenty of time for other stuff." Having too much time on his hands, though, has created some distractions for Engineering freshman Eric Tsai. "I manage my time horribly," Tsai said. "Time just seems to slip away. I like my classes luckily." To succeed, Lowe said, students must learn to manage their time effectively. "If you sit back, you get lost in the shuffle," she said. "You have to take the initiative." Wharton freshman Felix Estrada said even if students take the initiative, they can still get lost in the shuffle. He placed some of the blame on the faculty advising system now in place for freshmen. Freshmen are only required to see their advisors twice during their first year, and for many that is the extent of their contact. "You're just thrown in there," Estrada said. "No one tells you what to do and in such a big school, you can get lost academically." Tsai said if students know where they want to go, they can find the right person to talk to. For students like Lowe, who do not yet know their course of study, Tsai's words are of little solace. "If you already know what you want to do, there's an advisor for you," she said. "But there's no one for the undecided students. Freshmen are neglected in that sense." Estrada agrees: "Freshmen are alienated and don't have enough say." Estrada and McCormack can go to the JWS office for advice, but for Lowe, scheduling an appointment with her faculty advisor can be tedious. "I gain a lot speaking with upperclassmen," she said. College freshman Timothy Durkin said faculty advisors need to do a little more than say, "I'm here if you need me." "They need to make more of an effort to interact throughout the year," he said. The students in the group were impressed, though, by the intellectual abilities of their fellow students. As far as faculty go, though, Estrada said they can be deaf to students' opinions. "The faculty care about Penn's image and that we're 16th in the U.S. News poll," he said. "They don't care about student's opinions and that's why we are where we are."